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Thread: Barrel lens

  1. #1

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    Barrel lens

    Is there any advantage to taking photos with a barrel lens (no shutter)? What would be a good brand to keep an eye out for?

  2. #2

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    Re: Barrel lens

    Well, if you want really long exposures. Or poorly-timed short ones.

    Brand? Leiss or Zeica.

    Remember, NJ is the state of exits and abrasion.

  3. #3

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    Re: Barrel lens

    You forgot all our tolls. I guess I was wondering if they gave the photos a different look.

  4. #4

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    Re: Barrel lens

    Quote Originally Posted by jtomasella View Post
    Is there any advantage to taking photos with a barrel lens (no shutter)? What would be a good brand to keep an eye out for?
    The advantage? They don't cost an arm and a leg.
    Off beat ones can bring interesting bokeh to the party.
    What format do you want to cover?
    Brand? You don't need no stinkin' brands
    "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

  5. #5
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Re: Barrel lens

    Barrel lenses are just normal lenses without a working shutter

    so we do something else

    maybe a hat,

    so any lens with a broken shutter is now a Barrel lens
    Tin Can

  6. #6
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    Re: Barrel lens

    Quote Originally Posted by jtomasella View Post
    I guess I was wondering if they gave the photos a different look.
    Many LF lenses, including some modern ones, have been sold in both barrel and shutter. Those pairs could render differently under some circumstances if the barrel and shutter mountings have different iris designs.

    But there's no "barrel look" in general, just a lot of lens-specific looks.

  7. #7
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Re: Barrel lens

    Some barrel lenses were designed for process cameras and may be optimized for close-ups, rather than landscape work -- or will work for both. For long lenses, I have Red Dot Artars (19" and 24") -- the Red Dot , I believe means they are coated and not designed solely for close-up work. They come in a variety of focal length. Their relatively narrow angle of view means they will not cover as well as modern plasmats of the same focal length. I use the 19" and 24" on both 8x10 and 11x14. This link has some good info on them.

    https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/00268/00268.pdf
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  8. #8

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    Re: Barrel lens

    The biggest advantage is (sometimes) cost, but other challenges if you desire a shutter, iris with correct markings, sometimes proper spacing, other costs etc...

    If needed for long, slow exposure work (like table top sets) or other applications where exposures can run over 1 sec, they are ready... But I'm working on a few lenses now that need assembly & some engineering, and it's coming up in my head that it would have been easier to just buy the lenses factory assembled...

    Can be a money pit if you have to send it out to a pro like SK Grimes and find a shutter etc for it...

    Steve K

  9. #9
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    Re: Barrel lens

    Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn View Post
    Some barrel lenses were designed for process cameras and may be optimized for close-ups, rather than landscape work -- or will work for both....
    Actually, that reminds me... I'd have to dig to find documentation, but I remember being told that some process lenses - G-Clarons, perhaps Apo-Ronars - had slightly different cell spacing when sold in barrel vs shutter, based on manufacturer assumptions about different intended uses.

  10. #10
    Foamer
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    Re: Barrel lens

    Quote Originally Posted by jtomasella View Post
    Is there any advantage to taking photos with a barrel lens (no shutter)? What would be a good brand to keep an eye out for?

    I own about a dozen, all from the 19th Century. About the only advantage I can think of is they are cheaper. I use them to shoot wet plate so lack of a shutter is not a big deal.


    Kent in SD
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