I just bought a nice condition Pre-anniversay Speed Graphic but haven't received it yet. It has a 15cm Goetz Berlin Dagor f/6.8 (serial number 436642). I REALLY don't know anything about this lens other than hear say. So I would appreciate any facts you can give me. One question I do have: What difference do the Berlin Dagors have over the American ones? Thanks for your time!

JP Mose

Berlin Dagors, in general will be older than US dagors, but should perform almost as well (US dagors will benefit from being newer)

Now there is a caveat. Burke & James imported several boxcars of second rate Berlin Dagors and they are still on the market. These were also re-pacackaged as Carl Meyer lenses.

If this lens is original to the camera then it's probably a good one, If the owner was a scrounger looking for a deal...... well let's just say it may make a great portrait lens.

Dagors by design will be lower in flare, very sharp and contrasty with a good deal of movement for it's focal lenght.

the detractions is that it's relatively slow (compared to a tessar) and it suffers from focus shift, so should be focused at the taking aperture, for critical focusing. One of these days I will take my own advice.