Voigtlander lenses for 4x5 Format?

[Greg]

In the late 1970s I owned and used a 115mm f5.5 Voigtlander Ultragon. My sample was in mint condition but the image it produced was only mediocre. Why it became a "cult" lens is beyond me.

[Mark J]

Like a few lenses of the earlier eras, it has rather too much on-axis performance at full aperture, which compromises the stopped-down astigmatism levels in the field.

I can't be too hard on Tronnier though - to design a lens like this without a computer, is beyond what most of us could do these days !

[Mark J]

Greg - I have been picking up that the 'old' Voigtlaender was pretty strong on marketing.
The Ultragon was never a 90° lens - only 80° when stopped-down.
The whole 'Apo Lanthar' thing has lead to decades of misconception. Their lenses were only 'semi-apo' at best, given the glasses available and the simple constructions. Plus the lanthanum glasses were never part of the 'Apo' correction, they are just high-index crowns.

[waterlenz]

One can use lenses made for 35mm format as macro lenses on larger formats since the covering power increases with bellows draw. One should, however, reverse mount them for best results. This means having on hand a lens board with a male filter thread.

I have such a board with a Nikon BR-2 ring (Nikon reversing ring) affixed which is for 52mm filter sized lenses. The only lens I have set up is a 1960s vintage 55mm f/3.5 Micro-Nikkor lens. With about a foot or so of bellows one easily gets >1:1 with comfortable working distance. I was able to reach over to the subject on a table while sitting in a chair next to my on-the-floor-tripod-mounted Sinar 4x5 Norma equipped with a Sinar-Copal shutter that was placed up against the table.

[David Lindquist]

A circa 1955 photographic supply house catalog I have lists the 115 Ultragon, claimed to cover 5 x 7. Said to be in a Compound shutter. Price was $135.00. The 120 mm Angulon was $89.95, the 90 mm Angulon was $69.95 (both in the Synchro-Compur shutter).

David

[Daniel Unkefer]

Abandoned Orchard Apple Tree HRU Maki 210 Heliar by Nokton48, on Flickr

In my neighborhood there are remnants of the apple orchard that stretched for a good distance many decades ago. At the back of my property is one of the original trees, now gone wild. Plaubel Makiflex Standard, 210mm Makiflex Auto Iris Heliar, Fuji XRAY HRU 4x5" cut from 8x10. Grafmatic Film Back, Sinar 103mm Glass Disc Yellow Green. 1/15 at F5.6 Legacy Mic-X 18 minutes at 60C. Aristo #2 8x10 Omega DII Omegalite Diffusion Head Multigrade dev

I have a 150mm and a 210mm Voigtlander Heliar, both in barrel mount. I use them with 9x12 and 4x5 sheet film, negative image 9x9cm. Back in the day I don't remember Heliars being expensive.