focusing a wolly 159mmm 12.5

[rich caramadre]

So I just got wolly 159 wide for my 8x10. I put it on my deardorff and was pretty suprised at the brightness. Any how, I noticed that I could not get a real good focus with it wide open. So I did my best and then stop it down a bit to check the DOF. Still did not seem to be real sharp. Then I decided to try to mess the focus then and BAM! it seemed to jump into focus when I was focusing down around F22. So dose any one have any expirence with this lens? Should it be fine focused while stopped down?

Rich

[John Kasaian]

Rich, Thats pretty much the way mine works.
IMHO the f/12.5 Wolly is capable of some mighty fine prints. I hope you like yours as much as I like mine :)

[Scott Davis]

I shoot mine on a 5x12 at night, so focusing wide-open is a MUST - otherwise the GG is just too dark to see anything. I've learned to work with it and it focuses just fine at that aperture.

[Brian Ellis]

I've owned two different 159mm Wollensaks though both were the f9.5 version. I didn't have the problem you mention with either of them. The main purpose of the widest aperture on most LF lenses is to assist in composition and focusing (as opposed to using it to make photographs). Having to stop down to f22 before you can focus kind of defeats the whole purpose of having an f12.5 lens and certainly is going to make it difficult to work in low light. If it's workable for you to focus at f22 then I guess that's fine, personally I'd ask a repair person to check it out and sell it if it couldn't be fixed.

[Glenn Thoreson]

One nice thing about wide angle lens designs is their great depth of field. If you focus wide open, as good as you can, then stop down, the DOF will handle any small focus errors. I ave a tiny 90mm Wolly f/12.5. I sometimes use it on a home made 4X5 box camera with no focus capability. I made the camera so that focus is at 19 feet. That's the approximate hperfocal distance at f/16. When stopped down to f/16 or smaller, focusing is unnecessary. I also use it on another tiny 4X5 wide angle camera I built. It does focus but I find that, at least for landscapes, it's not that critical. I have a lens like yours, too, but it's untried at this time. Soon, hopefully.