Show Us Your Camera

[MartyNL]

I had a look...

 

[David Lindquist]

And from Eastman Kodak publication O-18, Camera Technique for Professional Photographers, the "Diameter of Circle of Good Definition" at f/16 is 16 5/8 inches.

From an on-line inflation calculator, $232 in 1951 is the equivalent of $2932 today.

David

 

[Ian Grant]

I have been looking at Kodak Commercial 10x8s ... but the fact that you seldom see them come up in the UK - and the often hefty price has put me off.

After WW1 Kodak Ltd changed their policy and made almost all of their camera or the UK and European market themselves, of course there were exceptions.

The 10x8 in Kodak All-Metal Commercial View was introduced here in the UK in 1939/40, it was £54. Kodak recommended Cooke, Dallmeyer, or Ross, lenses for their View cameras.

The only LF Ektar lens sold in the UK was the British made 203m f7,7 Ektar in a #0 Epsilon shutter, or if you're lucky to have a very late version in a Compur #0.


Ian

 

[Soulstar89]

10x8 Eastman Commercial Model B with rear extension attached and 10 inch Kodak wide-field Ektar lens. A very solid set-up and not too heavy. The lens board dimensions are the same as Deardorff.
View attachment 6575

Oh wow. Why aren’t you closer to me? I would have a person to try things with haha. Nice new addition Nas.

 

[lharby]

If you go here

The Large Format Lens Explorer

Second-hand large format lenses come described in numbers that mean very little until you can see them. This tool turns those numbers into visuals. Pick any of the lenses below and find out how much film it covers, whether that stretches to 5×7 or 8×10, how far you can push your movements, how...

intrepidcamera.co.uk

And filter on Kodak lenses, I'm interested in these (especially 5x7 & 8x10). I don't mind where they were manufactured, but I'm curious to know the shutters they will work in. It seems to be Ilex and there's no Copal size information. So I'm wondering if these lenses and shutters are imperial or not interchangeable with other lenses and shutters (maybe you need stoppers and shims)?

 

[Ian Grant]

If you go here

The Large Format Lens Explorer

Second-hand large format lenses come described in numbers that mean very little until you can see them. This tool turns those numbers into visuals. Pick any of the lenses below and find out how much film it covers, whether that stretches to 5×7 or 8×10, how far you can push your movements, how...

intrepidcamera.co.uk

And filter on Kodak lenses, I'm interested in these (especially 5x7 & 8x10). I don't mind where they were manufactured, but I'm curious to know the shutters they will work in. It seems to be Ilex and there's no Copal size information. So I'm wondering if these lenses and shutters are imperial or not interchangeable with other lenses and shutters (maybe you need stoppers and shims)?

US shutter sizes are totally incompatible with Compur/Copal, and Ilex and Wollensak ise different thread sizes. BAusch & Lomb made Compur & Compound shutters but they aren't always the same as German Compurs. I have a Goerz Am Opt 12" Dagor and the shutter tube threads are external.

In Europe we are lucky Fredrick Deckel & Paul Gauthier had both worked for Zeiss, and when Deckel's early partnership split up, his ex partner devised and Patented the Compur slow clock work gear train. Zeiss bought the rights to the Patent and along with Deckel, Gauthier, and BAusch and Lomb set up the Deckel company. As Gauthier was also a shutter manufacturer they standardise on tube lengths and thread sizes.

By the late 20s there were to many variarions of tibe sizes, this was not cost effective, Compur switched to the rimset shutters, and standard tube lengths, they changed the thread pitch to, Gauthiers Ibsor, Vario, etc, later Prontor,. also switched, both companies were by then fully owned by Zeiss. The thread change meant cells for the older shutters & differenttube lenghts cpuln't be used incorrectly.

Aside from the the B&L shutters, most US shutters Ilex and Wollensak shutter are larger than compable Compurs, and have slower fast speeds. A Compound #3 has a fastest speed of 1/100, a Betax or Alpax #3 1/50.

Ian

 

[HowLarge]

The ilex shutters are huge , I have a 10” commercial and a 71/2 inch wide field.
The size of the shutters is such that they might interfere with the front of some cameras , I collected mine in the uk but by luck , the WF has micro scratches on the front , both shutters work perfectly which is quite important as servicing would be a challenge not actually used them yet but that’s something to look forward to , the one on the ling of board overhangs and is flange mounted

 

[HowLarge]

To underline the need to research the shutters , both mine are acme no.4 , one is a Kodak Ilex, the other an Ilex Ilex, the lock ring sizes are different- probably due to the WF being a larger heavier lens - there are catalogs and specs for ilex shutters online , so if you find incomplete lens/shutter/ring sets you need to be on the ball with the details a bit like large compound shutters.
Below brass lock ring of WF on top of mounted Commercial lockring.

 

[lharby]

Thank you both @howand @ianthis is super useful information.

 

[thronobulax]

The ilex shutters are huge , I have a 10” commercial and a 71/2 inch wide field.
The size of the shutters is such that they might interfere with the front of some cameras , I collected mine in the uk but by luck , the WF has micro scratches on the front , both shutters work perfectly which is quite important as servicing would be a challenge not actually used them yet but that’s something to look forward to , the one on the ling of board overhangs and is flange mounted

Yes, the Ilex/Acmes were quite large. I have an 8 1/2" Commercial Ektar in one of them. The good news that there are still people here in the US that work on them. There is a fellow here (CameraWiz/Frank Marshman), now semi retired who has a very large inventory of parts for these like mainsprings and such.

I had mine serviced some years ago and it works like a charm. I believe it will cover 7x5 but I rarely use the lens so I am likely to peddle it to buy something else.

 

[lharby]

Yes, the Ilex/Acmes were quite large. I have an 8 1/2" Commercial Ektar in one of them. The good news that there are still people here in the US that work on them. There is a fellow here (CameraWiz/Frank Marshman), now semi retired who has a very large inventory of parts for these like mainsprings and such.

I had mine serviced some years ago and it works like a charm. I believe it will cover 7x5 but I rarely use the lens so I am likely to peddle it to buy something else.

My workhorse is a Sinar so I'm guessing I'd have plenty of room to play with.

I just seem to be obsessing over different types of shutters at the moment.

 

[Ian Grant]

My workhorse is a Sinar so I'm guessing I'd have plenty of room to play with.

I just seem to be obsessing over different types of shutters at the moment.

I guess I became aware shutters were becoming a problem about 20 years ago, and have been quietly acquiring them since then, I started with TP roller blind shutters, I've probably restored over 200.



I need to sell many of the smaller ones. The larger ones are harder to find so worth more, and also far more useful. I have somewhere between 80-100, as well as 4 or 5 Focal Plane TP shutters

Last month I bought a large German metal bodied roller blind shutter. I think it's probably made by ICA under license, they sold TP shutters and British field cameras in Germany, after WW1. ICA also worked with Wm Butcher & Sons, selling the (Popular) Pressman reflex cameras as ICA Tudor reflex cameras.



I have no idea how many spare leaf shutter I have, many are NIB.

I got worried when a friends 65mm SA Compur #00 shutter broke, the spares ran out years ago. almost impossible to get repaired, it's the same (but worse) with Compur #2 shutters, as so few were made and many were electronic which by now have virtually all failed.

Ian

 

[Nas]

This lens board is 6x6 inches. The shutter is large.

 

[HowLarge]

yes Ilex No.5 the largest , mine are both no.4 , your WF is from 1947 (ES) like mine . but you get movements on 8x10 with the 10"
on the subject of shutters I was pleased to find a hidden behind the lens board Packard shutter on a Kodak specialist that I bought for parts, Ineed to remove it and have a play. .