Docter 360 f6.7 Tessar - 8x10 Users?

[turtle]

Haas anyone used one of these rare birds? It looks like it could be an interesting lens for studio use on smaller/lighter cameras due to being smaller and lighter than the gigantic 360mm plasmats.

I am curious about coverage. On the one hand Docter stated its angle of view as 45 degrees (giving 300mm IC) but elsewhere gives a 420mm IC. Certainly it seems hard to believe that this lens, with a 95mm filter and Copal 3 shutter would only cover 300mm....

Does anyone know for sure if this tessar covers 8x10 with movements?

[drew.saunders]

Any 360mm lens will give a diagonal 45 degree angle of view on 8x10 (or thereabouts). Did the document say angle of view or angle of coverage? With the angle of coverage, you then get the image circle, and most tessars get an IC in the neighborhood of 1.1 to 1.2x the focal length, which could definitely get you a 420mm image circle.

[turtle]

I got the info from the table half way through this document: http://www.arnecroell.com/docter.pdf

[Phil Hudson]

I had one and yes it does cover 8x10 with movements. I sold mine because it wasn't either particularly fast or especially light.

[drew.saunders]

I see the document, table 1a shows a 45 degree angle of coverage for the 360, instead of 55 or 57 for the others, and that will produce a 298mm image circle for a 360mm lens. Maybe it's mechanically vignetted by the shutter? Maybe they put the wrong number there? A 55 degree angle of coverage would get 375mm image circle, so I wonder where the 430 comes from?

[turtle]

OK, Phil. What about its pictorial qualities?


I had one and yes it does cover 8x10 with movements. I sold mine because it wasn't either particularly fast or especially light.

[Phil Hudson]

Sorry I just saw this again and thought I would expand a bit. Essentially I sold mine because at the time I didn't appreciate that different lens formulae can affect the imaging quality. Looking at the 8x10 contact sheets I did with this lens would lead me to conclude that it has the classic tessar "look": generally bitingly sharp in the centre and softer towards the outside. If you use very small apertures this effect isn't so pronounced. It is a very nice modern lens, one of the last long tessars in a shutter I guess so a bit of a classic.

I swapped mine for a Symmar which I believed at the time to be "better". I now know it's not that simple.......

[turtle]

Thanks Phil. I get home in ten days and will be able to try it out. What you describe is exactly what I am looking for. I do want 'reasonably sharp', but I don't want clinical perfection as provided by most plasmats. I'll admit that owning such a rare lens also appealed to me and hope it might have a character to match. We'll see.

[Phil Hudson]

They are certainly very rare.......hope it is what you are looking for.