john_cremati

Your probably going to have to dissassemle it.... Unless you have a tow motor on a pallet...... Even then you have to be very carefull... I lost a Saltsman that way....... I have taken apart a few of them and they are bears..... You will probably need help on top of that......... Did you just buy the one on FeePay with the Omega head?

Controlled disaster can make for a interesting image...... I removed one of the three elements in the front assembly and the effectst were quite spectacular..... It produced a multifaceted halo around a highlight where there would have been just a halo with the modified lens wide open.......... I then reversed the element I had removed and put it back in and although there was no recognizable image the fireworks of color were amazing.....jc

Hi, I had purchased a process camera lens to try to modify it to a

wide apeture soft focus lens..... My problem is that the lens is

rated at f:8 max apeture opening .... By routing out the apeture

stop slot I can at least double the iris size I would estimate to a

f:3 or f:4...... There of coarse are no numbers on the f stop scale

below f:8... How would I determine the lower numbers to iris size

relationship?

I may also remove a element or two out of the barrel..... .......

How would I then recalibrate the f: numbers to iris opening size?

 

I am having a lot of fun with this .......

 

I hope that I have not confused you.......

Thanks, John Cremati

I have 2 Omega Dichroic D5XL Enlargers for film up to 4x5 with the Dichroic color head. The XL means it is the extra Long column used for making larger prints...... You can use the Dichroic color head for variable contrast paper by just setting the right color combinations. You still have the capability to do color so it is the only way to go especially in todays market ....... I just bought a 8x10 enlarger and will be selling one of the 4x5's..... If you have any intrest, contact me off list...... johnjohnc@core.com .

I went thru a phase of designing a building a ULF Camera ... I took it to the point of even designing a film holder that all critical measurements would be self forming , cheap to build, and would opperate very similar to a contact frame....... All of a sudden years went by.. The technicalities of such a project are much more than you think because when it is all said and done, it must work, be light tight, have the capability to to critically focus with and at least have basic camera movements, ( your depth of field when you get into this size is very small) and still be portable enough so that you do not have to build a studio around it........ My Advice is to come to your senses and do not try to reinvent the wheel. On ebay right now there is a execellent circuit camera Item # 3875327177. It ends in 7 days. You rarely see them this complete...... I would recomend seriously considering it...... The convertable lens that comes with it can be used as a Soft focus lens as well as a normal taking lens when shooting wide open..... You can also buy a modern lens for it much less than the $5000..... You will be up and shooting this spring rather than watching your life slip by........Best Regards, John Cremati

Mold and fungus is caused by dark damp conditions.......UV light will stop the process dead......Just set the affected glass in a bright window for a day or so.......Be carefull about useing heavy solvents as it may strip any coating that may be on the lens.......If the lens is not coated you may be able to polish it out using a high grade cerium oxide and a high grade wool felt bob.......

S.K. Grimes does just this sort of thing....... They are a photographers machine shop.....The have a great site on line...... Do a Google search to find them..jc

I do not think you can get the precision movements by building your own unless you have a machine shop.. I think you are much better off buying a front of of a existing camera.......... I would consider a Toyo... You see front and rear standards regularly on EPay for around $100 ...... The have the ability to use large 6.2 inch lens boards for big lenses or you can get at adapter board that uses the standard graflex...The compendium Lens shade works on it , it has full movements.. The only draw back is that if you drop it, it is usually a disaster due to the cast aluminim.. If you get a Toyo G they have aluminum rail clamps so a plate could be welded to it......jc .

I made this universal lens adapter complete with a 3 " packard

shutter series 6 that has sync........ I am very pleased with it as I

can mount any barrel lens up to 3 1/2 diameter and it can have a

rear lens of up to 1 1/2 inches into the adapter.....I just though I

would share it with you all.....The Toyo 6.2 inch board is on the

bottom, the packard shutter is second, the extra heavey PVC pipe is

third , a metal plate is forth , a universal lens holding iris is

5th......You can easily get to the pin which allows for timed

exposurs and lots of room to put a bulb on....

Regards, John Cremati<div></div>

The lens I am speaking of in this thread is in the upper left hand part of the image.

 

www.f32.net/Services/Equipment/Lenses/cooke.php<div></div>

I just seen a Visual Quality Lens on E-Pay... The Bi-Quality is almost twice the diameter and almost twice as long.......Do you know what year they broke it off?

A friend of mine recently purchased a Pinkham Bi-Quality Len.. It

does not say Pinkham-Smith but only "Pinkham" 14 inch f 4.5 Pinkham

Bi-Quality, Lexington,Mass. It has the appearance of being made in

the 1930s as the lens is nickleplated brass and black laquere.. but

that is just a guess...

We have found absoulutley no information..... Any speculation on what

Bi Quality means? jc

No bdy gits dem dar big ol camira thangies anymer...... Da al git dem camiras at Walmert so when yer den ye can just throw dem away....... I jest keep min do on da dash o me Fird trek so al da peple wilt knew I m a pofesionel fertagrifer..JC.

SK Grimes has instructions on how to re-glue lenses like this on his web site and he also preforms the service .....John Cremati

I think in early Photography the factors driving focal lengths was driven by coverage of plate size.. 8x10 being a window pane of glass or a plate....., Second was speed... To take some of these portraits there were very long sittings so they needed fast lenses F 4 to f 8 which at that time translated into big diameter glass.......... These lenses sometimes would have a very narrow field of view..A 16 inch lens in the early days may not cover a full plate .... Enlarging was a pain in the butt so many photographers shot 11x14, sometimes requiring 22 inch lenses..John C.

Hi,

I came into a great deal of Ilfochrome printing paper ( a van load

full) I am wondering if anyone has tried using the paper as film

and shot directly onto the paper? What speed would you rate the paper

at? Thanks, John Cremati

The effects seen from a Cooke lens can not be duplicated by any other lens that I have seen next to the Pinkham Smith which it was designed after.. Any one who objectivley compares pictures made with other soft focus lenses to that of the Cooke would not even question the difference... It is as a painting from a old master vs. a painting done by a student... There is absloutley no comparison....In the hands of a artistic portrait photographer this lens would serve them well in creating artistic masterpieces..... My only objection is that it is not made in a focal length that covers 8x10.......... Those who think they can create similar effects by a filter are not knowledgeable on the effect this lens produces to even voice a opinion..........jc

The main drawback to the 4 inch filters such as Cokin is that they they typically are not coated .. My system uses two filter sizes of 67 mm and 105mm and I actually could have just did the 105mm... I have step up rings for all of my lenses ..49 to 67, 52 to 67 , 55 to 67, 58 to 67, and 67 to 105.. The whole group of step adapters did not cost more than $50... I try to only buy B&W , Heliopan high end filters...One basic set of 67 mm and one set of 105.. I would like to make a spring or clamp adapter to handle my barrel lenses to 105 mm.........jc

I am taking a older NU Arc manual vertical 14x18 process camera and making a wall mounted vertical enlarger out of it... I removed the copy board and turned the whole thing up side down and reversed the lens board with the uppper film board..I did this so the controls for the column were at waist level... Then I mounted this to the wall.... I am now in the process of making a cold light head for it out of a old light.... I will have a neon guy bend the green and blue tubes to fit..I must say it is a very nice 11x14, enlarger with a price tag of $50 plus what ever the neon guy will charge me...!

I have heard several suggestions of putting vassoline on a

filter to distort a image, but this just seems to blur the

image.........There are several optically clear Ultra Violet cured

glues out there today that have a very close diffraction index to

that of glass..... There is also some ultra clear " Non stick on non

adheasive " strippable caulk available at Home Depot.... I wonder

if these were applied to a lens if that would create a quality soft

distortion complete with flare and not just blur the image? .... Has

anyone tried this sort of thing... John Cremati

Does anyone know of any publications or instructions on how to modify

a lens to make it a soft focus lens? I am not interested in adding

the common "soft" filters but actual modifing the lens as the ones I

have seen so far do not have the look I want...... I am able to grind

and polish glass but I would like to know what to do to aviod

trashing lenses in the experimentation...

John Cremati

You may try "Garolite x " which I believe is the same material that is used in older darkslides. McMaster Carr carries it and is on line.. It is a pressed phenolic resin laminate and it available in very thin thicknesses like 1/64 inch ...... You would want the cheap black material which is about $10 for a square foot , the more expensive are in colors of green , gray , ext... ... let us know how you make out...jc

I found a Wolensak 210 mm WA graphic arts Raptar that covers 8x10 nicley... I put it into a Alphax shutter which fits exactly with no modification other than transfering the marking of the f stops...... Total Price : $35... There is a extreem WA Wolensak on EBay right now, It is a little high but you will know what to look for............. ITEM # 3853619500

I had just converted a New Arc 14x18 process camera into a 11x14 vertical enlarger... Reasonabley easy to do... Turned everything upside down, so the controls were at waist level, removed the copy board, and hung it on the wall....It has 30 inches of bellows so it will take any lens that will cover 11x14......... All you need is a light source, and a adjustable height table...

I was just looking at 5 Durst 138's at a Color lab and every one of them was out fitted with Omega Dichric heads.. There were 4x5, or D series, and the more rare 5x7 E series.. I have seen many D series on E-Bay , never seen a E series yet and I have seen several F series 8x10......... The lab tech felt it was a great set up and it worked like a charm...jc