Project to Produce a 12" f/3.6 Petzval Gathering Steam

[Gerald Figal]

I project I initiated out of demand from wetplate collodion photographers on the Facebook page I administer (Collodion Bastards) is reaching the point to decide on how to fund it (Kickstart or not), so I posted a poll on the group page to gather opinions (https://www.facebook.com/groups/collodionbastards/).
A brief rundown of the project can be found pinned atop The Large Format Photography Society Facebook group page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/406834362683813/).
All feedback is welcomed and appreciated!

[mdarnton]

Won't touch Facebook with a ten-foot pole, myself.

[Gerald Figal]

Yeah, I know, FB pretty much sucks and it's going to suck more with new policies come January 1, but it IS useful for gathering like-minded people in an interactive way as long as you ignore the dross.
In brief, some folks from the group expressed dismay at the skyrocketing prices and/or dearth of vintage stock (supply and demand...) for larger, fast Petzval portrait lenses for wetplate. So, I decided to contact a well-qualified optical engineer with an interest in historical lenses and lots of experience in lens design and manufacture (Steve Eckhardt) to sound him out about maybe producing a brand new one to modest but respectable specs at a price that would not require the sale of a kidney. After some back and forth and data gathering and price quotes, we settled on a 12" f/3.6 Petzval (Dallmeyer design, close to the 11.5" f/3.5 3B) in an aluminum barrel with hood and 4 additional Waterhouse stops for a target price of $900 IF we can do a production run of at least 50 units (brass is upwards to $400 more per unit and irises likewise raise costs considerably). Uncoated because coating is irrelevant for our approximation of a 19th-century lens and coating costs more too.
The rationale behind a 12" f/3.6 is that it hits a kind of sweet spot on focal length, speed, and price. Depending on how you shoot, for portraits, it would technically be ideal for 5x7 and whole plate, and quite good on 8x10 if you're into swirl. In other words, it would probably cover a greater number of wetplate collodion users (even 4x5 to half plate if your lens board is big enough--the barrel diameter will be about 4"), although I realize that there are greater number of 4x5 users of film (myself included). In the future, if the first version goes well, we will consider larger and smaller focal length versions. Also, there might be a premium brass version for the brass fetishists with deep pockets.
If you want to check out Eckhardt Optics, their website is: http://eckop.com/
while their blurb on camera lens types are here: http://eckop.com/optics/opticsadvanc...ra-lens-types/
and handy graph on lens types is here: http://eckop.com/optics/opticsadvanced-lenses/
And if you want the quick profile on Steve Eckhardt (degree from the very well-regarded U of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, lots 'o related work experience with 3M and Corning), check it out here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveeckhardt

At the moment we are trying to decide whether to Kickstart or do it directly via $100 commitment deposits that would be used toward production once a 50-buy-in goal is met (most folks so far are opting for doing it directly to avoid 10% fees between KS and Amazon). In either case, we will have also have to fund development of a prototype to be tested. Bottom line is that the more buy-ins, the lower the price--although savings on bulk orders of parts tapers off after 100 units.

[ghostcount]

Thanks Gerald for getting this post back on track.

Keep us posted here, I'm surely interested.

[Tin Can]

Gerald, this sounds great. I most likely will join the purchase group.

Thank you!

[IanG]

I think a dilemma is that 12" Petzvals can still be found quite cheap secondhand, well at least in the UK. I guess the wet plate demand is much higher in the US.

Ian

[Jim Noel]

I think a dilemma is that 12" Petzvals can still be found quite cheap secondhand, well at least in the UK. I guess the wet plate demand is much higher in the US.

Ian

They are anything but cheap in the USA.
I am balancing my books to see if I can participate in the near future.

[IanG]

They are anything but cheap in the USA.
I am balancing my books to see if I can participate in the near future.

I can understand that. 7x5 (5x7) cameras and film holders are very cheap in the US, expensive in Britain/Europe. It's swings and round-abuts.

Perhaps more important with this Petzval project is the coverage if a new Petzval 12" lens will cover 10x8 at Infinity that makes a huge difference.

Ian

[Old-N-Feeble]

I'm sorry about my facebook comment. I didn't intend to be rude. I won't comment again.

[Tin Can]

I'm sorry about my facebook comment. I didn't intend to be rude. I won't comment again.

I am not sorry about my comments.

But I got informed I am rude also.

Such is life.