I picked up one of this shutterless beauty on eBay for $8. I glued it to a spare 4x5 lens board to mount it on my 8x10. The lens is so tiny it looks weird on the camera.
However it covers the format with no problems (not sure of how much room for movements yet - the far corners are showing some softness).
The lens is uncoated and hazy/fogged up which makes for a very dreamy and "flare-y" atmosphere over an overall very sharp image.
If you want to see an example of the results--and judge it for your taste--see the video below:
It was unexpectedly very fun to play with this beat up lens.
It is a very simple lens so I will open it up and try to clean the haze. Perhaps I will make a follow up video with a test of solvents and procedure to clean up the lens, if it survives!!! Starting from mild solvents going to more and more aggressive ones. I am a chemist so I have access to all sorts of stuff to try and get this lens to its original state.
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