Aldis 7.7 Anastigmat 16.25

[Shahid Zaidi]

What will this lens cover in terms of format 7x17 or larger?

[Dan Fromm]

The VM says it is for 10 x 12. Do the arithmetic yourself.

[Shahid Zaidi]

Ok. Thanks.

[Steven Tribe]

Just in case your maths/geometry is not your strong subject. The hypotenuse of 10 and 12 is just over 15" - which means the corners will be dark on a 7x17" film plate.

[cyberjunkie]

Found this old thread looking for infos about a lens i just bought.
Not much about Aldis lenses in general, and almost nothing about this particular lens.
Allen Rumme lists the lens as a "general use" one, with 11x14" coverage wide open.
It is strange that it is listed as "Special", and not as "series III" like all the other f/7.7 optics.
I own a few Aldis f/7.7 lenses, engraved in different ways ("Uno" or simply "Anastigmat", with or without "Series III" specification, IIRC).
One of them even has the original "Trio" accessory lens, in original box, which was used in place of the original front lens, to increase FL.
From quick observation, the advertised coverage of 80 degrees seems to be realistic. My 11" was supposed to cover whole plate wide open, but i remember that the 8x10" is nicely covered, stopping down a little.
The 16.25" version is NOT present in any catalog i have in my HD. The 1925 catalog reports a max FL of 11" for the Series III line.
IF the coverage is comparable with the other f/7.7 optics, then 11x14" wide open should be well within reach (as reported in the Allen Rumme list).

Aldis lenses are very underrated, as a whole.
The only "blue blood" one seems to be the soft focus version (which should be fairly rare, and not available in long focals).
It is good news for those who appreciate the good contrast of the "uno" design (only four glass-air surfaces), and its very nice bokeh: prices are usually affordable, and some even dirty cheap (as with 8" f/4 projection triplets, a nice tool for swirlies lovers).
Especially nice are the f/4.5 portrait version, and the f/7.7 family with wide coverage.

I would appreciate very much any information about the 16.25" lens, and any source for Aldis catalogs

[Dan Fromm]

cj, how sharp are your Unos? I ask because mine (4.75" and around 135 mm but not engraved with focal length) are nicely contrasty but aren't really sharp centrally at any aperture.

[Steven Tribe]

I found it towards the end of the VM entry.
I believe the VM comments of it being a triplet - it looks exactly the same as the Cooke 2E being sold at the same time by the same seller! But without the soft adjustment, of course!

[cyberjunkie]

I found it towards the end of the VM entry.
I believe the VM comments of it being a triplet - it looks exactly the same as the Cooke 2E being sold at the same time by the same seller! But without the soft adjustment, of course!

There was a nice Dallmeyer lens too...
I tried my luck with that lens as well, but i was beaten.
I didn't partecipate to the Cooke Portrait auction, cause i have the SAME lens myself. I have to check how it went, to get an idea of the current market value of the smaller brother of the Series IIE family.

It is difficult to be certain about the design of Aldis lenses.
If you don't read "Uno" in the engravings, it could be either a triplet with zero separation between the two front lenses, or a conventional triplet.
Even the Uno becomes a triplet if you use the alternate "bi-focal" front cell.
IIRC, the same happen with "Duo" and "Trio" front cells, which could well be the new trade names of the old focal-multiplier front cells.

I'll check the VM. Most of the times it accurate about UK lenses, but i found a few errors myself...

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@ Dan.

The only Aldis lenses that were tested on film are the projection ones.
The other were just checked on the ground glass, for coverage and image quality.
Of course it's just a general feeling you get, nothing like exposing a sheet of film, scanning it, and checking the details on the monitor.
Maybe i will expose a few frames on a 120 film, in a short time.
It will be just the center of the image circle, but i guess that's what you want to know.
I'll post a follow-up when i have some news.

[Dan Fromm]

cj, mine are just a bit soft all over the frame (2x3) at all apertures, don't improve much on stopping down. But on 2x3 I'm not really using the outer part of even a 4.75 incher's image circle. Usable lenses, you understand, but not my best.