Horseman 2X converter - any information?

Greetings All, I recently purchased a Horseman 45FA and noticed they also offer a "doubler" which mounts behind the lens board to multiply the focal length of the lens. Has anyone had any experience with this? Is there a loss of sharpness/contrast similar to the same thing in the 35mm world? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!

Hallo Mark and all readers of this!

I was owner of a Horseman tele-converter which I originally bought

because I wanted to take as little weight as possible with me while

shooting portraits on location. Well, I sold it againg after some time

because the thing is that, if not for landscape, using it would prove

very difficult with many cameras. The flange distance, unlike all 35mm

or medium format converters, when using in conbination of the

reccomended 150mm it is approx. 30cm (300mm effective focal lenght),

so , many field cameras, notably the product to which this converter

would be most suited, have an extention of the rail which doesn't

exeed the 35cm. This means that there is no way for you to make a

close up portrait with this converter, in order to use it for

portraits I had to use a close up lens (+ 2), note that the image

circle stays the one of your 150mm(+ -) very tight in landscapes!

Other than that, the lens is great(!) if you can live with a

considerable drop ( two stops obviously!) of the luminosity of the

image projected on the ground glass (focusing in this conditions can

be a drag at any age).

It is verry good in both tones rendering and exeptionally good in

contrast.This is due to the 7 elements(some are fluorite low

dispersion ones,if memory serves me right) I might be wrong about the

number of elements. However buy if you want, it is a lightweight

photo-aid for your 150mm (if you have one!) for occasional long-focal

photography. You'll loose two stops and your image circle won't be all

that much but.... now you know, don't worry about quality, it is

superb. My question is: if you need a inexpensive lightweight long

lens why not buy a repro lens monted in shutter like a Rodenstock

Apo-Ronar 300mm f9. They are cheap(ish) very good in colour and

contrast and more luminous!

think about it!

Good luck