New lens vs older lens for landscapes

[wdavidprice]

I am almost finished restoring an older (1920's) 8x10 field camera

that I will use mostly for landscapes. I will be contact printing the

negatives and experimenting with several alternative processes. How

much would I gain by investing $500 to $1000 in a newer lens over

using the one that came with the camera...a Goerz double anastigment

in and Ilex shutter...1 to 150 + T & B and f6.8 to f64.

[davidv1]

If you're only going to be doing contact prints, it might be hard to justify the expense of a newer lens.

 

Lots of cool shots have been taken with old lenses. Give yours a try.

[christopher perez]

The only challenge with older lenses are dodgy shutters. By the

time you CLA them into reliability, you're approaching the costs of

a nice used modern lens.

 

OTOH, I know people who've purchased nothing but older barrel

lenses for around $100US. Then use their hat, or lens cap as

the shutter. This works well in cases where the exposure tends

to be long (which it does in some 8x10 and ULF work). If you

needed some shutter control, pick up a cheap used old Packard

shutter and mount it behind a lensboard. Then you could use

just about any barrel lens you wanted and still come in fairly

cheaply.

 

If the Goerz you have on the camera now is operational, use it.

Your contact prints should be beautiful!

[wdavidprice]

Christopher, How long does the exposure need to be to effectively use a lens cap for a shutter?

[bob_gentile]

<em>"... dodgy shutters. By the time you CLA them into reliability, you're

approaching the costs of a nice used modern lens..."</em><p>

 

If a shutter <em>can</em> be CLA'd into reliability, it needn't be very expensive.

Carol Miller (at Flutot's Camera Repair) will CLA/repair most LF shutters for around $45 plus shipping. And... she's <em>good!</em>

[ronald_moravec1]

If you want pics that look old, keep the old glass. If you want something that looks like modern Leica or Zeiss glass, but in LF you will need something newer.

 

It is not about sharp, but it is about tonality. I got rid of all the old stuff, now I get 4x5 that matches Leica quality.

 

Schneider or Rodenstock no more than 2 generations old.

 

Try what you have and see what happens. Use the cap as a shutter and slow film and filters if the shutter doesn`t work reliably.

[jim_rhoades]

I'll bet that your Goerz is in better shape than the $5.oo RR that Eddie Weston used and made himself famous.

[christopher perez]

I get fairly accurate photos in B&W using a hat at 1 second. I just

watch the sweep hand of my wristwatch.

 

About CLAs: $45 is a GREAT price. You're right, it'd be hard to

beat cleaning up an old shutter at that cost.

[bob_gentile]

Yeah... she recently CLA'd a totally frozen Compur shutter for me. $45. It's smooth as

silk now! She <em>coulda</em> given me a song and dance about how it needed this and that

and an extra $50 -- and I would've believed her -- but... no. She's as honest as the day

is long. In case anyone's interested, she's at carolmiller -at- flutotscamerarepair -dt- com.