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Thread: Veritar instructions?

  1. #1

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    Veritar instructions?

    Wollensak's 1950 Veritar lens brochure is available at cameraeccentric.com and elsewhere. I have also seen passing reference in forum posts to a separate set of Wollensak-published instructions for using and focusing Veritar lenses. However, earnest googling has not turned up that document.

    Does anyone have a link to these separate instructions, or a hard copy that could be scanned and shared?

    Thank you very much.

  2. #2
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    The focus will be behind what looks in focus on the ground glass. Here's a link to a hi-res Veritar photo test: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8ykf3dxwy...-0171.tif?dl=0
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    Thank you for your reply and example, and your longer thread on lens comparisons (including the Veritar) is a tremendous resource. What I've gleaned from forum posts is that, as the lens is stopped down, all increase in depth of field is behind the original focal point on the ground glass.

    I have seen reference to a publication with over 10 pages of Wollensak instructions specific to the Veritar. Might anyone have a copy: "Portrait Veritar Lens" (Rochester: Wollensak Optical Company, ca. 1955.

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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    Also keep in mind that the Veritar is just an improved version of the Verito lens, so info regarding the Verito should also prove helpful. In general, if shooting the Verito/Veritar lens at near wide open apertures (f/4, f/5,6, f/8), you focus it at the taking aperture. If you stop down the Verito/Veritar, you will lose the soft focus effect almost entirely.

    Here's a page with some Verito info:
    http://apenasimagens.com/en/verito-v...-wollensak-en/

  5. #5
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    I don't have a copy, and I'd love to see one. I have read the instructions for the Kodak Portrait Lens, though, and in my experience they are useful for the other true SF lenses. These lenses are challenging to focus. The best advice is to practice, which is why I set up my test scene with a ruler. Practice going into and out of focus. Always do so at the shooting aperture. Get some cheap film (xray?) and take some practice shots. Getting a better ground glass might help, as will a really good loupe. I use the Pentax Lupe 5.5x. And having a really good darkcloth/reflex view....helps. But it's still hard! Putting a light source in the picture can help, such as a small flashlight, a dim clear light bulb...... If you now how focus changes as you vary the aperture, you can focus stopped down to f/8 or f/11, which while dim are easier to focus, adjust your camera, e.g. move focus out 2mm, open lens up to taking aperture and take your picture.
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  6. #6
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter De Smidt View Post
    The focus will be behind what looks in focus on the ground glass...
    If panchromatic film is used, the focus will always be where it is on the ground glass. Any focus shift will only happen when you stop down the aperture. The only focusing instructions necessary with soft lenses using spherical aberration is "focus at the taking aperture".

    There may be some soft spreading of the depth of field beyond the primary focal plane due to the undercorrected spherical aberration, but that will be apparent on the ground glass.
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  7. #7
    Peter De Smidt's Avatar
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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    My results don't agree with Mark, but he has more (and better) experience, and so listen to him!
    “You often feel tired, not because you've done too much, but because you've done too little of what sparks a light in you.”
    ― Alexander Den Heijer, Nothing You Don't Already Know

  8. #8

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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    Mark, that is an interesting point and a caution I hadn't considered in my plans to practice with X-ray film. The Kodak Portrait instructions repeatedly emphasize that what you see on the ground glass is what you get on the negative, but I imagine that is assuming panchromatic film. I'd love to compare with Wollensak's original Veritar instructions if a copy surfaces.

    Thank you all for your comments. The wealth of knowledge you have contributed to this site is a wonderful resource for those just dipping a toe in the soft focus pool.

  9. #9
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    The Kodak Portrait Lens is corrected for chromatic aberration, but I don't know if that's enough to correct everything for X-ray film. You've got me on that one!

    Modern panchromatic b/w film matches the visual spectrum pretty darn closely, so if you were using that, a lot of the old worries about soft focus lenses or chemical focus vs. visual focus aren't worries any more. But even with "what you see is what you get", it still takes a while to get those softies just right...
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  10. #10
    multiplex
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    Re: Veritar instructions?

    sorry it took me this long to see this thread,
    thanks whir-click for the email

    i have had/used a veritar for 16 or so years
    and mine came with a bad xerox of the booklet

    i had uploaded this copy here before, and elsewhere
    not sure what happened to it but here it is again ..
    this is the information wollensak gave with their lens ..
    and while i know other portrait lenses aren't the veritar
    i still think about how they have suggested focusing with thei rlens
    and what they suggest lighting to be &c

    the PDF i had before i tried to upload before and it was too big
    hope this helps

    john

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