Wollensak Oscillo-anastigmat 1.9/75mm ??

[Patrik Roseen]

Sometimes these oscillo-anastigmat turn up on ebay at very low prices. Does anyone know what they were used for and if they can be useful for say close-up/macro work on a 4x5".
They seem to be very fast and the aperture range from 1,9-16.

[Joseph O'Neil]

I've bought two of them inthe past. Never used the lenses, but the #3 shutters they come with are usually very good shutters. I have a 209mm red dot artar front mounted in one of those shutters. So a really great way to get a cheap #3 shutter.

(now that I let the cat out of the bag, the price will probally climb )

I've always thought of trying it for fun for macro work, but never gotten around to it myself.

joe

[Ralph Barker]

Apparently, they were used to take photos of oscilloscope screens. The one I bought came in a pi Alphax shutter. The coverage isn't great, however. You'll need to be close to 1:1 to cover 4x5. I've peered through mine since getting the shutter CLA'ed and a retaining ring made by S. K. Grimes, but haven't shot any film with it yet.

[Dan Fromm]

Patrik, on the one hand the consensus, such as it is, is that they're worthless. On the other, since they're inexpensive trying one out isn't a terrible risk.

FWIW, I've had one Ilex Oscillo-Paragon that I bought for the shutter. In some oscilloscope cameras (Tektronix C-12, C-27, possibly C-30) the lens/shutter assembly is held in place by the lens' barrel. In those cameras there's no need for the shutter to be threaded at the rear to accept a retaining ring/flange so it isn't. So if you buy a 'scope camera lens, make sure that the shutter is threaded externally at the rear. Some aren't, some are. Guess how I know that some aren't. Both of the 'scope camera shutters I bought weren't threaded externally at the rear.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan