My beautiful 16.5cm Jena.

[Keith]

Here's me worrying that I don't have much Zeiss stuff to brag about ... I just realised I have this beautiful Jena 16.5cm lens with Compur shutter that will be grafted on to my Crown Graphic very shortly ... I just need the right lens board!

I try to avoid obsessing over gear too much but I could look at this all day! :D


http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g196/wheelie52/Lenses/IMG_3427.jpg

[Brian]

Keith, are you having the lens board made up, or is it a matter of hunting them down?

What are the specs on what you are looking for?

[Tom A]

Keith, that is a drop-dead gorgeous piece of glass! What will you be using it on?
Tom

[Keith]

Keith, are you having the lens board made up, or is it a matter of hunting them down?

What are the specs on what you are looking for?


Hi Brian,

After looking into the situation it seems I have to get a standard metal Graphic 4x5 board and enlarge the hole to suit this lens shutter combo which appears to require a 56mm hole. I've checked Copal listings for the Graphic lens boards and there's nothing that comes close.

Heavystar have new metal boards listed on eBay for $15.00 so I'll likely get one of those and have the hole enlarged ... I have a friend with a very nice machine shop who will do a much neater job of it than I could!

I can't wait to use this lens on my Crown ... glass from 1922 should have it's own look I'd imagine. It's about time I did some more 4x5!

[Keith]

Keith, that is a drop-dead gorgeous piece of glass! What will you be using it on?
Tom

It is beautiful isn't it Tom ... I can't wait to see how it renders. Hopefully tastefully soft wide open and just a tiny bit flarey.

The Compur shutter is really nice and when I bought it it had just been rebuilt by Mael (RFF) in France and he included the as tested electronic results for the shutter speeds. For an eighty seven year old mechanism it was unneringly accurate and consistent ... very impressive!

[Tom A]

Keith, you might be surprised how good that lens is - even wide open. I did use some similarly aged Zeiss glass years ago on a Sinar (4x5/5x7/8x10) and they all performed extremely well. My reference lens at the time was an Apo-Symmar 240f5.6 and I found the Zeiss glass did just as well. Yours will probably cover at least 5x7 too, so at 4x5 you are using the centre of the lens anyway.
While you are waiting for the lens-board, do what I used to do, 4 ply mounting board from your local framer and plenty of black cloth tape. Some cutting with a scalpel and you are all set to go. That way you wont keep us all waiting too long for results!

[raid]

Keith,
Your thread reminded me of an old lens that many years ago a friend found in his home and gave to me. It is a 3 1/4 x5 1/2 Tessar IIb Bausch and Lomb Optical Co. It has a Kodamatic Shutter with speeds T, B, ... 150 and aperture settings 6.3 8 ... 32 45. It looks quite clean, and it seems to function well. Is this a LF lens?

[Seele]

Keith,

I have one as well, and it is nothing like the softness one would expect; in fact it packs a heck of a punch in sharpness. I use it on 4"X5" and it can give a fair bit of camera movement too.