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Thread: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    15

    Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    Wanting to purchase fast lens for 11x14 format, you can learn of project I am working on at ourlivingpast.com

    Presently using 18 inch Caltrain and a 20 inch gundlach hyper focus

    Any suggestions or offers appreciated. Using lens to document great elder roots musicians

    Thanks

    Tim Duffy

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Boston, MA, USA
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    1,512

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    Super symmar XL 210mm would be the fastest...

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    954

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    Caltrain sounds awfully fast...........

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    15

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    Sorry it is a Caltar, which is a great lens 18inch

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    NJ
    Posts
    8,470

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    Tim, if you can afford so-so image quality and aren't too fussy about detail in the corners a 12"/2.5 Aero Ektar might do for you. Shutter may be a problem, though.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Central TX
    Posts
    580

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14


  7. #7

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    I found a 360mm f5.6 Symmar to be a great lens for 11x14. Its a medium wide and is as fast as you will find in a shutter. If it is in good condition (check carefully for haze), it should be an excellent performer. If you need faster you will need to do without a shutter.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Collinsville, CT USA
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    2,330

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    For want of getting away from a wide angle optic since you're doing portraits and alike I'd suggest a 508mm (20") f/7.0 Caltar in a Ilex #5 shutter. Have used one on my 11x14 for years. Wide open, depth of field is measured in a few mm's and its out of focus areas have a nice quality to them. F/7.0 may sound slowish, but this lens projects a surprisingly bright image on the ground glass. They usually go for around $500-600, which I feel is a bargain. Used one on my 11x14 in the late seventies and throughout the eighties. Sold 11x14 and 508mm lens around 1990. Years later when I decided to get back into shooting ULF, I bought an 11x14 Chamonix and a 508mm Caltar. Over past years have acquired Dagors and Protars, but my favorite optic is the 508mm Caltar.

  9. #9
    (Shrek)
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Montreal
    Posts
    2,044

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    If you want a 'vintage' (swirly) look, and don't want to spend $5K on a Voigtlander, I bought a B&L Projection Petzval (18" f4) off fleabay 2 years ago for less than $100. You will need to cut it for Waterhouse stops and use a hat, but for a $4,900 savings I'm sure you could find a machinist to slit it for you and make some tin stops.

    See the all-black lens posted by jcoldslabs in post #7 here.

    I don't recall seeing one longer than 18", but someone here would know if there is such a beast out there.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Collinsville, CT USA
    Posts
    2,330

    Re: Wanting fast lens for 11x14

    Another possibility is to use a Buhl projector lens... these are bargain lenses to be found on EBay. No iris so have to always use them wide open, but your images on your website match that. Being true Petzval optics not sure of (hard to take apart)... but they very closely produce the same image effect at less than 5% the cost of a brass Petzval. I use a Buhl on my whole plate and another on my 11x14 by having Buhl projector lenses mounted on a Sinar lens boards (thanks to JBWELD) and use in front of a Sinar Copal shutter. Both are the cheapest LF and ULF optics I have ever bought.

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