Oh - another 18x24cm (walnut?) reisekamera! I have lots of these as well the bigger brothers/sisters.
The makes I suggested would be highly appropriate nationalitywise!
Wachtl was a big retailer in Vienna and elsewhere. Very few of these sellers made cameras - they ordered direct from manufacturers, sometimes with special features.
Consider looking for magic lantern lenses on eBay.
I picked up a big old B&L brassie that turned out to be a 15" "pretzel" for about $20
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
20 dollar??!!! wow!!!
I have the diameter of the Bernard for the lens: 85 mm or about 3,3 inches... so now I need to find a lens that fit
Hey Luca,
I'm not being sarcastic, but I own several soft focus and Petzval lenses that would cost way too much $$$ for me now, but I have had good luck shooting with single element scrap optic lenses that cost little to nothing, and I would try these first before spending a lot on an expensive lens that may or not match your camera or shooting style (if you want a special effect lens)...
A lens from a magnifier (that is the right FL) will have a sharp center, but focus will fall off severely near the edges (which you might like or not)... Since you don't need fancy stuff like a shutter or iris, these are good to try...
If you can find a watch glass (from science), they can make a nice meniscus lens if you are lucky...
Then there are cheap lenses from copiers etc that are in a barrel, some old ones even have an iris, and can be had for $5-$25... Some are very sharp, but sometimes you can remove or flip an element inside for a VERY different effect...
One thing you should do now is measure the bellows extension of the camera to see how far it can stretch out, as that will determine what lenses will work, but also how close the camera will focus for the work you want to do...
That's Steven and Steve's advice...
Steve K
thank you! I'm seeing for a lens with shutter because I'll use film negative and not wet plate... so I think I'll need shutter for faster speed... On the other hand I'll use Harman's paper whom have a 3-6 of iso speed.
So, resuming:
1. focal length at minimun 300 mm for 8x10 coverage (14" / 360 mm is better)
2. possibly a version with shutter and a fast speed
3. a Velostigmat could be a good choice (is the 14" version better for 8x10??), also Aplanat (but I need to find if there are shutter versions). Petzval could be not the right choice at the moment (high price, no shutter version?)
4. possibly under 600€
5. possibly with lens hood included
In the end, a good lens that can be fit on 4x5 camera if I'll need..
A 12" version would be:
on 4x5 comparable to a 2" / or 60mm focal length on 35mm film
on 8x10 comparable to a 1,6" / or 45mm focal length on 35mm film
On the other hand, a 14" version would be:
on 4x5 comparable to a 3" / or 75mm focal lenght on 35mm film
on 8x10 comparable to a 2" / or 50/60 mm focal length on 35mm film
so I think is better to buy a 14" version , more useful on 4x5 and 8x10 camera for portraiture with good image coverage
Still searching.
Luca
I use the 12 inch Velostigmat on both 4x5 and 5x7, will likely add 8x10 in coming months. This lens is much bigger and heavier than more modern lenses and is really too heavy for my Chamonix 4x5, so now I just use it on the 5x7. If you are going to use an older heavy built camera like a Gundlach Korona etc. with different backs this lens will work fine. Your going to find that once you get into fast lenses longer than 240mm they begin to get heavy. Probably too heavy for a modern 4x5. I'm not sure the Velostigmat came longer than 300mm but if it did it would still be a great choice. For a smaller, lighter lens for portraits on 4x5 I really like a Heliar 210mm or 240mm. These come in Compound shutter but start selling for something like $1,000. I have a set of lenses for my Chamonix 4x5 and another set for the sturdier Gundlach Korona 5x7. Any fast 300mm lens is going to be fairly large and heavy. That's OK if you're using a monorail camera such as Cambo SC or a larger old camera with multiple backs.
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
We must remember where the OP is located - which is Southern Europe. Now there are not enormous quantities of Wollensak lenses as there are in N.America. It means that a purchase will be likely have a surcharge on entry to the EU of about 30%.
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