Weitwinkle or Protar V..widest coverage??

[Gene McCluney]

I have a couple of vintage lenses.

Meyer Gorlitz Weitwinkel Aristostigmat 160mm f9

Bausch & Lomb Protar V 183mm f18

I know both will cover 8x10 with no movements. I was wondering which one would have the widest circle of coverage? How wide? Are they both the same basic design?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[Dan Fromm]

Inquiring minds should buy their own copies of A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum.

[Ole Tjugen]

Inquiring minds should by their own copies of A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum.

I agree with that - but would like to add that the VM isn't always correct when it comes to German lenses. At a rough guess it has about 80% "hit rate" on pre-WWII German optics, while so far I've only found one single error in the British lenses.

I will also add that someone who has two lenses can get far more reliable data on coverage simply by trying them than can ever be found in a book.

[Jim Galli]

The Protar will cover more. The Weitwinkel is a double gauss and probably covers 90 degrees or so while the V is 2 cemented doublets that cover 110 degrees. Add in the extra focal length of the V from 160 to 183 and it covers 11X14 stopped down.

[Ole Tjugen]

Most Weitwinkel Aristostigmats are double Gauss, but I have one which isn't.

I trust the Vade Mecum until I have better data myself, which is why I recommend testing your actual lens.