Fastest Ever LF Lens

[Frank Petronio]

That guy who was poking around last week, looking for a 150 Xenotar, might poop his pants now:

http://cgi.ebay.com/FASTEST-LENS-EVERY-MADE-150mm-1-5-Large-Format-Russian_W0QQitemZ370060572578QQihZ024QQcategoryZ78999QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

No mention of focal length, duh...


This is the fastest 150mm lens I have ever seen that will cover 4x5 film. It's crazy fast and very rare. So, what you can do with it ? It's up to your creative genius! The glass has some small bubble but I believe will not effect the image. Other then that this lens is in good condition. You would have to make a customer mount. This lens does not have a shutter. SK Grimes are experts is making mounts and shutters. Maybe they would be the ones. I think I paid about 2k for this lens on e-bay a few years ago...I was hoping to use it for some project with my 8x10 but it will not cover that film format.

[Ed Richards]

It is a 150mm - it is in the caption. Looks remarkably like it is made of old coke bottles.

[Pfeiffer Duckett]

Dear god.

Cigarette paper thin DOF.

I wish there was a photo of it next to something...

[vinny]

Hmm.....Fatali gallery. I usually stay away from any sales that have lots of grammatical errors.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Wish he'd show all of the writing on the lens. "GOI" is probably "State Optical Institute" in St. Petersburg. Would I want a goyishe lens? Seriously, though, that would probably make it something like a modern Soviet aerial lens, which could mean that it's probably a pretty good lens, compared to the WWII aerial lenses that come up from time to time.

I looked at the PC lens for Bronica he has up, and the photo of the lens mount is blurry. Can't this guy focus a basic shot like this?

[Jim Graves]

I sent him a message asking for more photos showing all the printing on the lens and in-focus photos of the front and rear elements. We'll see if we get a response.

[walter23]

Heh, is this Fatali the famous "fire under delicate arch" guy?

[Iga]

Looks as Helios 52.. GOI - State Optical Institute, USSR. Complete GOI catalogue can be found at www.pinhole.ru
Best,
Igor.

[Dan Fromm]

Could well be a Helios 52, Igor. There are also a couple of 200/1.5s in the 1963 GOI catalog, Helios-51, -67, and -68. But all of these are narrow angle lenses that won't come close to covering 4x5. The arsonist might also be a liar.

For those of us who, like me, couldn't find anything on the site Igor directed us to, links to the 1963 GOI lens list and two more Soviet lens catalogs by Y. A. Yakovlev can be found here: http://www.lallement.com/pictures/index.htm Click on "Files"

[Iga]

The link to djvu file at pinhole.ru is :
http://www.pinhole.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=5&Itemid=70&limit=4&limitstart=4
But it looks the same as from the site you sent. Thanks,
Igor.