Wollensack Telephoto 15" Yellow dot, shutter ?

**Laurent L** · 26-Feb-2019, 06:43

Hi !

A few years ago I bought this lens tu use it with my graflex Pacemaker, now I would like to use it with my Sinar systems. To make it happen, i'd like to find a shutter for this lens.

And here come the problems...

The alphax 4 shutter seems to be the right one but thanks to a friend of mine owning one and mesuring it, I understood that this shutter is meant to work with the silver version of the Wollensack Telephoto.

I spent hours browing the Internet to find more informations to no avail. I only see silver version in alphax shutter.

So please can someone give me some hints ?

Thanks

Laurent

**Louis Pacilla** · 26-Feb-2019, 06:58

Could it be a #4 Betax? This was the forerunner of the Alphax shutter and one can replace the other. Though it may be like with many Wollensak lenses of the day barrel threads are female (barrel) and male on the other(shutter). So it may very well be without a little machining work I'm not sure it's a direct swap. I'm not 100% sure this is the case with the Tele lenses but it was is true with many other Wollensak lenses Like Verito, Velostigmat Series II

**Laurent L** · 26-Feb-2019, 07:12

Thanks for trying to help me out, Louis.

I may take more than a simple machining work because the size of the shutter doesn't fit the lens parts male or female. Maybe that this tele photo 15" yellow dot was sold without shutter to be used with cameras suche as graflex with an integrated shutter ?

**mdarnton** · 26-Feb-2019, 13:19

I have a mess of these, three silver in shutter, three black in barrels, and just confirmed that it is a direct switch. I think what you are experiencing is that the shutter itself came in different threads and you have the wrong shutter version. For instance, Kodak lenses came in these shutters and used completely different thread sizes. I wouldn't be surprised if other lens manufacturers who used this shutter had their own proprietary thread sizes as well.

**Laurent L** · 27-Feb-2019, 04:28

Thanks for these precious informations, you sure know your stuff, I've got two illex 4 shutter one for my comemrcial ektar 12" and one for my apo artar 16,5" and yes, the thread size is diffrtent ! Now I know that my best option is to buy a tele raptar with its own shutter, the image circle and the quality may be quite different from the yellox dot 15" in barrel but I will use it only with my 5x7 view camera so it will do the trick.

**mdarnton** · 27-Feb-2019, 06:28

The 15" easily covers 5x7, almost 8x10. I have been meaning to try it on my 8x10 at portrait distances, but haven't tried yet. This is a very sharp and versatile lens, which is why I have so many of them. They have been so cheap at times that it was worth getting one for every different lens board/camera that I use, plus I bought a couple of the ones not in shutters just because no one was bidding on them at the time and the price was ridiculous. The front half, alone, also makes a nice soft focus portrait lens on 4x5.

Soft focus examples:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michae...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michae...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/michae...posted-public/

**Laurent L** · 27-Feb-2019, 08:10

Geee !!! I was watching your portraits on flickr and I was thinking to myself that half a Wollensack really makes a great soft focus lens ! I have seen some gorgeous 8x10 portraits made at close range with this lens so I do believe you when you tell me that it really is sharp.

In the end if there is no great difference between a silver 15" Wollensack in shutter and a black 15" wollensack yellow dot in barrel, I will buy the first one (someone can sell me one at a fair price here in France) and I will keep my black yellow dot to work with my dear Graflex Pacemaker.

Gonna buy more american lenses, I love working with them 'cause they've got a nice personality and aren't bluntly sharp like the Japanese that are often too "digital".