Very Old Lenses on Not So Old Cameras

Andysnap

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Andy Grant
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I was thinking (this is not advised) about how much I like those old portraits taken on a Petzval type lens and how it might be interesting to see if you could adapt one to fit on an old medium format folder, a Zeiss Ikon Ikonta/Voigtlander Bessa type of thing. Now, I am probably the least technically man in the western hemisphere so this might be a load of old piffle but would it be possible? What would the main issues be? Would it need to have a leaf shutter (something I read somewhere)?

Discuss. :D

Andy
 
getting hold of one, but theres the new overpriced lomo one
and focusing, they may be intended to use with bellows focus, but maybe on rb67... :)
 
Main issues are that Petzval lenses were designed for wet plate or daguerreotypes and dont have a built in shutter as exposure for those was several seconds. So you are really going to struggle to use it with modern film. Also focus is achieved my moving the back forward and backwards, so it really needs a bellows or sliding box plate camera. I use mine on a Victorian half plate camera, and use darkroom paper as a paper negative as this has an ISO of 2 ish so exposures are measured in seconds. But I also have a lovely little Thornton Pickard shutter from about 1890 that sits between the lens and lens board and is just about accurate enough for film use. I'm not sure how you would fix such a lens or shutter to a medium format body, but half or quarter plate cameras are quite cheap and would probably be the best way to proceed.

Petzval lenses seem to be increasing in price on ebay for a while now, but watch out as some sellers describe any Victorian brass lens as Petzval
 
Thanks for the quick replies guys, I had a feeling it might be more complicated than I originally thought. I have a nice Ensign 420 with bellows and I wondered whether that would be a suitable donor camera but its looking like I shall have to stick with MF or get a n original camera to attache the lens to.

Something for the future then, still got a lot to learn about MF before I move on to the really big stuff. ;)
 
Thinking about it I don't really need it to be a Petzval lens just one of the older type lenses that seem to have a certain 'look'. I know the Petzvals give that swirly bokeh but there were (I think) other types which give a similar look to them...or am I talking out of the area I sit on?
 
pingu666 said:
getting hold of one, but theres the new overpriced lomo one
and focusing, they may be intended to use with bellows focus, but maybe on rb67... :)
Click to expand...
Is it overpriced? I've looked at the prices that old Petzval lenses go for now, quite often without any of the aperture slides, usually with evidence of cleaning scratches and occasionally fungus and then you've got to find a way of mounting it on whatever camera you want to use it on, I don't think £459 is particularly pricey for a brand new, guaranteed lens, albeit a quirky one. You could buy a Nikon AF-S 35mm f1.8 G ED FX Lens for an extra £30 if i had the money and wanted something that produces swirly outoffocusness then id buy one, also there will be quite a few hitting the market after the 2nd shipment hits the shelves.
 
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It might not be overpriced per se but its still more than I want to pay.

I agree though if thats the kind of thing you want and you have the money then its actually not overpriced at all.
 
im not sure how much its costing to produce and normal lomo stuff is very overpriced, with the odd exception.
 
You'll need to find a way of focussing it, not sure you'll be able to do that on a bellows camera like that.
 
What about this type? Rack and pinion focusing.

AS278L.jpg
 
That should work, working out where it is actually focusing will take a little research.
 
Yes, I think it may be beyond my limited skills to make this work, what I need is probably some sort of Hooley-type chap, a backroom boffin in a white lab coat. I'm more of an ideas man....:thinking:
 
Just admit defeat Andy and buy a Sony NEX then it's just a matter of working out the flange depth to mount the lens away from the sensor. I reckon you'd spend considerably more on film trying to get it to focus properly ;0)

Not great examples but the first from my Google-Fu

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/39008405
 
Never.... I will not be defeated... Well maybe I'll put it on the backburner for a bit.
 
Just sell all your other cameras and buy the lomo one for your beloved F100, job's a good'n.
 
Sell all my other cameras.... are you insane I'd rather sell my one remaining kidney.
 
The bellows idea is excellent, it could open up a whole new world of old lenses on new cameras.
 
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