Depth of Field Adapter on Steroids

E Dinkla wrote:

Tons o Glass 0 Class wrote:

fferreres wrote:

Tons o Glass 0 Class wrote:

On a 4x5-based DOF adapter rig, f/2.5 via an Aero Ektar, f/2.8 via a Xenotar, or f/2.9 via a Pentac gets you f/0.67, f/0.74, or f/0.77 equivalent aperture emulations, respectively.

I will try adapting a Rollei Heidosmat 150mm F2.8 MC. It's as cheap as it goes and the next stop would be some 4.5 Tessars of which there are a million or some many cheap Fujinar f4.5 (usually better crafted). But f4.5 is more like f1.2 and thus less interesting. I think f2 is where 4x5 gets funny with f0.5 view.

Glad you mentioned the f/4.5 Tessars - I happen to be researching ones to get for 8x10 (I may base my rig around 12x12" Fresnels and include a way to shoot 8x10 film without them). To cover 8x10 I've found out I need about a 12" or longer FL f/4.5 Tessar-type. The point of entry seems to be about $250 for one in rough shape whether it's mounted in a shutter or in a barrel. The ones I know to look for so far are:

• Kodak (via an Anastigmat/Anastar/Anaston/Ektanar/Ektar/Ektanon - some of these are marketed as projection / enlarger lenses, and the Ektars are not as cheap),
• B&L (via a Series Ic)
• Schneider (via a Xenar),
• Ross (via an Xpres Anastigmat),
• CZJ (of course),
• Ilex (via an Anastigmat)
• Wollensak (via a Velostigmat or Raptar II - OK these don't look as cheap)
• Gundlach (via a Radar Anastigmat)
• Fujinon (via a Fujinar - some are enlarger lenses)

Kodak' s Ektar name covers more optical designs than the Tessar type. The Anastar became the name of what essentially was the Anastigmat Special up to 1950, both Tessar type but I think both never went beyond 127mm focal length. Anastons are Triplets.

Thanks for the clarifications. I've been digging through a lot of old catalog PDFs still don't have quite a clear picture of what's what so I'll take all the info I can get!

It will be hard to find 300mm 4.5 or faster Tessar types for 8x10 anyway.

I've got a handful of active listings in my watchlist at the moment that are 300mm and up, but it has admittedly been a bit of work to find them hehe. There are a few 250mm-ish ones on my watchlist as well but I'm eyeing longer FLs for a longer equivalent FL on the DOF adapter rig.

Here are a handful that are tempting me right now - I'd be really curious to figure out what EG&G was doing with these (this company is known for photographing atomic bomb tests for science, scary):

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_ssn=solanotraders&store_cat=0&store_name=solanotraders&_oac=1&_nkw=xenar%20360%20%224%2C5%22

I'm fairly confident they're just barrel lenses with all the optics up front threaded into giant custom-machined tubes; looks like there are grub screws keeping the lens cell in place.

I still have a Rodenstock Apo Ronar 240mm 9.0 reproduction lens here, brass so heavy. Wonder what it covers but I think 8x10 is possible. Sold a light alu barrel Apo-Nikkor 360mm 9.0 that covered more than 8x10. Used for repro work.

Oh yes those repro lenses should cover ridiculously large imaging planes, I just don't want to build a rig that big hehe. If I did use one of those for an 8x10-ish rig, f/9 would only get me f/1.2 emulation, which is the same mode a 4x5 rig would have me stuck in for similarly affordable and plentiful f/4.5 lenses that cover the format.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
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