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45PSS · Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 4:29 am Post subject:

It'll second as an anchor for that 14 ft. fishing boat also.

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RichS · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 7:11 pm Post subject:

Boy did this topic go around

And now I'm going to add more...

After doing some research and reading about convertable lenses last night, I made the mistake of calling a favorite camera store for some old wood film holders. We got to talking, and I wound up buying a Meyer Plasmat triple convertor... Now, I'm interested in some trusted opinion from here...
This is a 15.3 f4.5, 22 f9 and 32 f12 lens. He swore it would cover 8x10 with no problems and it seems like a nice range of focal lengths for what I want, especially the 15.3 and 22.
Now, before this turns into another joke on poor impulsive Rich, let me give a quick explanation of what I want...
First off, for historical and curiosity reasons, I've always wanted a convertable lens and never found just the right one.
Second, my aim for the 8x10 at the moment is to create photos that look like they're 100years old, so I'm not looking for exacting sharpness.
This lens seems like it would fit both needs and maybe just be fun to play with (and useful of course). And if it's any good at all, I would only have to carry this lens with the camera. Oh, and that 1000mm I'm still looking for

Seriously though, if anyone has any experience with a Meyer Plasmat like this, I would like to hear some opinions...

Thanks...
Rich...

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

Meyer Plasmats are the most horrid, disgusting, cheap pieces of glass on the face of the earth. Only slightly better than the bottom of Coke bottles and way bellow all of those no good Dagors that Burke & James got ahold of and forced on an unkowning public.

but being a nice guy (whose waited five freakin' years to find one) I'll take it off your hands for what you paid for it, and throw in a GVI.

RichS · Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 10:56 pm Post subject:

)

I'm not sure if I should be happy or not...

I think just maybe I'll keep it a while to see how I like it. I may like it already

And to make you feel even better, he told me that he was trying to sell it off for 3 years and no one wanted it. So they finally dropped the price to get rid of it... And they did

Les · Joined: 09 May 2001 Posts: 2682 Location: Detroit, MI

this is a bit of an over simplification but in the world of Large Format, there are two big lens names. Protars and Dagors. Dagors have a very large image circle compared to Protars. Dagors are 'somewhat' convertable. The single elements aren't fully corrected for astigmatism so you have to stop down to 32 or so.
Protars on the other hand were sold in single elements and were very versitle. If you bought a pair of the same focal lenght you would have a double convertable, ( A single cell, or both combined) and have a modest gain in speed, usually f 6.3. If you bought a pair with different focal lenghts then you had a triple convertable lens at at speed of either 7.0 or 7.7. These were very common, and you can occasionally find these in casket sets of three or four cells and a barrel or shutter to "mix and match" If you were looking for an old look, this is the lens to find. A typical 8x10 triple convertable lens was a 16" and a 19" combined I think they make a a 14ish or 12 ish lens. These sell in dead shutters on ebay for about $200

Protars didn't have the coverage of Dagors and the Dagors were a bit contrastier.

The Plasmat design was to take the best of both.

Plasmats added a third element and an air space tothe design. And it worked. Plasmats are very sought after. I was very happy to pay $400 for my three cell 5x7 Protar set. An equivelent set of three cells in a plasmat design would be double if not more. Ron Wisner sells a new 3 cell 5x7 Plasmat set for over $2000, but his are coated.

The only flaw in the design you need to be aware of is flare. You've got 8 air to glass surfaces for stray light to bounce around on and wreek havoc on the image. If there is one lens that I would say a lens shade is a must have it would be this one. and don't expect winter shots of brilliant sunlight stream through icicles to be very contrasty.

Okay now that i've unsuccessfully tried to weedle it out of you and now told you what a great lens it really is (yes it will cover 8x10) . How much did you pay for it?

RichS · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2003 3:34 am Post subject:

Well, I'm starting to feel better

But since this was a totally unplanned and completely impulsive purchase, I know there's got to be something terribly wrong. It'll probably be a fungus farm when it arrives...
But it did seem to be worth it at the time and maybe even now, for the $399 I got it for. In comparison to other lenses I have seen go that were similar to what I was looking for.
Although it didn't (and still doesn't) seem like a great price, there just doesn't seem to be many of these around to choose from. So maybe I did okay? No one will know until it arrives here and I can see from one side of the lens to the other, with nothing looking back at me. And, I guess I'll have to add the cost of a good shade to this, so it's really a bit higher

And if it is a bit foggy, then I'll get those 'soft' photos I'm looking for

I was interested in a 'casket' set, but was never sure if they would cover 8x10 and never did see one mounted in a shutter...

So, for good or bad, it's mine and right now all I can do is hope for the best. I suppose there's always the option of a professional cleaning if it needed it? That's why I hate impulse buys... It always leaves me with a "boy I bet I really screwed up this time" feeling. And maybe next week, I'll be offering it to you for a real good deal?