Hello ULF friends,
I’m just up from the darkroom after developing a 8x20 negative. My Kowa 240mm f9 almost covers 8x20, missing the corners by merely ½ inch with nice resolution until just the very edge of the circle. This is better than my 10x12 Protar V, which misses the corners of 8x20 by an inch. The Kowa’s coverage is almost identical to my Wollensak Velostigmat 11x14 WA Ser. III f9.5 (focal approx 240mm). The negative clearly shows that the Kowa is more contrasty than the uncoated Wollensak. I know of no other modern coated lens under 270mm with such coverage that can be had for less than several thousand dollars.
I also just discovered that my Kowa 240 cells screw directly into an old Copal 3 of mine, but NOT into a modern 3. Did older Copal 3’s have the same threads as the new Copal 3S (which are said to accept Kowa cells directly)? My old Copal 3 clearly says “Copal-No. 3” with no “S” to be seen. Curious.
The above coverage test was using the Kowa 240 in barrel. I need to test the lens again in the old Copal 3, which spaces the cells 1mm further apart than in the original barrel.
Linas
Bookmarks