Big Darlot question?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

I just got this lens last night and I need the lens guru's to chime in if you please.The lens is 7 inches long and the front glass is 3 inches and the rear glass is 3 1/8 inches. The lens hood on the front come in at 4 1/2 inches. There is an aperture that reads 1,2,4,8,16 and 32. The iris is nice and round and in good shape. The ring is a little stiff and I think I just need to take it off with the small set screw and clean under it so it works more smoothly. The writing says Darlot Optician Paris #36366 with the BF&Co on it also. It looks to be a 14" lens or there abouts. The glass cleaned up great. There was a big spot on the rear elements that cleaned up like new! Now for the best part I got it off of e-bay for $90.00! I think it was a great find and I'm very happy. The ring is just under 6" and it will fit the board for my 8x10. If someone can give me more info on this lens it would be great. Also any tips on how to get the iris ring to move more smoothly would be great. When I cleaned the lenses there was one big thick lens up front signed Darlot and two air spaced lenses in the rear one thick and the other thin. The thick one was signed Darlot also. Any info would be nice thanks.

Jim

[Brian Bullen]

Jim, you got yourself a pretty nice petzval there. I saw that one on the bay too, couldn't tell if that spot was mold/fungus or just some dirt. Glad it cleaned up for you. 14" should cover 8x10 at inf. and 10x12(maybe 11x14) at portrait distance. Around f/4.7(at least by your measurements.) Although your stops are US and 1 is equivalent to f/4, 2=f/5.6, 4=f/8, 8=f/11, 16=f/16. Great find and it will be an excellent portrait lens.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Jim, you got yourself a pretty nice petzval there. I saw that one on the bay too, couldn't tell if that spot was mold/fungus or just some dirt. Glad it cleaned up for you. 14" should cover 8x10 at inf. and 10x12(maybe 11x14) at portrait distance. Around f/4.7(at least by your measurements.) Although your stops are US and 1 is equivalent to f/4, 2=f/5.6, 4=f/8, 8=f/11, 16=f/16. Great find and it will be an excellent portrait lens.

Brian, awesome! Thanks for the info. I couldn't believe I got this lens. I took a chance on it and because of the spot I think that is why I got it so cheap. I am going to try it on the 11x14 also. Here is the shot of the rear element group so you can see how it cleaned up. Sorry about the reflections in this shot but the glass is perfectly clean! Thanks for the info on the US stops.


Jim

[Gustavo]

Thank you Jim glad to help
LOL

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Gustavo, thanks for that crap you let me use. It worked great. The lenses cleaned up like new and the area that we thought was a scratch cleaned up completely. No marks on the glass at all. A few cleaning wisp's that's all.

Jim

[Stephanie Brim]

Now...can we see photos from it?

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Stephanie, I'm working out of my home office today. If my phone would stop ringing I could get this beast mounted. It only weights 4 pounds and should sit nice on my 8x10. I'll try to do some paper negs at least.


Jim

[Jim Galli]

....you got some crap from Gustavo? ....and it cleaned the glass???

That is a sweet lens. Good thing I was asleep at the mouse or it'd gone for double.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

....you got some crap from Gustavo? ....and it cleaned the glass???

That is a sweet lens. Good thing I was asleep at the mouse or it'd gone for double.

Jim, you should have seen it! What can I say! Gustavo is a big guy!!! Seriously, the glass cleaned up great. A few wisp's on it. Making the board for it as we speak. I certainly got a steal on this one! I'll post some pictures of what it can do soon.

Jim

[Hollis]

let me know if it covers 11x14, im in the market for something in that range.