Wollensak Verito

[Rider]

Are these lenses notable for anything?

[Kerik Kouklis]

Yes. Fantastic soft focus portrait lenses.

[Jan Pedersen]

Indeed they are. Most notable for a very diffused and soft rendition wide open. Beautiful when used with some highlights in the photo but a little dull and contrastless if used for darker images. I have a 8 3/4 which is being mounted in a shutter right now and look forward to get it back.
I'm sure you will get responses with examples.

[Darren Kruger]

check out this recent thread (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=25518) for examples of photos taken with a Verito.

[Rider]

Jan--is the 8 3/4 suitable for anything larger than 4x5? What kind of shutter will fit?

Darren, thanks for diggin up that thread.

[Jan Pedersen]

Rider, Not sure but i think it will cover 5x7 but with some swirley corners. With the front cell removed it will cover 5x7 for sure but don't know what the focal length would be.
Mine is being mounted in a Compound #4 which has the largest throat of the #4 shutters. Any other shutter you would need the #5 to keep the f4 opening
It is not a direct fit in any shutter so be prepared to pay some extra $$ if you find a barrel mounted.


jan

[Jan Pedersen]

Just checking at the Cameraeccentrics page and the 8 3/4 does cover 5x7 Yuppi, cause i have a 5x7 now. It is a 14" with the front cell removed.

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/wollensakcata/verito.html
Thanks to the cameraeccentric for posting these wonderful old cataloques

jan

[Rider]

I guess I'll be using a Jim Galli shutter for a while!

[Mark Sawyer]

Remember, lenses that don't cover at infinity will cover at closer distances. This in mind, the 8 3/4" Verito has become one of my favorite lenses for 8x10. (BTW, is the 9" Verito I keep reading about the same as the 8 3/4"?)

From my little Verito:

[wfwhitaker]

BTW, is the 9" Verito I keep reading about the same as the 8 3/4"?

Wollensak made both 8 3/4" and 9" Veritos, presumably not at the same time. Can't begin to tell you why they changed the focal length.

[Rider]

Given that it was offered (in 1919 at least) in barrel, with an Auto shutter or a Studio shutter, I thought that perhaps it was just a matter of screwing the cells into the right shutter. Guess, not huh.


Rider, Not sure but i think it will cover 5x7 but with some swirley corners. With the front cell removed it will cover 5x7 for sure but don't know what the focal length would be.
Mine is being mounted in a Compound #4 which has the largest throat of the #4 shutters. Any other shutter you would need the #5 to keep the f4 opening
It is not a direct fit in any shutter so be prepared to pay some extra $$ if you find a barrel mounted.


jan

[Jeremy Moore]

Any other shutter you would need the #5 to keep the f4 opening

Yep, my 9" is mounted in an Ilex #5.

[Rider]

Yep, my 9" is mounted in an Ilex #5.

Did you have it mounted in the shutter, or buy it that way?

[Hugo Zhang]

Jeremy,

I was so impressed by your Verito picture post. A young lady you shot with a 9" Verito with 8x10. I have been puzzled by how you did it. A 9" lens usually gives you a distorted head and shoulder shot when using 8x10. I still can't believe you used a 9" lens for that shot. Or perhaps you cropped your picture. Anyway, such a beautiful picture!

Hugo

[Jeremy Moore]

Jeremy,

I was so impressed by your Verito picture post. A young lady you shot with a 9" Verito with 8x10. I have been puzzled by how you did it. A 9" lens usually gives you a distorted head and shoulder shot when using 8x10. I still can't believe you used a 9" lens for that shot. Or perhaps you cropped your picture. Anyway, such a beautiful picture!

Hugo

Hugo, was this the head & shoulders shot? That shot is about 90% of the full 8x10 negative. She is distorted in the image--if I remember correctly, I shot down at a bit of an angle and then tilted the back to correct a little bit of the perspective skew.

[Jeremy Moore]

Did you have it mounted in the shutter, or buy it that way?

Well, neither, actually. I bought an Ilex #5 with a 240mm heliar in it and it also came with a screw-in adaptor which the barrel of my 9" verito screws into. Oddly enough, the adaptor won't screw into the Ilex #5 the heliar is in (black face), but it will screw into a different Ilex#5 I have (metal face).

[Rider]

Hugo, was this the head & shoulders shot? That shot is about 90% of the full 8x10 negative. She is distorted in the image--if I remember correctly, I shot down at a bit of an angle and then tilted the back to correct a little bit of the perspective skew.

I think that Hugo is referring to a shot in the thread below. All of photos in that thread are pretty inspiring (and part of the reason I'm anxious to try out the lens for myself), but I find that head-shot particularly pleasing. There is definitely distortion, but for some reason it works.

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=25518

[Jeremy Moore]

Yep, that's the one I was thinking of (I also have a 9" verito shot of a nude, but it's on 4x5 and not 8x10).