I am considering purchasing a 7.5\12\18 in turner reisch triple conv to use on a 5x7 for contact printing. I cna get it with shutter for probably under $100. The front element needs recememting which will run me about another $90. So is this lense worht it considering I only intend on using it for contact printing(no room for the 5x7 enlarger)? Thanks Ron L.

-- ronald j lamarsh (ronlamarsh@seanet.com), June 30, 1999

Answers

Short answer - yes, although you may not want to pay for the re- cementing job.

Detailed answer. It's very subjective and relative.

It all depends on your budget, your imageing goals and technical/quality demands. FOr $250.00 (+/-) you might be able to get one in better shape with a working shutter. Have you actually seen this lens or are you basing the re-cement option (and price) on someone elses reccomendation? I suggest you contact Steve Grimes before proceeding further. A more recent piece of glass might be a better choice, but it depends on your needs. Whatever lens you buy, you should have a real need/use for it.

The Turner Reichs were in general not the top of the line covertible lenses, not so much because of design flaws as the complexity of the design, sometimes 5 elements in 2 groups, and the production capabilities of the time. They turned out lenses of high quality, and on the same day the same design and f.l. combination could come out stinko.

Edward Weston complained about his 12/21/28, specifically the 21" element at long extensions and stopped down all the way, but he did use it on his Guggenheim along with a 19" Protar element.

That said, I have two that treat me fine if I observe the basic convertible use rules and I fantasize about getting a third of the same series so that I could build my own casket set with a #4 shutter with a mm stop table. They both have bubbles in the glass and a little seperation but I am happy with the 8 X 10 contact prints I have made from them, and wouldn't bother to get them re-cemented.

Convertible rules - in case you don't know or haven't read them earlier:

1) always use single elements behind the shutter.

2)Focus wide open, stop down and re-focus at the working aperture, checking for focus shift.

3) Use a yellow or orange filter on the single element to correct for aberations and again, focus with the filter in place.

In any event $190.00 doesn't sound bad for a 5 X 7 lens, especially three but the 18" element may not get a lot of use, depending on what kind of work you do and your bellows draw. Was this lens for the 6.5 X 8.5 format or for one of the smaller Cirkut cameras? I'm just curious, what series is it?

-- Sean yates (yatescats@yahoo.com), June 30, 1999.

personally I would jump on this lens. I shot 8x10 for years with the turner, but I seldom used the convertible feature, and I always found that it was a very sharp lens. The price you have found sounds great to me.

fred

-- fred deaton (fdeaton@airnet.net), July 01, 1999.