cyberjunkie
25-Aug-2010, 06:23
I just purchased on Ebay, for a very cheap price, a strange barrel lens:
it's a Rodenstok Rotelar 6.6/400, in a strange perfectly cylindrical barrel, whose linearity is interrupted by what looks like a diaphragm scale, expressed in numerical values (1, 2, 3, ...) instead of f/ numbers.
The vendor deals in laser equipments, and after a brief Google search, i could find very few infos, mostly from japanese pages. In one of those pages, (badly) translated by Google, i saw a post where it was reported that these glasses are optically the same as the Rotelars once made for large format cameras.
Actually i own one of those, a 270mm Graphic Rotelar originally made by Rodenstok to equip with a tele the Graflex press cameras, whose bellows extension was not so great.
The construction was also good: while the lens itself was a little heavy, and quite bulky (for a 4x5" camera), the front standard was not stressed too much because the back cell (fitted on the back of the standard and tucked inside the bellows) balanced the weight of the front cell, that was a little different in size, but of comparable weight.
Back to the modern beast now.
While the physical appearance is totally different, i thought that the common name could mean something, and i decided to buy that strange lens, without any more pondering. After all, the price was very low and the vendor was willing to ship abroad with USPS First Class.
I always wanted a longer tele for my Technika III, and after it is sold, for my Tachihara, and unforunately when i had a nice offer for a 370mm Tele-Xenar in Compound, my wallet was so thin that i had to pass:mad: .
When i found this barrel lens i decided to take the chance, after all i have an universal diaphragm clamp, two Silens shutters, and a Sinar/Copal shutter, so i have at least the chance to test it, as soon as i receive the parcel:)
To fit the lens on 4x5" folding is totally another thing... the small Silens is too small, the big one too big, and the Sinar shutter, well, it would be more an exercise of complex mechanics than a viable solution! There is always the chance to front-mount it on a shutter, but bigger shutters are becoming so expensive that sometimes they sell for more when sold alone, that with the original lens fitted on them!!
If you know the lens in subject, or have any observation/advice, please post your thoughts.
I don't even know if the lens is truly a tele, and what's its coverage!
Even the max aperture sounds a little strange, i've never seen a Rotelar with a f/6.6 aperture. Of course i don't even know if the 400mm focal length was originally used, i don't have any Rodenstok vintage catalog, andd Rodestok/Linos web sites are of no help (kudos to Schneider, they have pdf's available for nearly all their vintage products!!).
I attach two images of the lens, together with a few measures:
# Overall lens length: 5.81"
# Front lens dia: 2.38"
# Rear lens dia: 2.70"
# Thread dia: 3.14"
have fun
CJ
it's a Rodenstok Rotelar 6.6/400, in a strange perfectly cylindrical barrel, whose linearity is interrupted by what looks like a diaphragm scale, expressed in numerical values (1, 2, 3, ...) instead of f/ numbers.
The vendor deals in laser equipments, and after a brief Google search, i could find very few infos, mostly from japanese pages. In one of those pages, (badly) translated by Google, i saw a post where it was reported that these glasses are optically the same as the Rotelars once made for large format cameras.
Actually i own one of those, a 270mm Graphic Rotelar originally made by Rodenstok to equip with a tele the Graflex press cameras, whose bellows extension was not so great.
The construction was also good: while the lens itself was a little heavy, and quite bulky (for a 4x5" camera), the front standard was not stressed too much because the back cell (fitted on the back of the standard and tucked inside the bellows) balanced the weight of the front cell, that was a little different in size, but of comparable weight.
Back to the modern beast now.
While the physical appearance is totally different, i thought that the common name could mean something, and i decided to buy that strange lens, without any more pondering. After all, the price was very low and the vendor was willing to ship abroad with USPS First Class.
I always wanted a longer tele for my Technika III, and after it is sold, for my Tachihara, and unforunately when i had a nice offer for a 370mm Tele-Xenar in Compound, my wallet was so thin that i had to pass:mad: .
When i found this barrel lens i decided to take the chance, after all i have an universal diaphragm clamp, two Silens shutters, and a Sinar/Copal shutter, so i have at least the chance to test it, as soon as i receive the parcel:)
To fit the lens on 4x5" folding is totally another thing... the small Silens is too small, the big one too big, and the Sinar shutter, well, it would be more an exercise of complex mechanics than a viable solution! There is always the chance to front-mount it on a shutter, but bigger shutters are becoming so expensive that sometimes they sell for more when sold alone, that with the original lens fitted on them!!
If you know the lens in subject, or have any observation/advice, please post your thoughts.
I don't even know if the lens is truly a tele, and what's its coverage!
Even the max aperture sounds a little strange, i've never seen a Rotelar with a f/6.6 aperture. Of course i don't even know if the 400mm focal length was originally used, i don't have any Rodenstok vintage catalog, andd Rodestok/Linos web sites are of no help (kudos to Schneider, they have pdf's available for nearly all their vintage products!!).
I attach two images of the lens, together with a few measures:
# Overall lens length: 5.81"
# Front lens dia: 2.38"
# Rear lens dia: 2.70"
# Thread dia: 3.14"
have fun
CJ