Graflex.org

[john wilton]

I have a Series C on the way, unfortunately minus its 2.5/6.5" Cooke. I have a small Ultragon 8/150 that I could try out...the rear element is .5" aft of its mounting thread shoulder so perhaps it might fit and give infinity focus (perhaps not).

Would appreciate ideas on inexpensive, appropriate lens choices.

[Les]

Before I'd jump in with a list of lenses I would wait until the camera showed up and find what the ground glass to lens board distance is and then go from there.

an f8 lens will be an eye strain to focus with unless you show up with some magnesium flares to help increase the overall illumination.

A pat simple answer to your question would be a 152mm or "4x5" B&L or Carl Zeiss Tessar Ic f4.5. With the recessed lensboard you may be able to get to 135mm but the 152 went on the 3x4 Super D. so you'll be sure to get infinity focus (maybe a bit beyond) and probably fairly close up (3-5') a nice clear lens will be very sharp, easy to focus and relatively cheap in barrel.
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[glennfromwy]

I have one of those Ultragons. It seems to me to be quite a bit brighter than most f/8 lenses. Try it and see what you get. There are a lot of barrel lenses out there for not that much money.
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

[john wilton]

The Ultragon is a good lens, I used it on my Korona 5x7 until I got a shuttered 150 g-claron. But...

A nice old Tessar 165/3.5 ex-Dagor77 came up tonight so I thought I'd better grab it as it is as close in aperture and focal length to the original lens as I am likely to find (and afford). It was all of $21.50.

Now if I were Glenn, I would be thinking about how to add a little forward tilt.

[glennfromwy]

Ha! Forward tilt. Never use it. That old Tessar will serve you well. I think you got a really good deal if the lens is okay. Dagor 77 does not like Tessars at all, not even a little. :)
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

[Les]

The ex-Dagor lens is in a helical mount and may be a...er.. challenge to mount, but once you do, you'll have great close up capability (well a whole lot more than the average Graflex user)
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[john wilton]

Les, thanks for looking it up! If I'd known you'd take so much trouble I'dve posted the pix. Mounting will be the debut of newly acquired Dremel drill press. Should be doable.

Andrew's intense dislike of things Zeiss is indeed strange. The seller mentioned 'you may know how Dagor77 feels about Tessars.' I didn't, and I looked it up. Much as I admire him, I won't let anything get between me and a nice Tessar.

[glennfromwy]

I have a 165 Tessar very similar to that. It came off an Erneman Klap Reflex or something like that. Mine is in mint condition, so it must have had a short and easy life on that Erneman. I mounted it on a 4X5 box camera I made, using Speed Graphic parts I had laying around. A 4X5 box camera with a focal plane shutter - you don't see that every day.
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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"

[Les]

Truth be told, I didn't look it up I was watching it. But I couldn't come up with a reason to buy it, so I didn't (wish I could do that more often!)

I've known Andrew through ebay for nearly as long as he's been online and sometimes I think there's more showmanship in his distaste for a Zeiss than true hatred. Then again we all have are biases. Personally I can't stand anything Leica or Leitz (can't even bring myself to spell it correctly) Not that there's anything wrong with the equipment, just the attitude of most of the collectors.

Glad to see the lens going to some positive use.
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"In order to invent, you need a good imagination and a lot of junk" Thomas Edison

[DHF845]

Les-
The irony is that the classic Leica lens-the 50 mm/f3.5 Elmar-is a Tessar copy. E. Leitz, Inc. always describes it as a "Tessar-type".
Can't agree more about attitude of Leica collectors. Overpriced cameras, inflated values. Most Leica collectors aren't photographers-they're investors!
By comparison, no one collects Graflex/Graphic cameras to get rich (I hope). Members of Graflex.org are concerned with photography, using their cameras to create more interesting photos.
BTW-What is the secret to posting pictures with our messages? Do you have to have your own website?

[john wilton]

Camera arrived, it is in exceptionally nice shape, solid mechanically and looks as though it's never been used. Just a bit fusty-smelling. Am I right in thinking that the sole raison d'etre of the Series C was to be a platform for the Cooke f/2.5 lens, and the camera a special-purpose, available light light machine?

Mounting the Tessar 3.5 is as Les said going to be a lot more --er -- challenging than I'd planned. To acieve infinity focus, and to close the front door, the barrel will have to be removed from its helicoid, and somehow mounted in such a way that about 1.5" of its 2" length projects back from a lensboard. Luckily the aperture ring is near the front. Once I figure out how to remove the barrel (all I can see are two screws at the root of the helicoid that travel in guide slots in the focusing sleeve) I'm thinking of glueing the barrel to a perspex lensboard. In an ideal world I'd have it done by SKG, but it makes no sense to spend big bucks on an uncoated lens the marketplace (and Dagor77) considers valueless.

When I saw how huge and heavy the Tessar is (2lb in helicoid) I ordered up an Ilex 4.5 6-3/8 lens as an alternative. Its not here yet, but should be less challenging. May need to be recessed a little.

Before embarking on this, I'd appreciate advice on the collectibility of my camera. The few references to the Series C that I can find say it is rare; it's certainly a fine machine. Minus the Cooke lens it may have zero collectible value. A Super D with its auto diaphragm would be more useful to me. For now I have temporarily taped an Ilex 6.3/210 Acuton on a Pacemaker board to try out the camera.

[sevo]

[DHF845]

John-
Camera was built around the high-speed lens. Lens was permanently mounted. Series C went out of production after only a few years. It resembled the interchangeable-lens Series D, which replaced it. You don't see Series C Graflex around. Research shows it's a low volume model-a very rare bird. I think altering it permanently is a bad idea.
IMHO: If a camera takes interchangeable boards, use any lens you want. Lens boards are expendable. But don't hack up a rare, mint condition camera just to use a lens it wasn't built for. Sell it and buy a more common Series D or RB Auto to experiment with.
There's collectors out there who'd jump at the chance to get a nice example of this camera. Or find the right lens and use it as a single-lens camera, as it was intended.

[john wilton]