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Bozeman
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 7
Location: Rocky Mountains
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 Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 7:06 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm new to the forum. I just acquired a Century Graphic and a R12 roll film back. First of all I'd like to know if it is practical and possible to convert lens & shutter units designed for the Graflex XL to a Century Graphic? Are there any lens board diameter or other issues? Obviously the XL has a focusing helicoid in lieu of bellows & focusing rack. Is it easy to remove the XL helicoid section and then use the lens with its shutter on the Century (example Copal 0 shutter, 80mm f2.8 Noritar lens)? Final question: the 80mm Tessar f2.8 lens on my Century appears to be a typical normal 6x6 lens configuration whereas the 80mm f2.8 Noritar appears to have a much more pronounced curvature of its front element (true wide angle lens look). Does these differences affect the actual images when these lenses are used on the Century? Thanks in advance for your patience with a novice and his possibly odd questions! I'll probably have more questions to follow. |
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Dan Fromm
Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2146
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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On 2006-02-01 11:06, Bozeman wrote:
I'm new to the forum. I just acquired a Century Graphic and a R12 roll film back. First of all I'd like to know if it is practical and possible to convert lens & shutter units designed for the Graflex XL to a Century Graphic? Are there any lens board diameter or other issues? Obviously the XL has a focusing helicoid in lieu of bellows & focusing rack. Is it easy to remove the XL helicoid section and then use the lens with its shutter on the Century (example Copal 0 shutter, 80mm f2.8 Noritar lens)? Final question: the 80mm Tessar f2.8 lens on my Century appears to be a typical normal 6x6 lens configuration whereas the 80mm f2.8 Noritar appears to have a much more pronounced curvature of its front element (true wide angle lens look). Does these differences affect the actual images when these lenses are used on the Century? Thanks in advance for your patience with a novice and his possibly odd questions! I'll probably have more questions to follow.
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Yep. Just take the lens/shutter assembly off of the XL focusing mount and put it on a board. You'll need a board that's drilled to accept the shutter. I've bought boards all over the place, had them drilled by http://www.skgrimes.com . I'm sure there are other shops that drill boards.
The Noritar is a very different design from a tessar, won't look like on. The Noritar will for sure cover 6x6, will probably cover 6x7, almost certainly won't cover 6x9.
There may, though, be a snag. I don't think that the shutters used in lenses for the XL have a cable release socket or a "T" speed. So focusing on the ground glass can be a bit hard.
I use an ex-XL 58/5.6 Grandagon on my little Graphics, have cut a piece of plastic to prop the shutter release open. So to focus I set the speed to "B", cock the shutter, fire it with the prop, and do the necessary. Sounds worse than it is.
Oh, yeah. The 58 Grandagon's rear cell is too big to pass through a 2x3 Graphic's lens throat. To mount the lens on one of my Graphics, I remove the rear cell, put board and front cell on the camera, screw rear cell back into the shutter from the rear. There are worse punishments.
Cheers,
Dan |
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Bozeman
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 7
Location: Rocky Mountains
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Dan, Thanks for the prompt reply. I checked Internet & eBay for leads on Noritar lenses but they more often refer to the Norita SLR, obviously very different than the Noritar on an XL. Any idea what the Noritar 80mm f2.8 lens design is based on? I presumed it was a 4 element lens but maybe not since most wide angle lenses add more elements. I'm also wonder if it is an 'economy XL lens', relatively speaking, since the XL series often had pricey Zeiss Planars, etc. Even my 80mm f2.8 Zeiss Tessar mounted on a Prontor SVS shutter (1947) is a bit of a mystery. From what I can gather, a similar post WWII DDR coated lens was presumbably used on a Zeiss Super Ikonta before the Optons arrived. One Internet commenter indicated this 'fast' Tessar lens was not very spectacular compared to later Tessars. Guess I'll find out after making comparisons with a few other Century Graphic lenses. |
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Dan Fromm
Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2146
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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On 2006-02-01 11:40, Bozeman wrote:
Dan, Thanks for the prompt reply. I checked Internet & eBay for leads on Noritar lenses but they more often refer to the Norita SLR, obviously very different than the Noritar on an XL. Any idea what the Noritar 80mm f2.8 lens design is based on? I presumed it was a 4 element lens but maybe not since most wide angle lenses add more elements. I'm also wonder if it is an 'economy XL lens', relatively speaking, since the XL series often had pricey Zeiss Planars, etc. Even my 80mm f2.8 Zeiss Tessar mounted on a Prontor SVS shutter (1947) is a bit of a mystery. From what I can gather, a similar post WWII DDR coated lens was presumbably used on a Zeiss Super Ikonta before the Optons arrived. One Internet commenter indicated this 'fast' Tessar lens was not very spectacular compared to later Tessars. Guess I'll find out after making comparisons with a few other Century Graphic lenses.
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The 80/2.8 Noritar is NOT a wide angle lens. Where did you get that idea? It is a normal lens for 6x6, might barely cover 6x7. AFAIK, it is a 6/4 double Gauss type. Think Planar, Xenotar, Heligon. Not all Planars & Xenotars are 6/4, but they're all double Gausses.
There are very, very few wide angle Tessars. 28/8 for Contax, 55/8 for VP Exakta are all that come to mind.
IIRC, the fastest normal lens for the Norita SLR is the 80/2. The 80/2.8 was, again IIRC, less expensive and is more common than the 80/2. Probably the same cells as the XL's 80/2.8. |
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Bozeman
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 7
Location: Rocky Mountains
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| Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Dan, I only presumed the 80mm focal length was slightly wide for a XL but what I really meant to say is visually, in comparison to the Tessar, a Noritar 80mm f2 looks very different, more like the appearance of a wide angle lens due to the curvature of its lens surfaces (the internal elements at least). If it is a Planar type lens then I can understand it should appear different than the rather flater looking lens surface(s) that are visible when looking at my Tessar. I do appreciate your insights. Please forgive my awkward or inaccurate descriptions and/or observations. |
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Dan Fromm
Joined: 14 May 2001
Posts: 2146
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 1:35 am Post subject: |
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On 2006-02-01 13:02, Bozeman wrote:
Dan, I only presumed the 80mm focal length was slightly wide for a XL but what I really meant to say is visually, in comparison to the Tessar, a Noritar 80mm f2 looks very different, more like the appearance of a wide angle lens due to the curvature of its lens surfaces (the internal elements at least). If it is a Planar type lens then I can understand it should appear different than the rather flater looking lens surface(s) that are visible when looking at my Tessar. I do appreciate your insights. Please forgive my awkward or inaccurate descriptions and/or observations.
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By all means try the thing out, tell us which Noritar it is (f/2, f/2. , and tell us how big a circle it covers. I'd be surprised if it put good image in the corners of a 2x3 frame, but I've been wrong before, and more than once.
Cheers,
Dan |
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