I've seen some industar lens's in the 210mm range that actualy seem pretty cheap. I know that russian lens's can be decent but they don't seem like you can attach them to a shutter. How hard would it be to adapt one of these to a 4x5 view. There has to be a way isn't there, I mean they can't just use a hat over the lens for a shutter can they?
Hat, lens cap, old inner tube, etc., you name it, it's been used as shutter at ome time or another. Lots of folks buy those lenses only to find out what it would cost to fit them to a shutter. A lot of bucks, if you can find someone to do it. A Packard shutter behind the lens board would give you about 1/25 of a second with practice. Considering even the price of a used Packard, I don't feel it's worth it. Those particular lenses aren't that great, according to reports I've heard. If you have the bucks to buy one, have it shipped, then have to find a way to shutter it, you could take those same bucks and buy something worthwhile. A decent Tessar in a working shutter, for example.
I found an uncoated Schneider Xenar 21cm in a compound shutter at around $110-120. This is a very sharp lens which I use too little. (As I really bought it for the shutter... My barrel Heliar did drop right into it without any hassle at all.)
For that particular lens, intended for portrait work (i.e. the Heliar), that shutter is just the right thing. Doing portrait work with an LF camera is a bit "retro", so the nice sound of the compound really adds to it. I do think the Xenar would be really nice at the same type of work, but I havn't tested that yet.
The only drawback is that these both lenses are uncoated, so flare can be a problem, unless care (i.e. a good shade) is taken. Else there is really no big difference from modern glass.
//Björn
All those Tessar formula lenses in 210mm range are quite good for portraits. I have bought quite a few of them to compare, and the uncoated ones are nice and soft. I have a Packard shutter and asked someone to build a box around it. But since I plan to do more color work, I just got a Sinar Copal shutter. The world of barrel lens is quite fun and inexpensive too.
Zheng L.
Apart from the Industars the market is packed with cheap (I bought the last ones for 10€ used and 40€ new in factory wrap) 210/4.5 Carl Zeiss Jena or Meyer Görlitz (the production presumably got relocated within Pentacon some time in the eighties) barrel mount Tessars - apparently Pentacon rolled out far more lenses than matching large format cameras.
The GDR large format Tessars are generally quite high build and glass quality. The Industars I've seen were essentially the same lens (either OEMed by or built under license from Pentacon), but very often in much worse production quality.
Good Industars and all CZJ/Meyer Tessars are fine and a good bargain, if you have any use for a lens with such a limited coverage and (compared to recent Schneiders, Rodenstocks or Nikkors) relatively low contrast, but (for a large format non-process lens) unusually high resolution. But as they cannot be economically shutter mounted (since they don't split into elements that match standard shutters) they are only a serious option for people that have a behind the lens or focal plane shutter, or can make do with shutterless operation. Beyond that, they are not worth while, a complete rebuild into another barrel would buy you several more modern, wider coverage lenses complete with shutter...
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