Cooke Series XVa Convertible - Opinions and Experiences?

**Phil Hudson** · 13-Nov-2014, 01:47

Just curious......in the field how do you protect the lens groups that are not being used?

**richardman** · 13-Nov-2014, 01:48

Back pocket? ;-P

Originally Posted by Phil Hudson

Just curious......in the field how do you protect the lens groups that are not being used?

**Tony Lakin** · 13-Nov-2014, 03:19

I keep my XVa in a lens wrap, the cell I am not using goes in that, if not using the front cell the front cap obviously stays on and vice versa for the rear cell, I am sure someone can supply rear caps for the cells, Cooke optics/Grimes?

**Ari** · 13-Nov-2014, 06:24

Yes, I suppose caps can be had or made for the unused rear group; lens wrap is another option, I have a chamois cloth for that.

**William Whitaker** · 13-Nov-2014, 06:34

Grimes can make a threaded cap for the unused cell (for a price). I have one for my XV. Good insurance.

**karl french** · 13-Nov-2014, 06:54

I have one of the Grimes rear caps as well. It's nice to have since the lens is frequently apart.

**Ari** · 14-Nov-2014, 16:14

Did my first shot yesterday with the borrowed XVa, my neighbour René happily volunteered.

René by Ari4000, on Flickr

This was shot wide open, at f6.8 using the lens in its normal 311mm configuration. It is the shot where René moved the least.
An overcast and dreary day, with FP4 I shot at f6.8 at 1/4, partly because of a little bellows extension and slight reciprocity.

What struck me was not how sharp the lens is (it is very sharp, btw), but how smooooooooth it is.
I love how it balanced out all the highs and lows, leaving me a lot of mid-tones, but with plenty of room to adjust the blacks and whites.
And try as I might, that white area behind René's head would not could not get blocked up, no matter how much I pushed the "Whites" slider to 100%.
I really like the look, tomorrow I'll try out some forest-y stuff; trees don't sway as much as humans.

**karl french** · 14-Nov-2014, 16:24

"Sharp, in a very pleasing way." is how I characterized it to someone the other day. It's a really nice lens. Some lenses are sharp, but in sort of a 'clinical' or brittle way.