Alternatives to Areo Ektar?

[Randy]

Just wondering if there is any other lens to look for. Something in the range of 7"-10" that has a wide aperture. Those Ektars seem to be hard to find and cost a lot...and I am guessing the novelty will wear off once I shoot with it for a while. Any suggestions?

[redu]

There are 2 different 7" aero ektar listings currently at ebay. One of them is $530._ BIN/OBO. Thorium goes for high these days.

[toolbox]

You might check out the Dallmeyer Pentac, another WWII aerial lens that will cover 4x5. They're an 8"/f2.9. Prices are all over the place...I just bought one that's being shipped from the UK for a hundred bucks (going to be closer to $140 with shipping). It's kind of a beater cosmetically, but is probably ok optically (at least fine for what I want to use it for). I've seen them sell for over $300 too...just seems to depend on how many people are looking for one at any given time. Pretty much always less than the Ektar though, and from what I understand the Dallmeyer isn't radioactive either.

[Frank Petronio]

You could just shoot a regular vintage Symmar or Xenar at wide apertures in a round aperture shutter (1960s Compur or earlier).... wonderful but not over-powering bokeh and a little more depth of field so a little bit more margin of error. You can always introduce a little wrong-way swing and tilt if you prefer things more messed up.

Once you have an Aero, you run into problems with shutter speed (not fast enough for the wide aperture), infinitesimal depth of field at f/2.5 (portraits are half luck to hit focus), and it weighs a ton, costs a lot, overpowers the Speed Graphic, and oh yeah, it's radioactive!

Sorry to be a skeptical dick, they are trendy... I fell for it six years ago or so and it was fun for a few shots but it feels like a Lomo-Holga-Lens Baby novelty to me now.

[JamesFromSydney]

This is a good write-up:

http://motamedi.info/speed.htm

[Randy]

...portraits are half luck to hit focus...
That's what I figured Frank. And as much trouble as I have with faces being soft with regular modern lenses, I imagine I would be round-filing a lot of 5X7 negs with an Areo Ektar. I think I'll just play with swings and tilts as you suggested. That is less expensive, isn't it?

Toolbox, post some pics soon from your Dallmeyer Pentac. I am anxious to see how it does.

[sully75]

can someone explain the point of the aero-ektar? I don't really understand what the big deal is. just that it's a fast lens with tons of bokeh?

[Mark Sawyer]

Very fast lens with its own bokeh.

[Randy]

This is a good write-up:

http://motamedi.info/speed.htm

James, good link. After reading, pretty much discuraged me from bothering. Just use what I have.
Curious about the yellowing of the Areo Ektars. I had heard that letting them sit in direct sun would help with that.
This fellow (http://web.aanet.com.au/bayling/repair.html) has another method for fixing yellowing lens elements :)

[fenderfour]

Paubel anticomar? (not quite enough coverage) Cooke Speedic?

[Lachlan 717]

Seconding the Pentac.

I preset the focus using a piece of string with a button on one end, my tripod on the other.

I have the sitter hold the button on their eye with the string tight just before exposure. They hold their position, drop the button and then I shoot. Easy!

[Mark Sawyer]

I use a rolled up newspaper and smack 'em on the head if they move. Even easier!

[Lachlan 717]

I use a rolled up newspaper and smack 'em on the head if they move. Even easier!

Especially if it's a weekend edition!

[Sevo]

can someone explain the point of the aero-ektar? I don't really understand what the big deal is. just that it's a fast lens with tons of bokeh?

DOF is another matter, but if you get one for speed you'll be disappointed. They are not really that fast - the design already loses about one effective stop due to its glass bulk, and in current state you'll usually lose at least another to residual yellowing. The effective speed of mine was less than that of coated f/4.5 Tessar types even after prolonged clearing.

[goamules]

You could go for the original speed lens, the Petzval. I have several that are F3 or F3.1, but they are expensive.

[Armin Seeholzer]

The Xenars are most of them fast and have very nice bokeh!
My 480mm is a dream to work with on 8x10!

Cheers Armin

[Mark Sawyer]

Alternatives to Areo Ektar?

I like the cream-filled version... the Oreo Ektar! :)

[Dan Fromm]

Just wondering if there is any other lens to look for. Something in the range of 7"-10" that has a wide aperture. Those Ektars seem to be hard to find and cost a lot...and I am guessing the novelty will wear off once I shoot with it for a while. Any suggestions?

Define "wide."

FWIW, I have a 200"/2.0 S.F.O.M. lens that probably flew on an OMERA-30 or -31 camera. These cameras shot 4.5" x 4.5" on 5" roll film. Same coverage as a 7"/2.5 Aero Ektar. Heavier lens, though, and a lot harder to use than a 7" Aero Ektar. Really needs a majorly modified 4x5 Speed Graphic instead of any old Speed with a custom board like the AE.

Dallmeyer made a similar lens, the 8"/2.0 Super Six, for general use. Shorter Super Sixes are f/1.9. A 6"/1.9 in barrel without diaphragm recently sold for > $8,000. Good luck finding an inexpensive one. A Super Six should cover its focal length.

You've been advised to consider an 8"/2.9 Dallmeyer Pentac. Uncoated WW-II vintage ones seem to be very variable. Some one (David Goldfarb?) reported buying and testing a bunch to get one that was usable.

If you're patient and keep looking you'll find a cheap thrill somewhere. But if you want instant gratification, well, prepare to pay the going price and then some.

[Gould]

http://www.photohistory.ru/1214755009023752.html

[domaz]

You could go for the original speed lens, the Petzval. I have several that are F3 or F3.1, but they are expensive.

If you get a no-name Petzval and are patient you can easily get them for cheaper than an Aero-Ektar at today's prices. I think brass is the way to go.

[Jay DeFehr]

I saw some images posted at Flickr made with a Hektor 150mm f/2.5 mounted to a Speed Graphic that look very nice. I don't know anything about the lens.

[Randy]

http://www.photohistory.ru/1214755009023752.html
Gould, any other info on this lens?

[Dan Fromm]

What a bunch of pikers you guys are!

If you want to learn more about lenses made in the former Soviet Union, many of them for aerial cameras, look at the catalogs here: http://www.lallement.com/pictures/files.htm . Urans came in many focal lengths.

Note that the catalogs are incomplete. The GOI (State Optical Institute) catalog cuts off in 1963, the two Yakovlev catalogs are highly selective and cut off in 1970 and '71 respectively.

And why have none of you offered to buy my S.F.O.M. monstrosity?

[drew.saunders]

I saw some images posted at Flickr made with a Hektor 150mm f/2.5 mounted to a Speed Graphic that look very nice. I don't know anything about the lens.

That's from a Leitz slide projector. I have one (the projector and the lens), in 200/2.5, and I just now realized that I should claim it to be "as good as" the Aero Ektar and charge someone an insane amount of money for it. The 200/2.5 will cover 4x5, I'm surprised the 150/2.5 will as well. Some day I'll figure out how to use my 200/2.5 Hektor without a shutter and have some fun with it.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

... You've been advised to consider an 8"/2.9 Dallmeyer Pentac. Uncoated WW-II vintage ones seem to be very variable. Some one (David Goldfarb?) reported buying and testing a bunch to get one that was usable.

That was me. I ended up buying quite a few of these and doing resolution testing on them. I lost much of the data a few years back, but even the best Pentac I found--a late issue coated Pentac (1960s?)--was only mediocre.


...And why have none of you offered to buy my S.F.O.M. monstrosity?

Oh, and I will buy your lens Dan...


Gould, any other info on this lens?

I had a 200mm f2.5 Uran in nice shape and it was a POS, but really my sample size was too small for such statements. I think Leicashop had one for sale a few weeks back. Please buy it and report back.

[Dan Fromm]

Jason, thanks very much for the correction. I hope I'll remember it was you who tried a pile of Pentacs and found all wanting.

Re the S.F.O.M., make an offer.

Re Urans, when I bought my Uran-27 the one report on it I found was to the effect that it was so soft it couldn't be focused wide open. Mine is considerably better than that. The big problem with using a Uran-27 is lack of back focus. It can work mounted entirely in front of a 2x3 Pacemaker Speed's lensboard, but barely focuses through infinity if the camera is set up just right. If the camera isn't set up just right, getting infinity is impossible. The longer ones might be easier to use.

Cheers,

Dan

[Hugo Zhang]

Jason,

Any experience with 10" Pentac? So little information out there.

That Uran-9 25cm f/2.5 you mentioned weights about 20 lbs and the diameter of the element is close to 6 inches. Got to be interesting look on the ground glass.

Hugo

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

I have only played with the larger 10" and 12" Pentacs, never used or tested them in any systematic way. However these were not mass produced by many different companies for the Air Ministry the way the 8" was, so perhaps there is less variability among the larger ones.

My Uran was smaller than the 25cm one you mention, but it was still a pain to get on a lensboard.

[Jay DeFehr]

That's from a Leitz slide projector. I have one (the projector and the lens), in 200/2.5, and I just now realized that I should claim it to be "as good as" the Aero Ektar and charge someone an insane amount of money for it. The 200/2.5 will cover 4x5, I'm surprised the 150/2.5 will as well. Some day I'll figure out how to use my 200/2.5 Hektor without a shutter and have some fun with it.

You're right, the 150 doesn't quite cover 4x5. As for using your 200/ 2.5 without a shutter, the Speed Graphic is always an option. I just bought one without a back, as scrap, and I plan to use it as a kind of platform for barrel portrait lenses. I'll have to build a back for it, and I'll re-orient it to portrait orientation. The Graphic lensboards are smallish, so it's less than ideal for a portrait setup, but it's practically free, so I don't mind experimenting.

[cyberjunkie]

Zeiss Tessar 190mm f/3.5.
I own a nice one in Ilex No.5 shutter.
Shutter that came with warped leaves, that should be (hot) pressed to regain flatness.
This Tessar should be a late '20 optimization by Vandersleb.
I could even sell it, if i don't get myself to have the shutter fixed very soon..

have fun

CJ

[rjbuzzclick]

I have a Buhl Projection Lens (177.8mm f2.5) that I've mounted it on a Speed Graphic lens board but have not shot with it yet. I'm not claiming it's an Aero Ektar, but then again, I've probably got 1/10 of the price into it, including the lens board.

[Pete Watkins]

Why is everybody assuming that all Pentac lenses were made by Dallmeyer? I have a very tatty 8 inch Pentac made by the National Optical Company. From what I've read the company was set up in Leicester and employed mainly/some ex TT&H employees. The lens is in disgusting condition and covers f2.9 - f11.
Pete.