question about a lens

[jj golden]

today i bought a new vue camera, i had never even heard of one, they are like made of steel. very heavy, pretty nice shape, light tight bellows , case tripod and 6 film holders plus several lens items tucked away in the box, i dont think 150 was a bad deal, anyway there were what looked like 2 usable lenses in the box, a 210mm raptar wide field (no shutter) then there was i think its some kind of convertable lens, it has 3 rows aperature settings on it. these are the numbers 10.5, 17.5, 23.5, then different aperature settings for each row. now i know these have something to do with moving the elements around, could someon tell me what mm these would be, this lens stops way way down, its brass, im sure its very old, but its very clean, according to the shutter it stops down to f256

[Ernest Purdum]

The second lens does indeed seem to be a convertible. The numbers 10.5, 17.5 & 23.5 will be the focal lengths of the combination, the front cell and the baqck cell, respectively. It is usual to put the front cell on to the rear if you want to use it alone.

[Ernest Purdum]

Regarding millimeters, The markings on your lens are probably inches, though they could be centimeters. One centimeter = 10 millimeters. It's very easy to tell which it is, just extend the bellows roughly 10" and see if you are anywhere near infinity focus.

Perhaps I should have explained that to use either of the longer focal length cells, you unscrew and remove the one you do not intend to use. I think the New Vue may not have enough bellows extension to do this.

[jj golden]

are the 2 cells equal in focal length? if i have both cells on , the image looks very sharp at about full extension, if i have one on the back, it wont focus at all. im sure thats because the bellows isnt long enough,

[Randy H]

Did you get the extension tubes that lengthen the two rails? They "might" be inside the two main tubes, and slide out, or they may be additional tubes to put on the front. Do the bellows still have enough for expansion when pulled all the way out right now. If there is any additonal, the tubes will allow a longer length. I have a cannibalized New-Vue, and 10.5 inch is about what I get with just the standard tubes. The additional lengths "should" give you about 20+ inches of extension

[Jim Galli]

BTW, the f256 indicates the old style US aperture system. On these f16 is f16 but you count your stops either side of there. I probably says something like f2.2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256

2.2 same as 6.8 4=8 8=11 16=16 32=22 64=32 128=45 256=64

If you use both lens groups together, it is a 10.5 inch lens.
Just the rear with the front removed, 17.5" Take the front and move it to the rear by itself, 23.5"

[jj golden]

thanks guys for all the great feedback

[Jim Jones]

I had to make the extension rails for my New Vue out of ordinary hardware store round iron stock. It's a simple job for a machinist.