Found Lens, what camera to buy

[kramynot2000]

Hi All,

This is my first post and I'm a total newbie to Large Format.

I currently shoot 35mm and MF and have always wanted to move up to Large Format, preferably 4x5. Well, I was purchasing a used enlarger and for $10 more, the sellers said they'd throw in a box of photography "junk" that included an old slide projector that I wanted. I decided to go for it and lo' and behold, at the bottom I find a Kodak Commercial Ektar f:6.3 10 inch. lens on a No. 4 synchro shutter mounted to what I'm guessing is a lens board.:) The board is aluminum I think and measures 4"x4". Glass is clean, no fungus, and shutter seems to function at all speeds.:D I'm thinking this is a sign for me to move to Large Format.

So, I'm wondering what type of camera will this lens work with? I've been doing some internet research and I figure to start all I need is a camera with some film holders. There seem to be alot available for auction (Calumet, Toyo, etc.), but I'd like to get one that this lens would work well for. Would any single rail work? How about a 4x5 Crown/Speed Graphic?

Thanks for any advice and/or tips.

Tony

[Wayne R. Scott]

How about a 4x5 Graphic View II view camera? Then lens board should fit and the View II has enough bellows extention to handle the 10" Ektar.

The lens will also cover 5x7 so you could look for one of those.

Or, I am thinking it is sign for you to sell the lens to me for $14 so you can make a 40% profit.

Wayne

[Ernest Purdum]

A Commercial Ektar is a well-regarded lens useful as a long lens on 4" X 5" or slightly long for 5" X 7". It might be a little frustrating as the only lens on a 4x5.

[Tom Monego]

Used a 10 Comm Ektar on 8x10 and with an early Toyo field ( grey aluminum model) The lens was sharp and made nice images but it is long for 4x5. Some 4x5s may not have the bellows extension to do moderate closeups, I believe a Crown Graphic Bellows only extends to 12 inches. I was great on the Toyo, really a 5x7, and a little low on coverage with an 8x10, would cover straight on but very minimal movements.
Great find.

Tom

[Richard Wasserman]

I have that same lens and just finished cleaning up a Kodak 5x7 2D to put it on. Now to find some time....

[Glenn Thoreson]

Well, that's kind of an unusual request. Most buy a camera and then go searching for a lens. :D You have acquired one of the finest lenses out there. You mentioned the board is aluminum. Can you post a picture? Maybe we can identify the camera it came from. Speed and Crown Graphics make great cameras for beginners. Or for anyone else, for that matter. They don't cost all that much, either. I use them all the time. A 10" lens will work fine on one, for everything but really close focus. You would be using the very sharpest part of the image circle on 4X5. I wish you well.

[William McEwen]

Tony, you did really well. :)

[MIke Sherck]

A good quality lens. It will make a good long lens for 4x5, for example, perfect for head and shoulders portraits, it would be a normal lens on 5x7, and is a moderate wide angle for 8x10. Good luck with it! If there's a letter "L" with a circle around it on the front of the lens, that means it's coated. ("Luminized"). You can date the lens by the two letters preceding the serial number:

CAMEROSITY = 1234567890. So a lens with a serial number of, say, RO_____ would have been made in 1956. It isn't important, just one of those bits of trivia that you can pull out at cocktail parties to wow pretty photographers of the opposite sex... ;)

Mike

[Jon Shiu]

I would get one of the Calumet CC-400 rail cameras. A good basic 4x5 monorail for around $100 that takes 4x4 in. boards.

Jon

[Alan Davenport]

Any 4x5 camera will do fine. I use a 10" f/4.5 lens in a No. 4 shutter on my Tachihara, perhaps as delicate a camera as you'll find. The only one complaining is me, from having to carry the lens/shutter.

[Eirik Berger]

It is a reasonable priced Toyo AII here on the forum. That would do the trick...

[kramynot2000]

All, thanks for the replies. Everyone seems to agree that this would be a long lens for a 4x5, but I'm wondering as a frame of reference what would be a similar long lens for a 35mm camera. So would this be similar to a 135mm or 200mm on a 35mm SLR?

Also, looks like I have an old lens with a serial beginning with RC, which I guess means 1951. Also there is an L in a circle.

thanks,

[Jim Galli]

All, thanks for the replies. Everyone seems to agree that this would be a long lens for a 4x5, but I'm wondering as a frame of reference what would be a similar long lens for a 35mm camera. So would this be similar to a 135mm or 200mm on a 35mm SLR?

Also, looks like I have an old lens with a serial beginning with RC, which I guess means 1951. Also there is an L in a circle.

thanks,

Might look like approximately 80mm on the 35 full frame. Look for an old Burke and James Grover with both 5X7 and 4X5 backs. Not worth much. Old, heavy, and un-impressive to look at, but wonderfully stable and lots of bang for the buck. On 5X7 the 254 would look like a 50mm on 35 full frame. The circle L is for Luminized, Kodak's word for anti-reflective coatings. Everyone loves their Ektar's. They were almost perfectly apochromatic as Kodak intended them for professionals to get excellent results with Kodachrome.

[cdholden]

The RC is a date code. "CAMEROSITY" shows your Ektar to be manufactured in 1951.
C=1
A=2
M=3
...
etc.

Like Jim stated above, I *heart* my Ektars.

[kramynot2000]

Thanks for all the comments everyone. I'm off to look for a camera now.:)