8 1/2" (215mm) Caltar-S in Ilex Shutter.

I haven't found a whole lot of info on this. I'm planning on using

this for portraits. Anyone using one of these? Anything you can

suggest, or warn of???

 

The shutter looks like new, it's convertable, but with my Graphic

View, that won't really matter (not enough bellows). The glass is

absolutely beautiful, and the shutter speeds seem to be dead on.

 

Will this lens be too sharp/soft for portraits?

Is it a "Series-S Caltar"? Kerry Thalmann describes a 8 1/2 inch / 215 mm f4.8 Series-S Caltar in Ilex Acme shutter in his article about Caltar lenses in the 2003 May/June issue of View Camera magazine.

There are the much more common "Caltar-S II" lenses, but I don't think any of them were in Ilex shutters. So many different lenses have been sold under the Caltar name over the years, that being precise about the name is necessary for correct identification.

 

He describes the 215 mm Series-S Caltar as the "flagship" of the Caltar line, designed to compete with the Symmar and Sironar during the mid 1970s. The coverage was listed as 71 degrees / 307 mm diameter.

If it's the f/4.8, it's a great lens. I have a couple; an earlier Acuton and a later Caltar-S. They're obviously the same lens when you put them side-by-side. I use mine on an 8x10- very sharp corner to corner, (maybe too sharp if you're looking for a soft portrait lens), but only modest movements. LOTS of movement for a 4x5. It also converts to a 14" if you pull the front element off. There should be a second aperture scale on the shutter.

 

There were also Caltar/Acuton 215mm lenses made in f/5.6 and f/6.3 apertures, but I don't know anything about them...

Thanks for the quick response! Yes, it's the f/4.8 and I will be using it with a 4x5.

 

The outside dimension of the lens is 62.30mm or 2.453 inches. Is there anywhere I can find a push on adapter to use my 72mm threaded filters?

If you look in the archives for a search on this lens you will find quite a few items -- most very favorable. In a post a few days ago, I mentioned that I own a copy of this lens that has some obvious defects (spots on the front) but it performs very well indeed. I picked it up for just a few bucks on fleebay and that was quite a bargain. I took a shot of the back of my car just as a test shot when I first bought it and I was amazed at the sharpness (with an 8x glass I could resolve in detail the tiny little numbers on my license plate renewal sticker.) BTW, I would have thought the Graphic View would have enough bellows to focus this converted...My old Calumet has about 18" of draw. pps If you want, you can always add one of those "soft" filters that fuzz the pix...