Today a friend offered me a brass lens for $100 with these markings inscribed:
* Century Planatic Series III
* Wollensak Optical
* Rochester, NY
* 17 inches (roughly 430mm)
* 5x7
* f/4 to f/256
* Pat. Feb 6, 1900
* Pat. July 23, 1901
A shutter retaining ring and 3 tiny screws are included.
The lens and shutter were recently cleaned and lubed so there is little to no dust inside.
The compound shutter seems to work well.
1/1 to 1/100 + T & B
I set the shutter to "T" and aperture wide open then hand held it near a sheet of white paper. Reflections of the sun off of cars in the parking lot came into focus at roughly 8 inches. Therefore I assume this lens was from an early 20th century 5x7 folder or pocket view camera since a 17 inch bellows draw was not needed.
Question: this lens is marked f/4 but isn't that the old way of marking apertures? What would be the equivalent in today's lenses?
Question: I currently am in the market for a soft focus lens for my portraits on 4x5. What kind of quality should be expected from this lens?
Thank you.
Terry
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