Old Wollensak convertable

[ImSoNegative]

I have an old wollensak convertable, the focal lengths are 10 1/2, 17 1/2 and 27 1/2. the shutter is a senaca (i think thats how you spell it. anyone else have one of these lenses? i want to see if im right here, with both elements on its a 10.5. with front element removed its 17.5 and with back element removed its 27.5, is this correct? thanks

[John Schneider]

http://www.cameraeccentric.com/info.html

[W K Longcor]

I think you have it correct. I have had a Wollensak Triple convertible Raptar for years. Mine is 10" / 15" / 20" in an Alphax shutter. It is a great lens. As a 10" it is tops in all respects. The 15" and 20" need to be stopped down about half way to get good sharpness ( this comment is coming from a commercial photographer -- portrait and pictorial guys would be happy with the wide open effect). I was always told that when using just the front element ( the longest focal length) that you should move the element to the rear of the shutter -- with the iris in front of the lens). Hope this is helpful.

[Kevin Crisp]

I've now tried two of the larger coated Wolly Convertibles and also the 210mm, which is recommended for 5X7. I have had to recement the elements on both of the big ones, they seem prone to separation even though they were not put together with balsam. The elements don't appear to be exact copies of protars, although they are each four elements, all cemented. As single elements at the longer focal lengths I think these are superior to the protar cells, particularly on edge sharpness. They are very nice lenses.