Wollensak 16" f3.8 Vitax Portrait Lens

[MikeK]

Oh My! I am now the proud owner of one humongous 16" f3.8 Vitax Portait Lens. I knew this was going to be a big beast, but not that big

I have a couple of questions which I hope someone can help with.


The mounting flange is 6" in diameter, which is about the same size as the lens board for my 8x10 Tachihara. Anyone made an adaptor that allows a lens like this size to be mounted on a smaller board?

I think this lens will cover formats up to 11x14, can anyone confirm, and lastly is anyone familiar with this lens?

TIA

Mike

[jnanian]

hi mike

i have a 13 1/2 " vitax that steve grimes mounted on a tiny little flange/lens board for me. the board is something like 3 1/2 "square ( sorry i don't remember completely the dimensions, but it is the same size as a graphic view II board - a little bigger than a speed graphic board ) ...


-john

[jimgalli]

Great lens. It is a Petzval type. At some point you'll need to concede defeat and just buy an old 10A Century Studio camera which is designed for the beast. Even if you could put it on the Tachi it would die of overload with 8 pounds of brass cannon cantilevered out in front. Some of the older Ansco 810's with the 7 inch lens board and NO front tilt might get the job done. Your Tachi was made for Schneider XL's.

[jnanian]

hi mike

i have a 13 1/2 " vitax that steve grimes mounted on a tiny little flange/lens board for me. the board is something like 3 1/2 "square ( sorry i don't remember completely the dimensions, but it is the same size as a graphic view II board - a little bigger than a speed graphic board ) ...


-john

i forgot to add, the flange/board i had custom made is small, but it mounts onto another that is about 3 times as large and is the same size as the front standard of my 5x7 camera.

the 13.5 is as big as a bazooka, i can only imagine the size of yours

[jjstafford]

At the urging of another member, yesterday I mounted a 14.5" Verito w/studio shutter to a Sinar board and it's fine, but that lens is a lightweight. The big old iron-footed studio camera setups take 9" square boards and can handle your monster well. You need one very stout front standard.

[JG Motamedi]

Lots of good comments above. The lens will not cover 11x14, except at 1:1 or closer. For what ever its worth, rather than have the lens cantilevered putting tons of stress on the front standard, I opened up the studio shutter, drilled a few holes, and attached the lens to a 9x9 lensboard with a few screws. Not exactly "kosher", but much easier on the camera and better balanced. Of course, you still need a big camera with oversized lensboards. Perhaps consider using a slightly smaller f/5 or f/6 Petzval (Vesta) on your Tachihara. Do you have the triple extension Tachi? Bellows extension is always a problem with the beasts.

[Kerik]

I opened up the studio shutter, drilled a few holes, and attached the lens to a 9x9 lensboard with a few screws. Not exactly "kosher", but much easier on the camera and better balanced.

Jason,

Thanks for this tip! That's a great idea.

Kerik

[smieglitz]

Jason,

Thanks for this tip! That's a great idea.

Kerik

If you guys are trashing your studio shutters by doing this, please send me the cable release fitting.

I could also use some blades for some smaller studio shutters if anyone else has a trashed shutter.

Thanks,

Joe

[Kerik]

If you guys are trashing your studio shutters by doing this, please send me the cable release fitting.

Joe,

I haven't done this yet, but I doubt Jason is trashing the shutter. But, in case you're interested, I had SK Grimes make a cable release fitting and the lever to open/close the shutter for the Studio shutter on my Pinkham/Smith several years ago (Steve did the work himself). It did cost some $$, though...

Kerik

[jjstafford]

If you guys are trashing your studio shutters by doing this, please send me the cable release fitting.
Joe

Joe, on mine all one does is unscrew the air piston, and screw a cable release into the remainder. I tried a few different style releases and most worked.