[LargeFormat] Bad Kodak Lens

[animal]

>   After having touted Kodak lenses for some years I've
> finally encountered a bad one. This is a 101mm, f/4.5 lens
> for a Miniature Speed Graphic. The particular lens was built
> in 1941. The problem is excessive spherical aberration. This
> results in enough focus shift to prevent setting up the lens
> with a rangefinder. In fact, it was repeated rangefinder
> errors that tipped me off to what was happening. Other Kodak
> Ektars I have are all very sharp and have virtually no
> spherical. I've checked this lens for tightness, etc., and
> it seems fine.  I bought this lens some time ago to
> refurbish a Miniature Speed Graphic I was given by a friend.
> The original lens, a Wollensak Optar, was pitted, probably
> from moisture in storage. The pitting is quite deep and
> results in scattering and haze. However, the image is still
> good enough to get some idea of the original performance.
> Surprize! It must have been excellent. The lens shows no
> sigh of softness when wide open (except from the pitting)
> and has no detectible focus shift. This has caused me to
> re-evaluate my opinions of both Wollensak and Kodak. I have
> other Wollensak lenses which are excellent performers but
> have encountered some real dogs. This Kodak lens is the
> first Kodak dog I've seen.
>   I've seen reference to some Kodak lenses having shims in
> them. I've never seen one but its possible. The excess
> spherical in this lens _could_ be caused by improper element
> spacing. However, the lens was hazy when I got it and there
> was no sign that it had ever been opened. Maybe not.
>   In any case, I will be on the look out for another lens
> for this camera and will consider Optars as well as Ektars
> this time. I will also play around this this lens to see if
> I can improve its performance. My other Kodak Ektars,
> including a 127mm of the same age, are outstanding lenses,
> so this guy is a bit puzzling, especially as it is in a
> Kodak shutter marked Graphic so it must have been on a mini
> Speed Graphic originally and gone through the Graflex plant.
>    I had an interesting adventure restoring this camera,
> which was in awful condition. I will post some more later on
> repairing Kalart rangefinders and some things I found out
> about this camera.
> 
> ---
> Richard Knoppow
> Los Angeles, CA, USA
> dickburk@ix.netcom.com
> 
Thank you for the information.
simon jessurun
amsterdam ,NL