Is there a place that describes the differences in Agulons, Symmars, Plasmats, Dagors on and on.
Is there a place that describes the differences in Agulons, Symmars, Plasmats, Dagors on and on.
View Camera magazine ran a series of articles a few years ago. Then there is Kingslake's excellent book on Photographic Lenses (a copy should be in every LF'ers library, IMHO) I hope this helps.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
The full title of Rudolf Kingslake's basic book on photography is Lenses in Photography. A copy is always at hand near my computer. I believe he has also written more advanced books than this fine 1951 introduction.
Angulon= "reverse" Dagor
Doppel Anastigmat Symmar = Dagor type
First series of convertible Symmar (triple convertible, scarce) = Dagor type
Second series, 2 focal lengths, Symmar - Plasmat type
Symmar-S = Plasmat type
Believe it or not, wikipedia has some decent info on lens types. Probably cribbed from Kingslake's book and others.
For example:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmat_lens
One man's Mede is another man's Persian.
The home page here has some information that might be useful:
http://www.largeformatphotography.in...c-experts.html
Browse the home page and you might find more useful info.
Cheers, Steve
Barry, Dan Colucci, who posts here as ccharrison, sells A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum on CD ROM. The VM is incoherent, incomplete, inconsistent, infuriating, and invaluable. Buy a copy and study it closely. Imperfect as it is, it is the best thing going.
Sorry for the commercial - but the Vade Mecum can be found here:
http://antiquecameras.net/lensvademecum.html
Best
Dan
Antique & Classic Camera Blog
www.antiquecameras.net/blog.html
The Vade Mecum is excellent for deciphering the basic design and manufacturer of common and obscure lenses. Kingslake tells a bit more about design evolution and the technical pluses and minuses of the different designs. But for what the different lenses actually do, the second-best resource is wasting hour after hour in this forum's Image Sharing and Discussion threads...
(The best is wasting money in the For Sale section!)
"I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."
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