Can't find a Kalosat diffusion lens? Make one...

[Dr Klaus Schmitt]

Well after searching for years for a Kalosat diffusion soft focus pictorial lens with no result, I finally decided to make one. I took a quartz meniscus lens of about 120mm focal length, an old lens barrel, some focusing helicoids, my camera and a dried up rose bouquet, and well, here are now some results of that contraption at various aperture settings. The lens element itself is about f4. The "diffusion" effect gets quite visible.



some crops:

[Mike1234]

SF isn't my cuppa tea but those are nice, Klaus. Care to post a "how-to"?

[Dr Klaus Schmitt]

Thanks, but the "how to" was already mentioned in my text, pretty simple and straightforward....don't expect CAD drawaings and a parts list with order numbers pleeeze ...

[Mike1234]

True enough...

[Jim Galli]

Klaus, I don't really think you'd see much if any difference between the Kalost and the Spencer. I don't have a Kalosat so I'm theorizing here, but both use the same basic lens formulae principal and I don't really know what the quartz glass ads besides some advertising hype.

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi Dr Klaus

Wonderful. Nice glow over the most important sold base. Content is lovely. Thanks for sharing .
Peace
Louis P

[papah]

Klaus, that's beautiful. Where did you find a quartz meniscus?

[sun of sand]

I like #2
#4 looks like a rather crappy ordinary "sharp" lens

[Dr Klaus Schmitt]

Thanks guys!

@Jim: well it might be only hype, but in my (limited) understanding quartz has a different (much lower)) dispersion
than ordinary glass has, so that should show in the results. In "Abels's Photographic Weekly" Hanovia Labs advertised it as:
((quote))
In a Kalosat you have more than a
"Spectral Diffusion Lens". You have a lens
capable of rendering your subject in a very
superior manner. It has qualities that are
unsurpassed in the realm of photography —
results that show soft delicacy of tone, great
breadth of effect, beautifully depicted lighting
and no flare or hajb. Delicate skin modu-
lations can be portrayed with infallible
accuracy and beauty, and retouching is re-
duced to practically the vanishing point.
These pleasing qualities and more.
((unquote))

well, so far for the sales. I haven't yet had time to make a thorough comparison of the Spencer Portland
and my homebrew "Kalosat". But isn't the Spencer a cemented achromatic meniscus whereas the Kalosat
(and the Struss Pictorial) are simple quartz menisci?

@papah: Edmund Scientific and optical surplus stores are good sources usually. I have a few spare very special
quartz lenses made by famous german lens maker Steinheil, Munich (one made from real Brasilian quartz!!)
but the focal lengths are 700-800mm, too long for me. Speed is about f8

@sun of sand: well I agree, it was to test out the effect of stopping down; of course that ends up at a fairly sharp level,
but will never reach a fully corrected modern lens of course.

[Mike1234]

Hey Doc!! No further replies to my request for more info? Oh yeah... that's right... I'm an idiot. Maybe you cerebral types should go start your own forum. We wee-minded folk aren't your cuppa tea, iz wee??