I want to use my Speed Graphic Graflex to photograph Florida landscape. I have a Optar 135mm Lense on my camera. Which lense is the best to use to maximize apeture? How can I get my hands on a 25 red filter to fit my camera? Help Help Help!!!

You can fit a #25 red filter to your 135 Optar in a couple different ways. First you will want to get a Series VI slip on adapter for 1-1/2", which the o.d. of the Optar. You may find one that has the retaining ring and a good 25 filter with it, and they are easy to find, and inexpensive. What I do is get 44mm to 55mm step up adapter rings which the 44mm will thread into the Series six slip on. Then I can use any number of 55mm filters and my Cokin mount for series A grads and softs etc..., which work well for landscapes and other things. What I did is coolect a few of these slip on Series VI rings to fit various lenses I use, 1-1/4, 1-5/16, 1-9/16 etc..and thus with these inexpensive adapters I can use almost all my modern filters on any number of lenses from 35mm to 4x5.
As far as the 135mm for landscapes, I have had good results with this type of lens as a general purpose lens with color and B&W, though I tend to use them more on 2x3 cameras, results have been very pleasing at various apertures depending on my selective focussing, stopped down or wide open. IT really depends on yourpersonal preferences. Use the lens and find out what it will do for you...

The old name for the No 25 was a Wratten A and while I'm at it a No 11 is an X1 (green) and a No 58 (darker green) is a B You may find the old names on Series VI filters.

Les

Series slip rings may not be all that easy to find anymore. Back when (and it wasn't all that long ago, either) the camera shows were well attended, there was lots of series stuff floating around, and I picked up a bunch of it at low prices, against the day when it would not be plentiful. That day seems to have arrived, alas. But even before then, the 38mm (1-1/2") series 6 slip ring was hard to find around here. It took me a number of visits to shows before one turned up, and then it was one of the later Kodaks which were aluminum, rather than the better nickel- (I assume)-plated brass ones. Funny that it should have been so hard to find this size, because the 135 Optar was certainly a widely-used item in its day. You may have better luck; I hope so.

P.S. Troublemaker's and Les's advice is real solid. My only comment on the 44-55 adapter approach is that the 55mm filters are about as big around as the Optar shutter, and interfere with my pudgy fingers groping for the aperture and shutter speed settings. The 44-49 combination works better for me in this regard.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Henry on 2006-03-10 11:51 ]</font>

Henry,
I collected all my slip on stuff over the last two years as needed, and just added an extra 1-1/2 and one of the 1-9/16" ones for my 203 Optar by simply entering VI or series VI on the search under cameras at the auction site. I have also acquired a couple from the junk drawers at local photo shops.
Yeah the Step up may be large, but it keeps me using everything on all lenses without the vinetting problem I have expereinced before with some setups. I do often set up a compostion and then slip on the filter, esspecially with grads as the tansition line can be easier to see off camera, and have had good results. And I like my little cokin set up which, along with a UV and poloraizer are all I take backpacking, and sometimes only the coken for using one of two grads. I will admit that the 65 Raptar and 103 Trioptar are hard to use with the coken on, but it works, and it is light. 135 and 127 or bigger lenses on #2 shutters have never posed any prblem leaving the filters on.
As a side note, the 1-1/2" slips that work on the Wollensak and Kodak shutters work equaly well slipped inside the ring of many Scneider lenses like the 135 symmar and xenar, 105 xenar, and 90 angulon etc..., so then I guess they would be considered slip ins, rather than slip ons...

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On 2006-03-10 06:33, nashtsuart wrote: I want to use my Speed Graphic Graflex to photograph Florida landscape. I have a Optar 135mm Lense on my camera. Which lense is the best to use to maximize apeture? How can I get my hands on a 25 red filter to fit my camera? Help Help Help!!!

About the lens question, what does "Which lense is the best to use to maximize apeture?" mean? If you want a faster lens, you can't afford it and you can't lift it either.

Thank you guys for the advice. The reason I want to use my 25 red A is the effect it gives with a low ISO Black and White film. As far as F-stop, I want a lens that can max out the highest f-stop my camera has to offer to receive the largest depth of field in my landscapes giving me photographs outstanding foreground to background detail.

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On 2006-03-13 05:01, nashtsuart wrote: Thank you guys for the advice. The reason I want to use my 25 red A is the effect it gives with a low ISO Black and White film. As far as F-stop, I want a lens that can max out the highest f-stop my camera has to offer to receive the largest depth of field in my landscapes giving me photographs outstanding foreground to background detail.

Hmm. You've got the convention reversed. So you want a lens with a tiny minimum aperture. I don't think you should do it, but here are a few choices.

127/4.7 Tominon in Copal #1 press. Stops to f/45. These are fairly easy to find, not too expensive, but prices have risen because the shutters can be reused.

But what you really want to do is use a pinhole. It will give you uniform blur, near to far. Stopping a lens way down will do that too.

Since you're in the southeast, go to FL, find Clyde Butcher, and seek his advice.

The 127mm Tominon on the Polaroid branded Copal shutter is for macro/repro work only and is not suitable for use at infinity.
The 135mm Optar isnt that bad (unless mistreated).
If you feel the need to add a modern(ish) lens I have a 150mm f4.5 Xenar, which isn't a lightweight. A 150mm f9 G-Claron, also by Schneider is a repro lens but also excellent at infinity. You may be able to get a good deal on a 'barrel' G-Claron and have a flange made up to fit it onto the lens panel of a Speed Graphic.
I have found barrel mount 150mm and 210mm G Clarons and have had the 150mm mounted into a new Copal #0. It is much lighter than the Xenar.

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On 2006-04-04 05:56, primus96 wrote: The 127mm Tominon on the Polaroid branded Copal shutter is for macro/repro work only and is not suitable for use at infinity. The 135mm Optar isnt that bad (unless mistreated). If you feel the need to add a modern(ish) lens I have a 150mm f4.5 Xenar, which isn't a lightweight. A 150mm f9 G-Claron, also by Schneider is a repro lens but also excellent at infinity. You may be able to get a good deal on a 'barrel' G-Claron and have a flange made up to fit it onto the lens panel of a Speed Graphic. I have found barrel mount 150mm and 210mm G Clarons and have had the 150mm mounted into a new Copal #0. It is much lighter than the Xenar.

Um, er, ah, I use my 127/4.7 Tominon on 2x3 and at all distances it is pretty good. If you haven't tried it, don't knock it.

Cheers,

Dan

Your 135 Optar at f:16 or 22 will give you good depth of field for landscapes. Try it and get used to how it performs before getting into the confusion of what lens will do this or that. It's the man behind the lens that makes the picture. An easy way to get sharper foreground with a Graphic is to lower camera heigh if necessary and use front rise to eliminate the unwanted part. Sounds stupid but it does help a bit.

Interesting to hear a Xenar called 'modern'...about 100 year old design :eek:)