Rapid Rectilinear Thread

[gbogatko]

Apropos Mr. Galli's petzval thread, Here is the start of one that uses early rapid rectilinear lenses. The buffalo pictorialists mention using such a lens with a wide aperture as it is "impossible to focus sharply" thus reducing the "wiry clutter" that they hated so much.

These are shot with a Chatham RR from the waterhouse stop days mounted in an Alphax. One interesting thing is that the Alphax allows a larger aperture than that which the original barrel allowed (f/4+- vs f/5.6). This lets more aberrations thru which gives brightly lit subjects a lovely halo. As with most RR's, the more you stop it down, the sharper it gets; but I like the halos, so I use it open.

George

[Jim Galli]

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/Goldfield/AngieS.jpg
Angie, Esmeralda County Courthouse (http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/01/Esmeralda_Court_House.html)

This is made with a 15 1/2" R. C. Co. Rochester Symmetrical. R C Co. very soon re-organized as ROC, Rochester Optical Co. so the RC lenses are uncommon. To add to the legend, it seems the Weston $5 RR from Mexico was also an R. C. Co. lens. Maybe Merg Ross knows a little more detail. In any case with the ancient Bausch & Lomb shutter where the iris blades are also the shutter, you can close it down far past the f45 min. (f 128 on this scale) to a pin hole if you have a pepper or something you want to expose for several hours.

Click on the photo title for some more things made with this RR.

Lovely images George. I especially like the 1st.

[gbogatko]

Thanks Jim. A lot of people find her rather creepy.

gb

[william linne]

Suter Aplanat, which I believe is a Rapid Rectilinear. I'm sure Ole or Jim will correct me if I'm wrong (which I so often am!).

W.

[Jim Galli]

Suter Aplanat, which I believe is a Rapid Rectilinear. I'm sure Ole or Jim will correct me if I'm wrong (which I so often am!).

W.

Spot on. Aplanat being the European name for RR's. Or is it RR's is the US name for Aplanat's. I have a lovely 27" Suter Aplanat I've not even used yet. Should be very nice on a 14X17.

[william linne]

Thanks, Jim. In the 20x24 print, the front branches are sharp as can be. It was a lovely lens, now living in Japan, I believe.

W.

[Jan_6568]

B&L ~210mm RR lens. Taken with 5x7 Century Grand camera, FP4+ developed in Pyrocat HD, POP print.

Jan

[Neil Purling]

Bill: can you remember any of the technical details of the shot of the tree in post #4?
It looks to have a dose of swirl indicative of uncorrected coma and other aberrations.
Was the lens used full-bore?
I have tried my B&L aplanat full bore and it looks very soft, too bad to use I thought.
Maybe I ought to give it a try wide open and have a print made anyway.

[william linne]

Sure, it was shot wide open. I shoot all my brass lenses wide open.

[Neil Purling]

Jan: The time it takes me to set up a shot I ought to stick to shooting either landscapes or roadkill. What on earth was it when it last drew breath?

[Neil Purling]

Thanks for the quick reply Bill. What was the focal length and widest f stop?

[william linne]

275mm f6

[Jan_6568]

Jan: The time it takes me to set up a shot I ought to stick to shooting either landscapes or roadkill. What on earth was it when it last drew breath?

Neil, it was not a road kill. It was a young sea bird which fall off the nest on a cliff. It was taken on a beach at the Island of Kauai. I am not good enough to recognize the species of the birds when they are so young.
Anyhow, I am also pretty slow and tend to shoot stones, they are even slower then road kills :). Sometimes sand, but this much more tricky, I tend to use hendheld camera for shooting sand :)

very best,

Jan

[Neil Purling]

If the lens was a 275mm f6 are we talking about 5x7 format?
Your lens showed some unusual effects. Was Suter a especially well regarded maker?
I just thought that if the lens was a poor example it might exhibit some unusually strong aberrations that should be better controlled.

[william linne]

8x10. I don't know anything about the lens except that I liked how things looked through it.

[Ole Tjugen]

Suter Aplanats are among the very best!

But: This is an f:6 "Serie A" Rapid Aplanat, which sacrifices some corrections for increased aperture. The "standard" Aplanat was f:7.2 to f:7.7, my own Suter is a Sere B No.6, 660mm at f:8. That one is almost disappointingly sharp all over - though I haven't tried it on 12x16" film (yet).

[Ole Tjugen]

275mm f6


Are you sure of that? I find a Suter Rapidaplanat
f:5 in 200, 270, 380 etc focal lengths, and a Serie A f:6 in 130, 210, 240, 300mm and so on. No Suter Aplanat 275mm f:6 at all in my books.

BTW, my favorite reference states sharp coverage of a wide-open Aplanat f:6 as "no more than 20 degrees", increasing to 50 degrees at very small stops!

[william linne]

Hi Ole,

Well, I don't have the lens anymore. I remember that it was a Suter Rapidaplanat, and that I eyeballed the focal length to be around 275mm. All the pictures I posted at that time, I said the maximum aperture was f6, but that doesn't really mean anything as I am often drunk, both while posting and shooting. The lens made some really pretty pictures for me.

W.

[Jan Pedersen]

This one is taken with a 11" TTH at f11 on 4x5 Not really any signs of a 110 year old lens

[Jim Galli]

This one is taken with a 11" TTH at f11 on 4x5 Not really any signs of a 110 year old lens

A near perfect example of using the lens well within it's sweet area, approx. double normal for 4X5) stopping down just enough that it was probably resolving 60+ line pairs for you. Gorgeous. Symmar's, look out. A quality (spelled Cooke) RR used this way is sharper than any Dagor.

[Jan Pedersen]

Jim, believe this lens was meant for larger formats and will soon be testing it on 5x7 i'm sure there wiill be a more pronounced softness in the corners there. It is very sharp in the center but somehow it still feels nice and soft when i look at the details in a larger print size than possible to post here.

[Neil Purling]

I have a bunch of aplanats, but the only one I have shot is the Bausch & Lomb from a 1a Autographic Junior The B&L being approximately 135mm focus, but definitely of f8 max aperture. Therefore it is undersized for the 4x5 format and I wanted the soft corners.

I also have obtained a Beck 6" f5.8, a Wray WA Rectilinear 6" f16 and finally a un-named 6.5" x 8.5" f16. Methinks that Wray will be very tasty indeed on 4x5 , because that was meant for 8x10.

[Frank R]

Blah, blah, blah

Show me some more pictures!!!

[Jim Galli]

Blah, blah, blah

Show me some more pictures!!!

Frank, jump right in here with some of your pics ;)


http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/Bokeh/LadyLuck_JimVersar_1.jpg
yours truly

Wollensak f6 Versar 12"

[jnantz]

slr+laverne

[Jeremy Moore]

http://www.apug.org/gallery/data/500/Amanda.jpg

RR on 5x7

[Ken Lee]

That's awesome, Jeremy.

Just curious: What focal length lens ? Somewhere around 300mm ?

[Jan Pedersen]

Very sweet Jeremy.

[Jeremy Moore]

oops, i went back and checked the lens used and it was a Turner-Reich 8-14-20 Series III f/6.8 convertible wide open in the 14" configuration. i was actually thinking of another image which i shot with a 180mm RR, but can't seem to locate a web copy :(

[Frank R]

That's more like it.

Jim: I have an Aplanat on my list of things to experiment with. Along with about eight other lenses. Right now I am getting ready to develop my first B+W film.

[Jim Galli]

Jeremy, now hush. That picture will drive people to Ebay doing searches for TR's! Simply gorgeous. I love the buzz above her cheek bone.

[Jeremy Moore]

Jeremy, now hush. That picture will drive people to Ebay doing searches for TR's! Simply gorgeous. I love the buzz above her cheek bone.

I'm okay w/ that Jim. I've already got a perfect sample of the 18" triple convertible on my 11x14 :)

[Hugo Zhang]

Is Voightlander Euryscop IV No.6 a RR lens? It was Domenico's birthday last week and we played with the lens. Kodak 2D with Packard shutter, wide open, of course.

[Neil Purling]

Hugo: It that Domenico Foschi?
I have looked through his site a few times and noted his use of old optics.
Nic photo of yourself, although focus looks slightly out on the image here. Your hairline seems sharper than your eyes.

[Ole Tjugen]

Is Voightlander Euryscop IV No.6 a RR lens?

Yes, it is. :)

[Hugo Zhang]

Neil,

That's Domenico. Yes, he likes to use old optics wide open. This lens has no waterhouse stops and the DOF is very thin. I probably moved a little when he squeezed the shutter.

I am going to spend years to discover the potentials of this lens. :)

[Jim Galli]

Neil,

That's Domenico. Yes, he likes to use old optics wide open. This lens has no waterhouse stops and the DOF is very thin. I probably moved a little when he squeezed the shutter.

I am going to spend years to discover the potentials of this lens. :)


That picture of mine that Steve ran in View Camera was done with a Voigtlander Euryscop Serie VI #6. Awesome lens.