Whether you use Wollensak?

[Antonenko]

Greetings. Often I observe pictures on this site. But at all I do not see pictures in Wollensak. They after all are made in the USA. They unless are bad? In my opinion, quite worthy glasses. FORGIVE for my English language.
Antonenklo Anton

[BrianShaw]

I use Wollensak lens on a Super Graphic and find the quality to be adequate for prints of small to moderate size (8 x 10 inch). More modern lenses tend to be better of course, but Wollensak is definitely worthy glass.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

My first LF photos were taken with a Wollensak Raptar 135mm that came mated to a Meridian 45B, and I'll venture out on a limb to suggest that more first-time LF user pictures have been taken with Wollensak lenses than any other brand.

A great many Wollensak lenses were made. The 135mm f/4.7 Raptar lenses in a Rapax shutter (also branded as the Optar/Graphex when mated to a Crown or Speed Graphic) were very common and quite good. Likely several millions of them were made in the late 1940's and 50's. Many are still in use and producing beautiful large format images.

All Raptar-branded lenses are single hard-coated, and work very well with color films.
However, the shutters are all 40-60+ years old and tend to need cleaning and service. New parts have been unavailable for ~35 years and the lens cells will not directly fit the now-standard Compur/Copal threads. So these Tessar-design lenses, which had perfectly good coverage for all press-camera needs, and which are equivalently sharp within their coverage circles and can be even higher-resolving on center than more modern Plasmat designs, tend to get short shrift among landscape and architectural photographers. Another answer why there is so little praise for Wollensak Raptars may be that there are now millions of other great lenses that are now available inexpensively which have more image circle and suit the needs of present-day large format photographers better.

That and one guy, oft-repeated, trashing Raptars on the Internet for coma aberrations (which surely were no worse than other Tessars of their era, else millions would not have been sold and mated to fine cameras).

Yet other Wollensak lenses like the soft focus portrait Veritos get high praise here. Among the very last lenses produced were the Plasmat 160mm and 210mm f/5.6 Pro Raptars, which are notable for their tremendous coverage, but are so very rare to find in usable condition today that no one has yet stepped up to test and compare images from them to other modern Plasmats.

[BarryS]

Hi Antonenko-- Wollensak made many great lenses and they're still popular. Try searching for the names of some Wollensak lenses (Verito, Vitax, Velostigmat) and you'll find plenty of images. I have four Wollensak lenses and they're all outstanding lenses.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1604/buddha1.jpg
Buddha Fragment
5x7" Tintype
11.5" Wollensak Vesta lens, f/5 @ 20 seconds

[goamules]

I could be happy with ONLY a set of Wollensak lenses, they made everything from wide angle to fast petzvals to soft focus.

[Mark Sawyer]

I agree with Garrett. I have many lenses from many manufacturers, including Schneider, Rodenstock, Voigtlander, Nikon, Fuji, Goerz, Cooke, etc. I use my Wollensaks as much or more than the others.

Perhaps they don't get the respect (or price tags) they deserve because so many were made, and they are more common (or at least, less rare). But they are very widely used, including on this forum. Perhaps Barry was right; you need to search for the lens name rather than the manufacturer. The "regulars" here all know who made the Velostigmats, Veritos, etc., and don't bother specifying "Wollensak".

[Bill_1856]

I can tell no difference in the quality of negatives from my 4x5 Crown Graphic using either the 135 Raptar or 135 Schneiner Xenar of the late '50s.

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi Antonenklo

As Barry, Garrett, Mark & others have stated the Wollensak legacy is alive & well here in the states. The Big three being Velostigmat II w/ diffusion disk, the Verito doublet convertible SF lens, & the Vitax f3.8 modified Petzval w/ softening knob.

Wollensak made a bunch of other great optics that can be great deals as well.

There is the often forgotten about Versar which is a f6 rectilinear lens that usually sales for quit bit less than other f6 rectilinear lens. examples like Emil Busch portrait Aplanat, or Euryscope IV sale for twice what you can get the Versar for. Get one in a studio shutter & your good to go . Try & get a Euryscope IV in a studio shutter. HA.

The Velostigmat or Raptar Ia the later version is 4 glued corrected cell combined to make a great convertible like the Protar VIIa.

The Wollensak wide angle selection is a very good as well. They are small, light, well corrected & enough IC to get the job done. the best part is to own one does not break the bank the Velostigmat III f9.5 wide angle & IIIa f12.5 extreme wide angle

There is also the Vesta which is a f5 modified petzval This one has no diffusion control. Great example shot by Barry w/ a Vesta f5 11.5" What more could you ask for?

One of the best kept secrets in the Wollensak stable is the Varium f3 triplet. This is a massive hunk of glass. Very fast soft /sharp has a nice glow wide open & very smooth & dreamy rendering of subject . W/ just a stop or two the lens sharpens up & depth grows & still keeps great smooth out of focus areas. Quit nice IMO. Again a fast lens helpful in wet plate & i find some of the roundness of drawing usually a quality of the petzval formula.

Wollensak also made a host of other optics some fantastic some just so so or average some examples would be tessars of different f stops, f8 R.R, process lenses, enlarging lenses, micro film lenses, 35 mm movie & still camera lenses. Well a bunch of stuff.

Then Wollensak has quit a long history of shutter development. we owe them a big thanks for the Alphax, Betax, Studio and One of the finest ever made was (IMHO) the Volute Man This would be very cost prohibited to manufacture today. Heck & a bunch of other ground breaking shutters in the late 1800's.

So Antonenklo you will have a great optic in a Wollensak. & in Russia it will be much more unique than here in the US VERY plentiful here. This is a subject that will get a large response & that alone speaks volumes .

Peace
Louis

[Merg Ross]

My favorite set of lenses for 8x10 are Wollensak Apo Raptars in barrel. I have a 13", 15" and 21 1/4", plus an 8 1/4" Graphic Raptar. I love the look from these lenses, very different from my modern lenses. If price is a major consideration, you will not find a better lens for the money, in my opinion.

[Antonenko]

I have 2 lenses. Wollensak Raptar 162/4.6 (already used it. An excellent lens) and Wollensak Optar 135/4.7 (was not in time yet). Both are bought on Ebey. Also I will continue to collect lenses of this manufacturer. As at you they cost cheaper. Thanks you for answers. Anton

[Scott Davis]

I've got an 8 1/4" Graphic Raptar which I really like and it provides amazing coverage for a lens so small and light (8x10 with movements). Another often overlooked lens is the Extreme Wide Angle Wollensak - I have a 159mm f12.5. They also made an f9 version which was really the exact same lens, but with the limiter on the iris removed so it can open up the extra half-stop for brightness.

[Antonenko]

At me a problem such. On Wollensak Optar 135/4.7 there are endurances to 400. But the index stops already on 200. In what the reason?
Anton

[goamules]

Good overview Louis. And Wollensak did start with shutters. But the Volute shutter was not by Wollensak, it's by Bausch and Lomb, the another great American optical company. You may have meant the Optimo shutter, which was very good, and made for years before the Betax took over. Every Optimo I've ever handled works, a lot of Betax's don't.

[al olson]

At me a problem such. On Wollensak Optar 135/4.7 there are endurances to 400. But the index stops already on 200. In what the reason?
Anton

On many shutters the spring tension at the fastest speed is very tight. You should be able to select the 400 speed by exerting a little more force.

[Louis Pacilla]

Good overview Louis. And Wollensak did start with shutters. But the Volute shutter was not by Wollensak, it's by Bausch and Lomb, the another great American optical company. You may have meant the Optimo shutter, which was very good, and made for years before the Betax took over. Every Optimo I've ever handled works, a lot of Betax's don't.

Yes Sir. You are correct. Otimo was the classic Wollensak I was thinking of. I think the B&L Volute & Wollensaks Optimo shutters are two sexiest shutters ( kind of strange) ever made. I also agree w/ you in regards to the quality of the Optimo. 1st class. What happened? I guess they just got to be expensive to manufacture. More than likely machined parts versus stamped.

One more correction from my earlier ramblings. The Varium is f3.5 & not f3

Thanks for the correction my friend.

Peace
Louis

[Darren Kruger]

Another often overlooked lens is the Extreme Wide Angle Wollensak - I have a 159mm f12.5. They also made an f9 version which was really the exact same lens, but with the limiter on the iris removed so it can open up the extra half-stop for brightness.

I'm not sure that is true for all versions. In the early literature for the Velostigmats they have the f12.5 version increasing coverage when stopping down which they don't say for the f/9.5 version. I want to say the original f/9.5 is a 4/2 design while the f/12.5 was a 8/4. In the 1950 Wollensak catalog they just list the f/6.8 wide angles and the IIIa EWA f/12.5 In the 1957 Wollensak catalog they show the Raptar wide angle f/9.5 being a 8/4 design and a f/6.8 version being 4/2 but don't list the f/12.5 as being available.

In either case all the wide angle versions are really light lenses for what they cover. I like mine a bunch.

-Darren

[Dan Fromm]

Darren, I've had a 65/6.8 Wolly. 4/4 double Gauss like the WF Ektar and Cooke Ser. VIIb and some Aristostigmats and ... But my one WF Ektar is very usable, the Wolly was pretty poor, as in "I never got an acceptable shot with it."

IMO towards the end Wollensak was very late to the party. No modern wide angle types, only a couple of 6/4 plasmat taking lenses, and no modern tele types. Wolly's plasmats are very good, my 160/5.6 Pro Raptar is a fine lens and my 4"/5.6 Enlarging Pro Raptar is outstanding in closeup work.

Sorry, can't speak to their cine lenses.

[Photomagica]

Antonenko,
The Wollensak Apochromatic Raptars are very high quality, low flare lenses. Like similar Apo process lenses these typically come in barrels, though I did find a 14" in a factory shutter. I use a 10 1/4 in. Apochromatic Raptar on my 4x5 and the 14" on 8x10.
Photomagica

[al olson]

. . .
IMO towards the end Wollensak was very late to the party. No modern wide angle types, only a couple of 6/4 plasmat taking lenses, and no modern tele types.
. . .

I have a 15" Raptar Telephoto in an Alphax shutter for my 8x10 and a 10" Raptar Telephoto in a Graphex shutter (made by Wollensak) for 4x5. The 15" is the only lens I have for the 8x10.

I don't know if these would qualify as modern tele types, but each telephoto produces excellent results.

I also have a 90mm Optar in a Graphex shutter and I have been pleased with its performance as well.

I think that perhaps more of the Wollensak lenses were branded by Graphic than were sold as Raptars. Back in that day if you ordered a Graphic camera and did not specify the lens it was delivered with an Optar.

Because of the mixed reviews we get from Wollensak owners it appears that any problems were not because of the design so much as maybe due to quality control.

[Filmnut]

I had a Wolly 90mm 6.8, using it as a wide on my Speed Graphic, and I wasn't really very happy with the quality of it, so I bought a Schneider Angulon 90mm which is much better, the corners in particular.
That said, by all reports Wollensak did make some good lenses, and I would by another, type, and in a different focal length. Of course, all of these lenses are old, some may have been serviced improperly, so variations will occur in identical ones.
I have two Ektars that are quite good, in particular the 203 7.7, is great.
Keith

[John Kasaian]

I've got a couple of Wollys, a 159 WA Yellow Dot and a Velostigmat. Fine lenses that take good photographs (if I do my part!) :)

[Andrew O'Neill]

I have a huge 12" wolley. No really. I do. I got it from Jim Gali a few years ago. Okay, this just sounds too weird.

[Daniel_Buck]

alot of my photos are taken with wollensak lenses. I have a 159mm wide angle, and a 12"/4.5 velostigmat, and I think one other somewhere (that doesn't get used much) I like the 12" alot!

[Mark Sawyer]

So, like...

I was thinking it over, you know...

And like, my twelve inch Velostigmat II is really pretty beat up. And I was thinking that, like, you know, I don't think it takes very good pictures or anything...

So like, if a really nice one comes up on ebay, I wouldn't bid on it if I were you.

Like, trust me...

You really woudn't like it. So, don't bid. Really.

Okay?

[jnantz]

i have a bunch of wollensak lenses
and think they have much more character
than the schneider super angulons i also use.
the symmar convertible ( converted ) has a little more character
than the other schneiders ...

as they used to engrave on their lens caps : let the user judge .

[W K Longcor]

As a student -years ago - my first LF lens was a used triple convertable raptar - 10", 15" and 20" in an Alphax shutter. I rarely used the 15 or 20" cells alone - but I have always loved the results of the 10" combination. Lenses have come and gone over the 45+ years since I bought that lens -- but I still own it and WILL NOT part with it -- it is an old and comfortable friend.

Now for a little humor -- this all reminded me of the NY camera dealer I once knew. He told me about the gentleman who came to his store one day. The man had a very heavy accent. He told them he had come to the store because he needed "woolysocks". They were about to send him to a men's clothing store - when he added that what he wanted was a good quality wide angle woolysocks lens!:D

[Philippe Grunchec]

Too bad you don't want to sell it, I would have been interested... as a companion for my 9"...

[Bernard Kaye]

After WWII, when W issued coated Raptar Ia convertible lenses, "copies" of Zeiss Protarlinse, more than one favorable reviewer lamented that they did not mark them Zeiss Protar: arrangement of four cemented elements, front and back, is identical to Zeiss (-++-): these are great lenses. Prewar uncoated examples are not at all expensive and there are only 4 air to glass surfaces when using both front & back units. You can "touch-feel" landscapes taken with coated or uncoated.
Bernie

[Rick A]

I have a handfull of Wollensak lenses for my 4x5's, and one of each focal length for my enlarger. I would put my Wollys against my Schneiders any time, and noone would be able to tell which was used.