Wray and Leitz

[Whiteymorange]

In my endless quest for the biggest pile of cr## on the block, I have recently acquired a couple of oddball lenses (a couple more oddball lenses, that is.) I now have a Wray 9.5 in. f6.3 brass barrel lens and a Leitz 25 cm. projection lens from a Dimax projector. I've managed to mount them each in lens boards and have taken some Fuji instant pictures with the Wray, which, I gather, is a full plate enlarging lens made for the RAF some time in the early 20th century. It's kind of what I expected - fairly sharp in the middle of the image, a bit dreamy on the edges... but this is on quarter plate size film. Does anyone have any experience with this lens on larger formats? I do not currently have the ability to try them out on 8x10, though I'm working on that...

The Dimax seems to have been an odd beast at best, a combination opaque projector and magic lantern slide projector. This lens is, I believe, the magic lantern side of the project. I have no idea what to expect from this one, though it's going to be fun, since I paid $.99 apiece for these. It has a 2.5 in. sheath, within which it is adjustable by sliding along a track. Usual high-standard German workmanship, unknown design. I figure by WAG that it's about an f8. Not all that good with details, I'm afraid...

The $35 in shipping from S. Korea is to be ignored right?

[Richard Kelham]

I don't know the particular Wray lens that you have but their smaller format enlarging lenses, normally called Supar I believe in the days before the Trades Description Act, were generally a bit soft round the edges even when stopped down – and thus not highly sought after!

Much the same could be said of their taking lenses too...