Coverage of Wollensak Velostigmat lenses

[Greg]

Coverage of 9 1/2" and 12" Wollensak Velostigmat Series II lenses as determined by practically shooting with both optics on my 11x14 and inspecting the resulting negatives and contact prints.

9 1/2 inch f/4.5 Wollensak Velostigmat Series II: Recently acquired this optic for use on my whole plate camera. Image coverage at f/45 is 325mm. Acceptable image sharpness is 270mm but can be pushed to 280mm if I accept some image degradation in the corners of the negative. Means I will be using this optic on my whole plate but will have to severely limit any movements.

12 inch f/4.5 Wollensak Velostigmat Series II: Have used one of these lenses on my 8x10 since the 1970s. Never ran out of room for movements, but then never really taxed the coverage of this lens. Image coverage at f/45 completely covered my 11x14 negative. Acceptable image sharpness I measured at 365mm.

Caveats: Determining the acceptable sharpness is completely subjective on my part. I contact print my images on Platinum/Palladium and Salt papers. I judged the circle of acceptable sharpness from looking at the negatives. When I determined the circle of acceptable sharpness based on looking at RC contact prints, it definitely seemed to increase by 10-20mm. Also shot a negative using my 300mm f/5.6 FUJINON-W. Of course the FUJINON-W blew away the 12" Velostigmat in every way, but comparing salt prints made with both lenses, I much prefer the images taken with the Velostigmat. Comparing contact prints made on Ilford Multigrade FB paper, I prefer the images made with the FUJINON-W. The 12" Velostigmat is uncoated. Using it on my 8x10 in the winter on a bright sunny day, well a very good and precise lens shade is a must.

Comments welcome.

[Ari]

Thanks for doing this.
I sometimes wish there was a chart of the ICs of old lenses (Velostigmat, Gundlach, Ilex, Anastigmat, etc etc), even if some parts of it were subjective.

[Mark Sawyer]

My old 9 1/2-inch Velostigmat Series II (in a Studio Shutter with the Fuzz-o-Matic dial) covered 8x10 with good sharpness for contact printing into the corners, albeit with very little extra. I imagine there were updates and variations over the nearly fifty years it was in production.

[Mark Sampson]

I started my view camera work in 1981 with a battered Ansco 8x10 and an uncoated 12"/4.5 Velostigmat series II/Fuzz-O-Matic. I did run out of front rise once or twice... and it was certainly sharp enough for contact prints. My problem with that outfit was lens flare ...and general beginner's incompetence.
In 1982 I bought a 4x5 and got serious about learning, which meant that I left the 8x10 (and the Velo) in the attic for many years. That Velostigmat was a Tessar-formula lens; the experts say that means 60 degrees of coverage. In retrospect (and having shot with many Tessar-type lenses since) that seems about right.