[LargeFormat] Re: List Activity

[Don Wilkes]

At 01:37 PM 4/12/01 -0700, chili wrote:
>Yes,
>the list has been quiet and I was hoping for more info for the Red Dot Artar
>150mm. Does Anyone out there know anything on this lens. The lens spec list
>on f32.net does not have anything on it. I do have a couple images from it.
>They turned out fine, I just want to know practical info from anyone who has
>used them.

1. I don't have the time at the moment to read all the way through it, but
there's quite a bit on Artars at:
http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/classic-experts.html

2. The following is extracted from http://www.wisner.com/q&a.htm
==============================================
Message text written by "Jon Barnard" > Hi. I have a question that nobody
seems to have an answer for. I have a chance to buy what looks like a 6"
red dot artar, but I can find no information confirming that Goerz ever
made one, and if they did what it covers and if it is any good. It appears
to be an f9,which confuses me even more, since this seems awfully slow for
a 6" lense. It is billed as a Goerz Optical Apochromat Red Dot Artar in a
Compur shutter , ser. #630102 (or 63Q102, hard to tell). Thanks in advance
for any help or information on this lens. < 

Mr. Barnard, 

Goerz did indeed make a 6" Artar. I will have to check my records, but
think they were made in focal lengths even shorter. The aperture of f:9 is
correct. These lenses were made as process lenses and did not require fast
apertures. Moreover, the correction for field flatness and astigmatism was
a higher priority than speed. 

As many a landscape photographer has discovered, these lenses are supurb
for all uses, including infinity. Because of thier slow aperture, they are
just the right combination of practicality and light weight for their best
use, that of a long lens for a given format. This goes directly to your
question of coverage. The Artar covers 47 degrees, which means that the
lens has to be at least 50% longer than normal to be usable at infinity.
Your lens therefore would be perfect for a little 2x3 press camera. 

The other use for which your lens is perfect is as a closeup lens. This
lens excels at 1:1, and is apochromatic at that distance. 

Update, 10/23

In the last paragraph I should have said that at 1:1 this lens is excellent
for 4x5, since, of course, the coverage doubles. 

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\donw