Photoclubalpha

I managed to pick up a Goerz large format lens, an Apochromat Artar 12" f/9, minus any kind of shutter. It's aperture ranges from f/9 to f/90 with no less than fifteen (slightly rusty) aperture blades with smooth action. It came in a camera bag with a $25 Pentax K1000.

What do I do now?

Get a NEX and an adaptor. Take photos and then show us. Also, show us the lens mounted on the NEX.

Good one Henry. Seen anybody mount a large format lens to an NEX yet? I should think it wouldn't be any different than mounting one to a 35mm SLR.

I guess that unless the adaptor has a mechanism to focus it then you would be a bit limited in what distance you could take photos and they be in focus. Of course, with APS-C and f90 I suspect a whole lot would be in focus.

KevinBarrett wrote:...What do I do now?

Send it to me

Seriously, you could keep it as a conversation piece or seek out the local cabal of old camera collectors/ restorers for their opinion on the lens. They should be able to give you some advice on what needs to be done to it or be able to find it a loving home.

It would be nice in this age of disposable cameras to keep as many of the old timers going for as long as possible. Cameras and lenses that is, I'm not sure the same applies to old fishermen or photographers !

The Artar is a repro lens but has a good reputation for general purpose work on 10 x 8 or smaller film.

It is easily mounted to NEX using the kitchen towel/toilet roll tube method. You may need some duct tape to pad out the toilet roll tube to make it fit perfectly inside a kitchen roll tube. The length should be approximately the same as the Artar, less 18mm, which means almost a full length kitchen roll tube; the shorter tube fits in the front with the lens attached, and slides for focusing. You can wrap the main long tube with extra duct tape for strength and spray or paint the inside of the tubes black. You can buy a 3rd party body cap and cut it to provide a mount, once you have got the tube length correct.

With a 300mm lens like this, small misalignments in the tubes are unimportant.

David

I was counting on having little difficulty with the alignment as DK explained, but I hadn't thought of using a body cap for the mount. I happen to have one from an abandonned pinhole project. Ironically, at f/90 the lens will be as good as a pinhole anyway. Originally I was imagining a lot of PVC to make the tube and allow for focusing.

Of course you can do a better job of the tube with either two gauges of PVC, or a roof prop. The ceiling prop may be fat enough - 1.5 inch pole. It usually comes with a slider clamp. The fattest section of my biggest Manfrotto light stand could also be cut up and used.

David

If you don't already have a NEX I see no reason why you can't do the mount for your DSLR. Also, it would save you money on the tube. Shave off a few millimeters in length.

I just cleaned it up and it's beautiful--all that crystal clear glass with a gorgeous diaphragm at the center. When I received it, the lens was just stuffed into the outer pocket of the camera bag without any kind of protection. It has a few very very fine scratches, but its actually startlingly clean. When I have more time, I'll take some pictures of it. Or, if I have a lot of time, I'll take some pictures through it!

After taking the little lens to the hardware store along with the camera and body cap, I was able to determine that 2" Schedule 40 PVC pipe and fittings are a good fit. The lens can almost thread into the inner wall of the bare pipe, or else it could nestle inside a 2" coupling, beit a simple coupling or an expansion coupling to allow for focusing.

The problem is weight. When you put all these together, they end up weighing as much again as the camera itself. So, I'm either going to have to find a different solution, or design some kind of mount that holds the camera and PVC assembly rigid--but then focusing becomes a problem again.

A rail underneath - just a flat bracket screwed into the tripod bush to support the front-end weight maybe?

David