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Mark

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Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 04:34 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

i am attempting to build my first wood 4x5 camera. i have an old moskva 5 lens i am thinking of using on my lens board & was wondering if the lens would cover the film plain properly given the focal length or working distance of an average 4x5 camera. any advise would be most helpful.
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Roland Givan

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Posted on Sunday, May 23, 2004 - 04:58 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

I suspect the lens won't have the coverage you require. In the Moskva it only needs to cover 6x9cm which is considerably less than the 4x5" you require.

When I built my 4x5 camera I used a 127mm Kodak lens from an old folding camera which ISTR had a film size a little longer and a little thinner than 4x5. It works fine - but is quite wide angled and probably won't be suitable for camera movements. I've posted pictures on my web site at:

http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/

:-)

Roland.
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David Nebenzahl

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Posted on Monday, May 24, 2004 - 01:58 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Actually, the 127mm Kodak Ektar is one of the most commonly-used lenses on at least some 4x5 cameras, namely press cameras (specifically, Crown and Speed Graphics). I have one and like it very much. It is wide-angle, but I wouldn't go so far as to say "quite" wide-angled. It does cover 4x5, but with only limited movements as was pointed out.

But it is possible that the Moskva-5 lens might cover 4x5; certainly worth experimenting to find out, especially if you already have the lens. (The Industar lenses on the Moskva-5 are pretty damn good Tessar-formula lenses.)

The reason I offer this encouragement is because of an experiment I did that surprised me with its results. I have a bunch of old 9x12 folding plate cameras, which are just a little smaller than 4x5. The "normal" lens for these cameras is almost invariably 135mm (close enough to the Ektar to be no matter). What I did was take a 105mm lens from a 6x9 folder and stick it on a 9x12 camera. The lens is a Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar, and I was astounded when I made prints from the negatives: they were tack-sharp from corner to corner! (This is the same size as the Moskva-5 lens.) And the result is that I have a very useful wide-angle lens with a pleasing focal length. (Since these cameras have such limited movements--a little front rise/fall and shift is all--I don't even bother about that.)

Of course, all this falls under the category of The Search for the Mythical Wide-Angle Large Format Lens that Doesn't Cost an Arm and a Leg (or in other words, how to avoid buying a Super Angulon or such). But hell, if I have a lens laying around, my inclination is to throw it on the camera and see what it can do.
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mark

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Posted on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 06:14 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

thanks alot
i thank i will try the moskva lens first.
if it dosnt work all i have lost is a little time and some film. experimenting is what its all about anyway.
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David

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Posted on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 05:40 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

There is a 3-element glass lens of very good quality fitted to some old Polariod cameras (Model 800). You can find the cameras in thrift stores or on Ebay for less than $10. Its possible to remove the front lens standard and use the lens and shutter. I forget the details now but I've done it. They are designed to cover 3x4 but may stretch to 4x5. You have to expose by EV number which programs the shutter for apertures and shutter speeds.
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murray

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Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 08:41 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Polaroid 150, 160, 800, 95b etc have a 130 mm triplet (approx 7.69 diopter).

By Gullstrand's Equation and a stretch of the imagination (and realizing this is not a simple pari of thin lenses, a -1 diopter (i.e., push on Telek or similar) lens could be combined at a spacing of 1-10 mm and get a resultant of roughly 147-149 mm lens.

I'm experimenting with one of these cameras and a -4.5 or so cell but it's not a simple lens cell so it's got lot's of issues on th eperimeter fo the image circle.

Murray
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Murray

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Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 08:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Dean/Razzledog the Polaroid conversion machinist in Australia says the 95b-150-160-800-9?0 do cover 4x5.

Murray
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JohnDesq

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Posted on Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 04:19 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Sorry to say, but the Industar won't cover 4x5"
Besides it is poor to handle where focusing must be done. You have to use the B setting and keep the lens open with your hand...

More see http://www.johndesq.com/moskva5

JD

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