cyberjunkie
11-Apr-2011, 18:49
Hi everybody.
The lack of in-depth infos about LF soviet lenses is truly amazing. I don't know the reason, probably it has to do with the scarcity of the original documentation, and with the nature of the optical production in the east block: wide, varied, made in a large number of production sites, with a lot of small scale and specialty products, and largely undocumented. Some of the existing documents can be found only in russian language, but that didn't prevent the availability of various books and online resources about, say, russian Leica copies.
It is true that large format lenses are a more specialized stuff, and that the interest for them is not so widespread, but i was very suprised, when i found that a web search about some lenses brought very little infos, or NO reference at all!
Until now, the only "communist" lens i owned was a nice CZJ Tessar 4.5/300mm.
Unfortunately it's a lens that can't be easily fitted in a shutter, so i had no chance to test it on film, because i still have to do the "final touch" to my De Vere 8x10 adapted for Sinar/Copal behind-the-lens shutter.
East Germany glasses are considered to be of very good quality, particularly late multicoated examples, as black f/4.5 Tessars and Apo Gerogons. There are enough infos about these lenses, on this forum and elsewhere, so everybody in need of informations would find some satisfying answers.
Not the same luck for lenses made in Russia or other satellite countries: my latest purchases, a Kaelar 6.8/165mm in Compound and a Lomo O-2 10/600mm, have a vastly inferior online coverage.
The former is a mysterious object, if you do a search you'll just find a couple of links of Ebay sales. It should be a (Czech?) Dagor copy, i'll check the reflections as soon as i get it. I purchased it for the shutter, with the remote hope that the Compound would fit two Protar lens cells i have at home. If it doesn't work as expected, i have the idea of pitting it against a Goerz USA Dagor of the same focal: somehow i am guessing that the copy could even outperform the original. :) I even have a third 6.8/165mm of Dagor design, it's a Laach Dialytar. It would be a very interesting test, but i am afraid that the test would be limited to the center of the coverage; i am not going to waste some 5x7" sheets, shooting the exact same picture with the sole scope of testing the performance... while i have plenty of 120 B&W films to be used with a 6x9 magazine.
If somebody is interested in this comparative of 165mm Dagors, just let me know. I'll post my findings as soon as i get back the Compound of the Dialytar from the repair shop. In the meantime, anybody with some knowledge about the Kaelar is kindly invited to post his findings. The less infos i find about a lens, the more curious i become about it!
The other lens, a Lomo O-2 process lens of 600mm FL, is not so mysterious.
I couldn't find much in the various forums, probably few people own the lens, and those who do felt no urge to post their personal experience. Nevertheless, i found some very interesting informations on a site specialized in soviet cameras and optics.
I was looking for a process lens of long focal, to be used on a 8x10 camera, and what i found made me decide to buy the lens.
The O-2 is of recent design, and unlike other russian process lenses (like some with the letters RF" in their name) is not a Tessar optimized for close range, but a Dialyte, like the Apo Ronar.
What made me choose this lens, was the information that it was made by some special division of Lomo, the same one that made some very special objectives for the military apparatus, like those used on spy planes.
From what i have read, the process lenses of longer focals, like the O-2, were made with more care and with stricter specifications, than the bulk of large format lenses made for tailboard wooden cameras easily found on the bay (13x18 and 18x24 cm versions). The vast majority of those lenses are tessars of f/4.5 speed, and their quality is probably good (better if late coated examples), but if i had to choose, i'd go for their East Germany cousins :)
I don't remember where i found the informations about russian process lenses, but i saved the pictures of the schemes of the last models: some are tessars, some are dialytes. Ask if interested.
Again, any further infos about the Lomo O-2 would be appreciated.
Any other contribute about early LF lenses, non-tessar examples, or any other curiosity, would be very welcomed as well.
have fun
CJ
The lack of in-depth infos about LF soviet lenses is truly amazing. I don't know the reason, probably it has to do with the scarcity of the original documentation, and with the nature of the optical production in the east block: wide, varied, made in a large number of production sites, with a lot of small scale and specialty products, and largely undocumented. Some of the existing documents can be found only in russian language, but that didn't prevent the availability of various books and online resources about, say, russian Leica copies.
It is true that large format lenses are a more specialized stuff, and that the interest for them is not so widespread, but i was very suprised, when i found that a web search about some lenses brought very little infos, or NO reference at all!
Until now, the only "communist" lens i owned was a nice CZJ Tessar 4.5/300mm.
Unfortunately it's a lens that can't be easily fitted in a shutter, so i had no chance to test it on film, because i still have to do the "final touch" to my De Vere 8x10 adapted for Sinar/Copal behind-the-lens shutter.
East Germany glasses are considered to be of very good quality, particularly late multicoated examples, as black f/4.5 Tessars and Apo Gerogons. There are enough infos about these lenses, on this forum and elsewhere, so everybody in need of informations would find some satisfying answers.
Not the same luck for lenses made in Russia or other satellite countries: my latest purchases, a Kaelar 6.8/165mm in Compound and a Lomo O-2 10/600mm, have a vastly inferior online coverage.
The former is a mysterious object, if you do a search you'll just find a couple of links of Ebay sales. It should be a (Czech?) Dagor copy, i'll check the reflections as soon as i get it. I purchased it for the shutter, with the remote hope that the Compound would fit two Protar lens cells i have at home. If it doesn't work as expected, i have the idea of pitting it against a Goerz USA Dagor of the same focal: somehow i am guessing that the copy could even outperform the original. :) I even have a third 6.8/165mm of Dagor design, it's a Laach Dialytar. It would be a very interesting test, but i am afraid that the test would be limited to the center of the coverage; i am not going to waste some 5x7" sheets, shooting the exact same picture with the sole scope of testing the performance... while i have plenty of 120 B&W films to be used with a 6x9 magazine.
If somebody is interested in this comparative of 165mm Dagors, just let me know. I'll post my findings as soon as i get back the Compound of the Dialytar from the repair shop. In the meantime, anybody with some knowledge about the Kaelar is kindly invited to post his findings. The less infos i find about a lens, the more curious i become about it!
The other lens, a Lomo O-2 process lens of 600mm FL, is not so mysterious.
I couldn't find much in the various forums, probably few people own the lens, and those who do felt no urge to post their personal experience. Nevertheless, i found some very interesting informations on a site specialized in soviet cameras and optics.
I was looking for a process lens of long focal, to be used on a 8x10 camera, and what i found made me decide to buy the lens.
The O-2 is of recent design, and unlike other russian process lenses (like some with the letters RF" in their name) is not a Tessar optimized for close range, but a Dialyte, like the Apo Ronar.
What made me choose this lens, was the information that it was made by some special division of Lomo, the same one that made some very special objectives for the military apparatus, like those used on spy planes.
From what i have read, the process lenses of longer focals, like the O-2, were made with more care and with stricter specifications, than the bulk of large format lenses made for tailboard wooden cameras easily found on the bay (13x18 and 18x24 cm versions). The vast majority of those lenses are tessars of f/4.5 speed, and their quality is probably good (better if late coated examples), but if i had to choose, i'd go for their East Germany cousins :)
I don't remember where i found the informations about russian process lenses, but i saved the pictures of the schemes of the last models: some are tessars, some are dialytes. Ask if interested.
Again, any further infos about the Lomo O-2 would be appreciated.
Any other contribute about early LF lenses, non-tessar examples, or any other curiosity, would be very welcomed as well.
have fun
CJ