[LargeFormat] Wollensak Extreme Wide Angle Lenses

[Clive Warren]

At 23:19 20/04/2003 -0600, Tim Atherton wrote:

> > awful. My Super-D Graflex has a 190mm Optar, made by Wollensak,
> > which is again an excellent lens. Who knows?
>
>As is my Wollensak 159mm 12.5 Anastigmat Extreme WA - a great little lens.
>
>tim

Tim,

Essentially your f12.5 WA Wolly is a protar lens - I have always wondered 
about the faster version. I have the f9.5 version which is called a 
Wollensak Velostigmat Wide Angle Ser III which is a bit easier to focus 
than the f12.5 version. I have read that the lenses are of a different 
construction. Counting the reflections, the f9.5 has four elements in the 
front and rear groups. The protar design would have two elements in the 
front and rear groups.

Looking at the 5x7 version (marked Wollensak 5x7 Series IIIa EX.W.A 
f12.5  4 5/16") of your 8x10 Wolly lens this does indeed have two elements 
in each lens group.

I would assume that the f12.5 version has better contrast than the f9.5 
version if only because there are fewer lens elements in the f12.5 version 
and both lenses are uncoated. I seem to recall seeing a version in an 
alphax shutter that was coated and I think this was the f9.5 version.

Cheers,
            Clive