Ansel Adams gear

[ignatiusjk]

Does anybody know what wappened to Ansels photo gear? I would love to have one of his lens. My post in the "photography" section shows why I'm asking. I know his negatives are at the Uni of Arizona St,but what happened to his gear?

[Kirk Gittings]

Even if they were available you would pay a huge premium for them. On the other hand I'm sure you could find copies of all his lenses that were of equal quality. Most of his famous images were made with 8x10 and utilizing emaculate technique in the field and in the darkroom, it is not all just the lenses.

[David A. Goldfarb]

And the lenses were fairly ordinary at that, like the 10" Wide-Field Ektar.

Also, shooting at small apertures as Adams often did, all lenses of even modest quality are nearly equivalent in terms of resolution.

One thing Adams did, though, was to know the area where he was photographing very well and to revisit locations under various lighting conditions to produce many of the photographs that are iconic today. At the same time he was ready to produce a usable negative under fleeting lighting conditions, as he did with "Moonrise," and had the darkroom skills to make a great print even when the negative was far from perfect.

[Bill_1856]

There ain't no magic bullet (see my answer to your other post).

[Deane Johnson]

I would suspect that even our worst photo gear today is far better than most of what was available at the time Ansel made his greatest images. It's more about vision and technique than it is about equipment.

In reading your other post, I suspect what you are seeing in his prints that you like is the fact that most were large negatives. The other thing may be that they were very well focused. He knew how to use a view camera. He knew what he could expect from a lens and how to get the most from each step of the process of making the photograph.

[Walter Calahan]

If you can find a Cooke XV lens (not the new XVa), you'll have one of his lenses.

One recently sold on eBay. Don't remember the exact price, but it was under 2 grand.

Photographs are made with the mind, not gear.

[John Kasaian]

I recollect that his Hassy gear was auctioned off for charity a few years back. I think Don Imus bid on it but I don't know if he actually won it.

I recall seeing a view camera at the Ansel Adams Gallery when it was located on Cannery Row in Montery---whether it was one of AA's or not I don't remember.

In The Making of Forty Photographs Adams reveals a great deal of info about the equipmet he used.

I have a 10" WF Ektar which was an Adam's "fave" and FWIW it is a fine lens but it the most important ingredient in the recipe for making Ansel Adams photographs is....Ansel Adams!

Beware!
Just having a lens like Adams used is a double edged sword: It is kind of an ego boost to be using the same type gear but all the while humbly reminding me of the truth that it is after all the photographer, not the gear that makes a photograph.

If a Turner Reich Triple Convertable could make your photographs come out looking like Edward Weston took 'em they'd probably be worth a lot more than what you can routinely find 'em for on ebay ;)

[lee\c]

Imus says he won it and took possession of it.

lee\c

[Bill_4606]

Try dropping John Sexton a line. He might have some insight...

Bill Riley

[lenser]

While it would be wonderful to own an Adams lens or camera just to celebrate his life, a Swiss architect said it quite well: "It's not the camera, it's the eye." --Justus Dahinden

[christopher walrath]

I see what he's saying though. My grandfather used to go down to Bay Hill and play and once ran into Arnold Palmer who offered to sell an old sand wedge. My grandfather bought it for $20 bucks. The bottom where the 'S' would be looks like it was left in a media blaster for an hour on high. Guess where that sand wedge is now? It's cool having a tool that was used by a hero. And I guess if I had the dough burning a hole in my pocket, I would jump on one of Mr. Adams' beauts in a heartbeat. Maybe half of one. The heartbeat, not the lens.

[Turner Reich]

I have some of it.

[Mark Sawyer]

Adams' favorite 8x10, a butt-ugly aluminum imitation of a 2d custom made for some obscure polar expedition, is at the CCP in Tucson. As they have Adams' archive, they may have more of his equipment.


There ain't no magic bullet (see my answer to your other post).

I think the magic bullet is knowing what you're doing. Adams knew how to expose and develop a beautiful negative, which is most of the work in making a beautiful print. He also knew how to print for subtlety or drama. There are a lot of steps involving craft and artistry in making a fine print. Adams was a master of all of them.

And that's one heckuva magic bullet! :)

[neil poulsen]

Another source would be Rod Dresser. I recall that he was put in charge of the trust or something. He's the one who set up the auction for the Hasselblad. He might know about the other equipment.

[Phil]

Here's to the "Magic Bullet"...

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/chasing-magic-bullet.html

[Deane Johnson]

What you guys may not know is that Ansel had a secret zone he never told anyone about.

[neil poulsen]

Whether or not he had a magic bullet, I think he often had an ace in the hole. By taking two photos at the same exposure, he could later optimize the highlights with a different development.

[Dave Wooten]

Some of it was traveling with the show of his prints etc. Some is in Arizona as mentioned, and then maybe Turner Reich has the remainder.:) :confused:

[Don Dudenbostel]

Seems like his Hasselblad system only went for around $15k. I studied with Adams in 1975 and at the time due to severe arthritis in his hands he was only using the Hasselblads. He showed me samples of work he shot with his Contax rf and if I remember correctly he used a 121 super angulon, Cooke lens as mentioned, a couple of Dagors and some Wide Field Ektats. I think he also used a Dallmyer tele from time to time. He did shoot a good bit of 8x10 but he shot almost every other smaller format including a great deal of 4x5 and 5x7.

It's not the lenses, film or developer but the technique.

[Turner Reich]

The clothes makes the man, the equipment makes the craftsman.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

I love the comparison to a golf club!

It's just a little white ball, people. Get over it!

[John Kasaian]

The clothes makes the man, the equipment makes the craftsman.

And a true craftsman makes much of his own equipment!:)

Then of course there's Edward Weston who had some very pedestrian equipment through much of his early days, but that didn't slow him down any:D

[Colin Graham]

What you guys may not know is that Ansel had a secret zone he never told anyone about.

I hear it was tasty over ice. ;)