Interesting discussion.
I, too, had heard of the Hirohito-Heliar connection as well, maybe it was in the wind.
My own Heliar, long since sold, was from 1905 (I can't find a photo of the serial number); it was a 12" lens, uncoated, which I managed to mount on a Technika board.
Maybe I was expecting something different, but the Heliar and I didn't get along. I'll always be thankful to the Heliar, though, as it did lead me down the path to a new Cooke that fit the bill perfectly.
What was the problem Ari? I will have a 12" here tomorrow... I'll see how I like it.
Hi Scott,Originally Posted by Scott Schroeder
My copy didn't have the sharpness and contrast I was looking for. I may have had a lens whose central element needed reversing, as has been discussed here, and I may have used it under the wrong conditions sometimes (indirect sun), but I have to say, I wasn't fond of the look I got.
I know many here produce amazing images with Heliars, that's why I got one as well.
Had I been shooting wet plates back then, I might have kept it for that.
I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, and your lens will prove to be a workhorse.
Got it yesterday....mounted it and on the GG it's soft and fuzzy everywhere....no sharpness.
Any reason someone would scratch off the S/N? It's patent number 716035
The individual cells all look fine. All the threading seems to be fine.
I noticed it's best to screen the center to the outer first, then screw that into the barrel, then the inner cell.
Otherwise the center doesn't thread all the way in.
I can't see how the center could be reversed. It doesn't seem like that one piece will come apart. If it did there aren't any threads to reverse it anyway.
Am I missing something here? I'd hate to send it back...
Oh, crap; I hope I didn't "voodoo" your lens purchase with what I said about my Heliar.
Keep us posted if you do manage to correct the problem; some of these are very old lenses, and not everything is guaranteed to be original.
If your center element is permanently mounted in a housing that screws into place , then it cannot be reversed. The "reversal problem" only happens when the center element is easily removed from the housing, such as someone might do during a cleaning, and then put back together the wrong way. That's what happened to me with a heliar in the past. The construction changed many time over the years, so nothing can be generalized about how these are correctly assembled.
Good luck
Tim
The only reason for removing the serial number is foul play, that is, theft at some time in the past.
I'm starting to think the serial number might have been scratched because they are mixed elements from different lenses. I've tried a number of things to no avail.
This is interesting http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ss adjustment?
Well I tried every variation I could think of distancing the cells. It's just not happening...I'm wondering if the aperture ring is in the wrong place. I wondering that because that piece is brass and the rest are aluminum. At least it looks brass. Would this of happened? Or do I for sure have mixed parts?
As mentioned it was the earlier patent number but the S/N is scratched off.
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