Graf Variable

[papah]

I recently acquired an 8-1/2" Graf Variable, which I've mounted on both my D3 and my 4x5. Here are a couple of images, one at the sharp setting and one soft.

More in my soft focus gallery...

[Ernest Purdum]

Congratulations on your acquisition. The Grafs are, I think, worth the trouble it takes to find out how to get the best use out of any soft focus lens.

[panchro-press]

I have two Graf Variables. One for 4x5, one for 8x10 bought long before the prices went crazy. My favourite lenses.

According to a 1920's Burke and James catalog, the 8x10 lens went for nearly $300. Spending $300 for a lens now would be a major buying decision. Imagine what it was in the '20's!

-30-

[Steven Tribe]

I note in the "camera eccentric" B&J/Graf Optical Co. catalogue that there is a series A and B. The series B appears to be a bit smaller/lighter without the f3.8 capabilities of the series A. I have recently acquired a pre-patent date (patent pending) F3.8 16/18" which must be a series A type. Now the coverage is given as 8x10 - but I have seen other comments that the 14" also covers 8x10? Is this a difference of just covering the diagonal/extreme movements? Mine has, perhaps, the earliest case of Schneideritis (1923?) - flaking internal black enamel - so it was an american sickness before it spread to Germany. As an internal operation is necessary it would be nice to know what to expect internally? My guess is an Tessar copy?

[Mark Sawyer]

As an internal operation is necessary it would be nice to know what to expect internally? My guess is an Tessar copy?

Could be a Tessar, as the Velostigmats with the moving element were Tessars, but they moved the front element. But the Portrait Unar had an internal moving element, and it was the predecessor to the Tessar and somewhat related in design. Moving internal elements were also used in (just off the top of my head) the Cooke portrait lenses (triplets), Dallmeyers (Petzvals), and in the Heliar design with the Universal Heliar. Anyone know of any other designs that moved internal elements to achieve soft-focus?

(BTW, I have a couple of adjustable-diffused-focus Velostigmats and an 18" Portrait Unar, and none get very soft using the adjustment.)

[Steven Tribe]

On the Graf Variable it is the front lens which turns through 360 degrees. I have done a quick check - rear cell off - and it looks very like a Tessar. Fortunately, it is the rear cell which has almost all of the enamel specks!

[wfwhitaker]

I had a dream... All lenses were Tessars. There were no other designs. Everything was a Tessar or a Tessar derivative. It had been mathematically proven that other lens types could not possibly exist. Any lens, no matter the name, was a Tessar. It was like Tessar hell...

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi Folk's
1st things 1st. Hey Man :mad: ! Nothing wrong w/ Tessar's .Nothing... I really dig my 16" 1c:D .WAY underrated.
I bet if they had put a moving front element on the longer 1c's we would buy them up as well.

I just wanted add my personal experience w/ the Graf Variable. I have the 18-20.5 series A. Really a different look than the sharp/ soft Cooks / Vellos /Vitax/ Dalameyer series A,B ( the lenses of this type that I own & use) so this is what I make the comparison to. ...
The Graf has tons more element displacement & that may be why it's got so much personality.Also quit beautiful shot wide open @ 3.8.set to #1(no diffussion) ..The lens is just stunning. set between 3&5 it's beautiful. She may be one of my favorite lenses & fits the 8A like a glove :D

Peace
Louis P.

[Steven Tribe]

The 16/18 Graf was bought to fit on a 8x10 Sinar Norma. There won't be a lot of metal left when the 4 5/8" hole is cut so I will arrange an extra support down to the rail. Fortunately there isn't the same turning moment as with long barrel lenses (petzval/RR) - even though it is well over 2 kilos. I will try and use the sinar copal shutter even though this will mean some reduction in the widest aperture available. Does anyone have alternative experience with shuttering these large diameter fast lenses? Obviously, a Packard front mounted will keep the max F but will not give fast enough speeds, except using flash?

[Mark Sawyer]

Does anyone have alternative experience with shuttering these large diameter fast lenses? Obviously, a Packard front mounted will keep the max F but will not give fast enough speeds, except using flash?

My prefered method is a Packard shutter and neutral density filters. Slow film can sometimes help.

I'm not sure how a flash helps, unless you're in a dark studio area...

[Louis Pacilla]

The 16/18 Graf was bought to fit on a 8x10 Sinar Norma. There won't be a lot of metal left when the 4 5/8" hole is cut so I will arrange an extra support down to the rail. Fortunately there isn't the same turning moment as with long barrel lenses (petzval/RR) - even though it is well over 2 kilos. I will try and use the sinar copal shutter even though this will mean some reduction in the widest aperture available. Does anyone have alternative experience with shuttering these large diameter fast lenses? Obviously, a Packard front mounted will keep the max F but will not give fast enough speeds, except using flash?

Hi Steve

I have a sinar shutter. Only use it w/ 4x5 & the largest lens That I seem to mount in front is a 14" varitar . Works mostly because the max of the varitar's is f6.
As far as all my big lenses go. I mount a large holed packard behind each.This method is not the cheapest route. Particularly if you own quit a few large lenses ( guilty)
The problem using rear mounted packards on a sinar is board size(you know that).Front mounted Packard is an option I guess. Hey Steve! You know what time it is? Time to find a Century 7/9/8a/10a with a two poster;)

Peace
Louis P.

[Steven Tribe]

"Time to find a Century 7/9/8a/10a with a two poster".
Well, that is where the lens must originally have been fitted - or rather the Danish/Swedish equivalent . It comes from Gothenburg so I have visions of a smokey city studio with Greta Garbo, Zarah Leander and other Swedish divas creating the right publicity release looks in the 20's and 30's. But these giants of a camera on wheels with cast iron supports is NOT an option for me (spacewise)! If I can't get the right use from it it will have to go to a home with a dedicated studio. I think I will try with a Cambo first as the lens board has a few extra centimetres.

[Steven Tribe]

Nearer a solution! The Graf variable seems to be a dialyt. The two separate cells have the same focal length but do not quite produce a sharp image. I have never seen glass with so many tiny air bubbles and internal specks! Where did they get their glass from? But, as is written everywhere " Any internal faults which have been passed by the manufacturer will have no effect on the preformance of the lens".

[Steven Tribe]

Whilst waiting to upgrade my cambo set to match the challenge of the 16/18 variable, I have found some more data on the whole Graf Variable concept which might of interest for others. The booklet entitled "How to choose and use a lens" published by the American Photographic Publishing Co. in 1925 (that is, a few years after the Variable was patented) says:

"The Graf Variable is substantially a Steinheil construction but, unlike the Unifocal, is unsymmetrical in design. The adoption of unsymmetrical construction here, as in a number of other cases, has resulted in superior corrections as compared with strictly symmetrical type of construction, so that, in the case of the Graf, it is possible to enlarge the maximum aperture to f3.8. Especialy notable is the unique quality of the the image secured when used as a diffused focus lens, for which purpose the front element is made adjustable so as to introduce a certain amount of aberration."

and:

"The Graf Variable is fundamentally an anastigmat which is fully corrected for an aperture of f3.8. By altering the separation of the front element, however, it changes gradually from a fully corrected anastigmat to a diffused focus objective which ranges all the way from very slight to a consider degree of diffusion. The principle is not new, having been adopted by Dallmeyer and others in lenses designed for portrait use. It is, however, only fair to say that the qualitity of diffusion produced by the Graf is in no sense comparable to these, and it possesses an unique, all its own. The degree of diffusion is more completely under the control of the operator than in any other lens, as there are two means of control, the adjustment of the diffusing device and the use of the diaphragm. The depth of focus, which is dependent on the aperture, may thus be varied independently of the degree of diffusion, which obviously is impossible where the only means of controlling the degree of diffusion is by the aperture, in which case the reduction of the aperture to increase the depth of field at once reduces the amount of difussion."

The Unifocal was a dialyt design from the first decade of the 20th C - made as a f4.5 and f6.0 series. Perhaps each these two separate types formed the basis of the 2 models of the Graf Variable (A and B)?
Hope this is of interest for Graf owners? The other "soft lenses" discussed were Smith Semi-achromatic, Spencer Portland, Gundlach meniscus, Dallmeyer, Struss Pictorial, Kalosat (this is the quartz meniscus lens), Verito, Hyperion, Ilex Photoplastic - and Dallmeyer-Bergheim and Hergamis Tadeidoscope (both very briefly as they were not available on the US market).