What lens will work for a 35x35 inch ULF mammoth wet plate camera?

[Steven Tribe]

My suggested outline of procedure was based on the information you had given in this thread about getting the camera made. When you get the lens flange made at Grimes, it would be a idea to it made oversize (that is, a square plate), so the retaining screws are quite some distance away from the hole in the lens board/Front standard panel so you can use alternative lenses on the same wooden panel.

I still feel the extreme difficulties of transporting, preparing and using 35x35" glass plates is a good way to end up with very little surplus energy for the "artistic" side of photography.

No doubt but that you have purchased an excellent tessar and at F14 you can get a viewable image. In spite of the mentioned problems of coverage at landscape. distances, it may be OK at small apertures.

[ridax]

Re: Process lenses' coverage...

Those are different. Celor type ones do not improve in their edge sharpness when stopped down. Tessar type lenses are much better as "poor man's wideangles". The more sophisticated 6-elements lenses are often sharp up to the edges of their illuminated field, regardless of the tight field restrictions stated in the manufacturer's publications (which are relevant for high-end process work such as mapping).

My own first-hand experience with Rodenstock Apo-Ronar CL 1200mm f/16, 6/6 version, and CZJ Apo-Germinar 1000mm f/12 showed both covered exactly the same field of about 126 cm (~50") at infinity with no vignetting at f/32. At wider stops, edge sharpness was also OK but there was a lot of light fall-off.

(The Germinar was smaller and lighter in weight though and more manageable in the field giving me more spare angle coverage for tilts.)

[Mark Sawyer]

Why wet plate instead of dry plate? Wet plate is much more dangerous, difficult (I think) and I believe one could get the same look if you used the right emulsion making techniques...

The OP wants to make Ambrotypes. Wet plate is the only process I know of where the negative image reverses to a positive on a black background.

I see that Gerry bought a 180cm Tessar, which should suit his project well. Equivalent to a 20-inch lens on 10x10-inch format, it would be a perfect focal length for traditional portraiture, though slow for portraits on wet plate. That won't be an issue for landscapes though.

[angusparker]

Exciting. Can't wait to see the results. Why don't you drive around the country to LFPF members? You'll probably get many willing assistants to help you with your picture taking. I might even bring out my mini-camera for comparison sake (only 14x17").

[Mark Sampson]

180cm lens = 12 feet of bellows @ 1:1, or around 9 feet at 1:2, I think. Only 6 feet at infinity.
Sign me up- I'll volunteer to assist on that shoot. Mr. Yaum will need some help.

[Matt Stage]

You might want to contact Kurt Moser. He does a lot of ULF wetplate work in the Dolomites and has just completed building a camera of a similar size to the one you describe. He has the Apo-Nikkor 1780mm f14 to do the job.
http://www.lightcatcher.it/en/

For a different look, I certainly would not sneeze at the Wollaston Meniscus lenses that Reinhold Schable is making. Currently his largest ULF lens is 790mm f5.6 and has lots of coverage -- he might be induced to work with you to produce a larger lens to meet your needs. http://re-inventedphotoequip.com/ULF%20Lens.html

[goamules]

...I bought my lens 10 minutes ago. It is a 1922 brass lens recommended to me by some kind folk here. It cost a fortune but I got it done. I am 4 years 11 months ahead of schedule there. Told you it was not a problem. The lens are out there if you want to pay for them. I got mine in record time. I am off to Thailand soon for 6 months of picture taking but on my return plan on shipping this off to SK Grimes to get a flange, waterhouse stops and caps.

Here is the lens I bought for the project
http://www.auction2000.se/auk/w.Obje...7_1045&inO=514

...

I think the key is to stop being negative and instead of finding ways and reasons you cannot do a project, find ways to make it work. Keep it positive, photographic artists can do ANYTHING! You and I can do anything we want as long as we want it enough. Nothing can stop us!

Thanks everyone for your help. I now have my lens thanks to you all!! Using a piece of 100 year old period glass for this project just made everything that much better. Thanks so much!!

Gerry
www.gerryyaum.blogspot.com

It looks like you are a serious photographer, and do some intensive work. I commend you on not being dissuaded by anything anyone has said here. I was not trying to stop your goal, I was just recommending you buy the lens first, and then decide what size it will cover and what plate size you can use. Which looks like what you are about to do, if Dan is right, the lens you jumped on for $7,300 won't cover the 35X35" you wanted.

I think why we were responding so cautiously is that someone asks about making "the BIGGEST" wetplates every year. Many have great intentions, though some just want to make "the biggest" and win some unstated competition. Almost all of them want to make Mammoth plates, but have no money. So they usually are asking how they can do this, cheap. Often wanting to spend less on a lens than they will for the silver nitrate to make the bath.

If you had said money is no object, that you were willing to spend anything to get it done, then most of us would have said "of course you can do this." Not many people will buy a $7,000 lens without knowing if it will A) cover, B) be fast enough, C) fit on a lensboard, or D) have a camera with enough bellows. But money can fix all kinds of bothersome problems.

[gerry yaum]

Gerry, go get 'em! A quick look at your pictures linked above suggests that you'll be successful. Looking forward to seeing results, whenever you have some.

Thanks Mark...I plan on starting the ambrotype project in about 5 years time. Will be working wet plate in smaller formats 8x10 and a 16x20 Chamonix before that. Will sort of work my way up to the 35x35. I need to improve my ability/knowledge in wet plate which is limited. Plan to do my second wet plate workshop this time with Quinn Jacobson in 2018. Need to learn lots there.

First thou am off to Asia for 6 months, plan on shooting the 8x10 Deardorff and some Tri-x on the "Families of the Dump" series. All those efforts will be documented on the blog.

Thanks for your note. Gerry
www.gerryyaum.blogspot.com

[gerry yaum]

Exciting. Can't wait to see the results. Why don't you drive around the country to LFPF members? You'll probably get many willing assistants to help you with your picture taking. I might even bring out my mini-camera for comparison sake (only 14x17").

Angus...Will be doing this in Canada, most of you guys are in the States I believe, not sure I will be going down there. Might be hard to explain the darkroom truck filled with semi toxic chemistry to the very suspicious border guards. I do like the idea of visiting Canadian Large Format people. Can take the camera around for them to test out

[gerry yaum]

You might want to contact Kurt Moser. He does a lot of ULF wetplate work in the Dolomites and has just completed building a camera of a similar size to the one you describe. He has the Apo-Nikkor 1780mm f14 to do the job.
http://www.lightcatcher.it/en/

For a different look, I certainly would not sneeze at the Wollaston Meniscus lenses that Reinhold Schable is making. Currently his largest ULF lens is 790mm f5.6 and has lots of coverage -- he might be induced to work with you to produce a larger lens to meet your needs. http://re-inventedphotoequip.com/ULF%20Lens.html

Thanks very much for the links MATT...I will check them out and try to contact Kurt. Thanks also for the suggestion about Wollaston Meniscus Lens...you guys here at Largeformatphotography have been a great help.

Gerry