VERY vintage optics - new obsession?

Thanks for the links, Roman... But I don't think those will stay at the current price :(
Besides, I think those two would be too long focal length for my SG. I'd be perfectly happy with something in 150 - 180 mm focal length (i.e. about 6 to 7 inches). I've checked a bit past (completed) auctions, and it looks those old lenses are rather expensive - they go up to over $200 and more :(

There's another camera fair next month in Graz (April 10), and I hope I might find something there - or at least get a couple of junked big lenses cheap, to experiment with various lens elements...

Hey, maybe we can meet there, if you're free?

Denis
 
Denis,

Check out these Lensbabies at FreeStyle. I doubt that they would cover your 2x3 negative completley, but they might give you a nice vingette. You would have to come up with a means of attaching them to your SG lensboard.

http://www.freestylephoto.biz/lensbabies.php

You might try using a Holga or Dianah Camera. You could always take their plastic lens out and bake them in the oven for a few minutes. That should take care of any sharpness they may have had.

Wayne
 
There were many lens designs of the first half of the 20th century that were "convertable" in that they had symmetrical elements front and back of a central leaf shutter, and you could remove one group....either the front or the back group and achieve a longer focal length with somewhat less "correction" of aberrations. I wonder if this approach might give acceptable results, by not stopping down. 20th century uncoated leaf shutter lenses should be a better deal on auction sites, than 19th century brass lenses.

Also, I see that Russian large format lenses go for little or nothing ($50 or less) on auction sites.
 
Wayne, thanks for the link. I know about lensbabies, I've been checking the lensbabies site today. A bit too pricy for someone as cheap as yours truly :) Besides, I can make something like that myself - for a lot less money :D
It will probably be the direction I will take...

Denis
 
I have taken lenses apart and found that the front group makes for a longer focal length lens when not used with the rear group. Many of the optical corrections are "undone" when using just half of the lens. I would expect the center to be a good performer, and the edges to swirl and twirl. You may try unscrewing the rear group from your Graphic and give it a shot. Won;t cost you anything!
 
Well now, this is gonna sound weird, and I don't want to speak for Denis, but in *my* ancient lens obsession, I am not interested so much in reproducing a particular image type with modern lenses (or parts of them) as I am in actually USING the ancient item in question, seeing what it saw way back when. For this reason, I recently got a Carl Zeiss Jena 80mm f2.8 Tessar in M42 mount. It is not as sharp as my Vivitar Series 1 90mm f2.5, but it has a cool look that I like. And it is a cool-looking lens, too! And if it were just a question of taking sharp images and making them crappy in various ways, I could do that - heck I do it all the time without trying! I want a Rapid Rectilinear 'look' out of an authentic RR lens, not a way to disassemble a hi-end modern lens or stupidize my image in PS. Besides the idea of one of those monsters hanging out on the end of my Speed just sounds cool to me. Uber-geek, I guess. It's the idea of the lens, what it meant, how it was used, and using it to expose images on film again - even if it is with a more modern camera body.

Weird? Yeah, I guess so!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Weird? No. I'm going to try to resurect a Carl Zeiss Jenna 21cm that's on my Series D Graflex. It appears to have some fungus on the front element. I'm going to try the cold cream routine. I want to see how it took pictures. I could put my modern 210 G-Claron on it but that wouldn't be the same.
 
denishr said:
There's another camera fair next month in Graz (April 10), and I hope I might find something there - or at least get a couple of junked big lenses cheap, to experiment with various lens elements...

Hey, maybe we can meet there, if you're free?

Denis
Click to expand...


Just checked my work plan - unfortunately, that's another weekend where I have to work...
But probably better for my wallet, anyway.

Roman
 
I have just noticed on some freshly developed pics that the novar-anastigmat on my super ikonta produces such swirl-bokeh when wide-open. Pretty weird lookong, i am not sure i like it...

Denis, sounds like a fun project; good luck! With such old lenses, i don't think you will have problems of covering the 6x9 neg.
 
Yep, I have a Nettar with a Novar-Anastigmat, and that also produces swirly bokeh...

Roman
 
I have two old wooden view cameras. Over the last few decades I collected an assortment of brass mount lenses. I never had much money to spend on this stuff. I find when I set out on a project, the items I am looking for showup some how. For Example: I found an old convertible lens at the bottom of a large box full of broken radios and old toys at a junk store. I paid $5 for it. I have used lenses salvaged from photocopiers, gleaned at the scrapmetal yard. One time I got a 310mm schneider lens from a man for $10 after he dropped it while showing it to me. I once got a artar lens for my labor to dismantle and remove a 16 foot long process camera. I got the camera as well.
You might try smearing a light coating of petroleum jelly on the front element of your "too sharp" lens to achieve the effect of an older lens. This is an old trick used for soft focus. I would recommend making a pinhole lens. I use to cut and coat my own glass plates. The contact prints from these negatives always had an old look to them. I like to make paper negatives for special effects. The thickness and less transparent paper tends to soften the look of the positives. If you have any film holders, this is easy to do. I have never used paper in a roll film back.
 
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Looks like old brass lenses on various ebay incarnations are prohibitively expensive - given that I'm not always sure of the focal length, and might end up with something unusable.
I'll keep on trying, though... Until then, I'll try some other hacks - like homemade lens attachments, etc... of "Plungercam" or "lensbabies" variety...
I just hope I'll have some more time to spare on this...

I got some interesting ideas from this thread... Thanks, guys!

Denis
 
"You might try smearing a light coating of petroleum jelly on the front element of your "too sharp" lens to achieve the effect of an older lens."

A better idea is to use a clear filter in front of the lens and put your substance on that. I'd refrain from putting anything on the surfaces of my lens....... but that's just me.

Walker
 
Talking about experimenting...I've read swhere that a cool effect can be produced by putting stretched piece of women's pantyhose (preferably neutral colour and no pattern) in front of the lens...as "soft filter"... Might produce too cheesy results, however. Once i'll try it.
 
As for smearing vaseline, etc. on lens - of course I'd smear it on the filter :)
But, general softening is not what I'm looking for - I have Duto filters (soft filters) for that. In fact, I just recently took a few snaps of my kid with Duto attached on my Summicron and 90/4 Elmar C - the results were generally very flat (reduced contrast). However, I realized I should have used different lighting - the shots were taken indoors, in diffuse light, so they're very flat. Softners work better in contrasty light, I guess.
But, another idea is to put a filter in front of the lens, and apply some clear nail polish (or something similar, removable) on the edges - to get the center sharp, and with more distortion towards the edges... Should be closer to the desired effect.

Denis

BTW, attached is a snap with Duto filter (on Summicron 50/2).
 
I used to use Nylon stretched between two filters for Bridal Portraits, used with flash bounced off of a white paper plate. Came out nice for a limited budget shooting for friends in college days.

If brass lense sare too expensive on EBay, old large rollfilm box cameras like those for 116 film are cheap. The lenses will certainly be soft and undercorrected on the Speed Graphic, and produce an old-time effect.

Googled This:
http://www.alternativephotography.com/articles/art037.html
 
The issue of getting images to look like mid-19th century tin-types is not just one of lens selection, but also of getting modern films to replicate the "blue sensitive only" characteristics of tin-type photo emulsions.
 
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