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152mm lens match

 
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jjwalker



Joined: 05 Sep 2003
Posts: 29
Location: upper midwest

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 4:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just got a 3 x 4 super d, I want to replce the front element of lens with one which is better shape. Is there any other kodak 152mm
lens that could be exchanged with this one? perhaps one which is mounted in a shutter, would that work. I can't afford to buy a whole new super d just for the front element on the lens.
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t.r.sanford



Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 812
Location: East Coast (Long Island)

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 5:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I suspect the 152mm. "Ektar" in automatic diaphragm for the 3¼x4¼ "Super D" was the same lens as the one supplied in "Supermatic" shutter for 4x5 press and view cameras. These seem fairly prevalent and reasonably priced. You may be able to locate one in a bad shutter for not a whole lot of money.

What I don't know is whether the cell diameters and threads are exactly the same -- one would suppose so, for reasons of manufacturing efficiency, but one can't be sure without looking.

If I were doing it, I'd think about finding a clean lens in crippled shutter, and transplanting both front and rear groups to the auto diaphragm barrel. At worst, this might call for some machining.

You might also find a "Super D" lens. About 25 years ago, Olden Camera & Lens here was selling 152mm. and 190mm. "Ektars" in "Super D" auto diaphragm mount, in their original factory boxes, at distressed prices. This suggests that more lenses than cameras were produced, and somebody found a bunch of the overstock in a warehouse somewhere. Such things nowadays tend to wind up on eBay, if one is patient and watchful.

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jjwalker



Joined: 05 Sep 2003
Posts: 29
Location: upper midwest

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very good thank you for the advice, I will keep my eyes peeled!
JJW
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semihemi



Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 85
Location: Boston, MA

PostPosted: Wed May 05, 2004 1:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not sure if this would apply in this case, but in a prior life I swapped out the front cell of a scratched Sawyer's Mark IV with a cell from an identical camera. The darn thing was only sharp at small f/ratios ever after. I may have muffed the installation but I cannot imagine that I could not correctly unscrew and replace a simple lens cell.

Also, I notice that my Zeiss lenses have the last four digits of the serial number that appears on the front, scribed by hand into the rear cell. Makes me think that the cells were made up separately, then were matched up (based on performance, I presume).

Hope this helps.

JC
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t.r.sanford



Joined: 10 Nov 2003
Posts: 812
Location: East Coast (Long Island)

PostPosted: Thu May 06, 2004 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Up until the '70s or so, even volume lens production involved a lot of skilled hand labor. I'm pretty sure you're right about the front and rear groups being individually matched at the factory. That's why I'd be wary of pulling the front cell off one lens and the rear cell off another, and trying to make them work well together. You might get lucky, but you might not.

In my youth, it was believed that Kodak manufactured its Tessar-formula lens elements in batches, then cherry-picked the best performers to be badged as "Ektars;" the remaining usable ones became "Kodak Anastigmats." I have no idea whether or not this is true (I know it isn't true across the board), but it does indicate the prevalent lack of robot-like repeatability in photographic optics manufacturing prior to computer-controlled production equipment.
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glennfromwy



Joined: 29 Nov 2001
Posts: 903
Location: S.W. Wyoming

PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 2:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Things like optical centering and a whole lot of other complicated stuff that I still don't fully understand are involved here. It is not a good idea to mismatch lens groups, let alone single elements. !52mm Ektars and Anastigmats in shutters are pretty common on eBay. If you are patient and careful, you can get a really good deal on a working one.


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Glenn

"Wyoming - Where everybody is somebody else's weirdo"
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