Barrel Apo-Ronar

[Sanjay Sen]

Ken,
I bought this identical lens, also cheap, and sent it along with a Copal 3 to SK Grimes. They sent it back with an apology that this lens is mostly plastic, and of such peculiar construction that it will not lend itself to machine work to set it into any known shutter. <snip>

You must be referring to a different lens: I also have a Rodenstock Apo-Ronar 19" f9, in barrel, and I can assure you that there is no plastic whatsoever in this lens. It is pretty hefty. In fact, I don't think the front standard of my Zone VI 4x5 will even be able to handle this lens - I haven't tried it though, bought it mainly for the 8x10.

[darinwc]

I'm not sure what the diameter of your lens is, but you might try turning the shutter backwards and front-mounting it.
I made some cardboard rings that allow me use the same shutter on a couple of different lenses.
This works great with longer lenses, not as well with short lenses.

[Dan Fromm]

Ken, here's one in shutter: http://cgi.ebay.de/Apo-Ronar-1-9-600...QQcmdZViewItem

[JMC1969]

Scroll down the page until you see 480mm, it claims it fits a copal #3 and picture shown in Compur #3

http://www.skgrimes.com/fits/index.htm

Or maybe this will help. The link below is a company that has the same lens for sale for a mere $1075 and it is mounted in a copal. It doesn't say which # it is, but maybe call them an inquire about it.

http://www.lensandrepro.com/USED/used-lgf.htm

[vet173]

The plastic referred to is injected around the cells to lock them in place after assembly and calibration. Not the elements themselves. That's my understanding. This would be for the CL version.

[Deckled Edge]

I just acquired an impeccable barrel 480 mm (19 inch) Rodenstock Apo-Roar (f9 -260). I was surprised to find a scale on the side from 2 to 50mm that I have to assume is the diameter of the iris. I was also surprised to find a small lever that opens up a slot on the barrel that to allow a gel filter to be inserted between the two groups of glass.
Ken

Ken describes my lens exactly, but mine is labeled "CL". The SK Grimes page is for a different lens.
Ken, If yours is not the CL, go for it. If not, don't waste your time.

[Adamphotoman]

If you can live without a lot of movements, a 480 mm lens can be used on 4x5 mounted in front of a #1 shutter. Without vignetting by the shutter.

Hint 1: the Polaroid MP-4 Copal #1 Press shutter, which has no diaphragm, is inexpensive and will do the job.

Hint 2: skgrimes can make an adapter that will hold your lens in front of a #1

I use an skg adapter to mount a 480/9 Apo Nikkor, obviously a better lens than the Apo Ronar because in light alloy instead of plastic, in front of a #1. But I shoot it on a tandem 2x3 Graphic.

Hi Folks,
I have a couple of Apo Ronars. One is an Apo 360 mm f9 in a Copal 3 Shutter. It is definitely Multicoated and it is a very sharp lens indeed. I am shooting on Sinar Equipment made up of several generations of hardware/ Norma,P,and F1 and 2 Intermediary standards. I work with a Betterlight Super 6K scanning back which will shred poor quality lenses.
I also have an Apo Ronar CL 480 f11 Single straw colored coating in the same barrel that you describe. The plastic parts are only used in the mounting of the linear aperture. The rest is aluminum so it will be lighter.
Because I do not need a shutter the barrel works well. This lens uses a half pitch 72 mm mounting nut. Both Cells are identical and thread into the barrel but they will not mount directly into the Copal 3 that I have. This lens
was intended to be used as a process lens and because of that it is highly
corrected for 1-1. Now this is where it gets interesting. One Cell has a thin
metal shim to separate the cells a small amount. I will get back to this in a moment.
The Rodenstock Factory sold Apo Ronars supplied in Shutters. These had cells that were spaced further apart to better correct for distance. These lenses were also multicoated because they were to be used on field cameras instead of process cameras. Other Apo Ronars that are sold on Ebay may have been retrofitted into shutters and these will be single coated and corrected for close up work. I have experimented with making images at infinity and only stopped down to where diffraction begins to make a difference... about f22.
Separating the cells improves the sharpness at infinity so I suggest that
increasing the distance between the cells on the 480 will improve the lens
for field work. The good thing is the 480 CL is lighter. I cannot speak for the Nikkors however I do know the G Clarons well. I used 2 for years when I shot film with a great deal of success, however, the Ronars are lighter and smaller and they outperform the G Clarons.
Grant