Re: [APML] 4X5 camea and Aero Ektar Lens

[glenn shaw <glennshaw@alaska.net>]

Hello:

This discussion the old surplus Aero Ektar brings back wistful memories.  I 
used this lens, operating wide open at f2.5 back around 1965 and took many 
photos on 3x4 inch glass plates of spectroscopic emulsion 103aE and 103aF. 
These emulsions are fairly grainy, but the reciprocity characteristics are 
quite good. The images had quite a lot of comatic abberation off 
center.  However, once I put a deep red filter on the lens and stopped it 
down one stop and the images were sharp as a tack.  I haven't developed my 
astrophoto web page yet, but hope to get around to doing this later in the 
summer. When that happens I'll post the photos.


Those were sure fun days. Manual guiding and all t hat.

glenn shaw

At 02:38 PM 7/15/04, you wrote:
>Hello!  I finally got the Aero Ektar f2.5 178mm lens up and working on my 
>4x5 inch box camera that I made.  I had an aluminum plate machined to the 
>thread of the lens, so it provides fine focus adjustment.  I had 
>considered using knife edge focusing by exposing a razor blade on a film, 
>and drilling a hole through a cheap 4x5 holder and looking through the 
>back, but instead, I used a Hartman mask to find focus under red, blue, 
>green, and yellow.
>
>I have been using TMax 400 film, and developing it in TMax RS.  The 
>Sagitarius star cloud looks good.  I pushed the development to an ISO of 
>3200 according to the TMax RS directions.  No grain visible!
>
>However, the lens appears to have quite a bit of coma at f2.5, so I’ll 
>have to stop it down.  Too bad, though to be expected with a WW2 surplus lens.
>
>Once I find the best f-stop, I’d eventually like to try some color instead 
>of B&W filter work, but none of the camera stores here in my small 
>Australian outback town here can do anything with 4x5s – B&W or color.
>
>I’ll post some of the results when I get something worthwhile.  Best regards.
>
>Mike
>
>
>
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