Can anyone tell me about Goerz Optical Co.'s 210mm Red Dot Artar?

-- Matt (mojo@moscow.com), August 17, 2000

Answers

I have one - nice lens. It's a 4 element Apochromatic process lens (more-or-less). Optimized for 1:1 but good at infinity at smaller stops. Schneider took over production in the 60's or 70's. Mine was produced in the mid 50's, is coated, and is in a #2 Compur shutter. The modern equivelent to this lens would be the Rodenstock Apo-Ronar. It has a small circle of coverage - the 8-1/4 is o.k. for 4x5 at infinity, using it on 5x7 would be pushing it a little.

-- Wayne DeWitt (wdewitt@snip.net), August 18, 2000.

This one is in an Ilex #3 Universal. Could the same lens have been made with different dia.?

-- Matt (mojo@moscow.com), August 18, 2000.

No I don't think so, although I have read that they were available in aluminum as well as brass cells (mine is brass). I don't think #2 shutters have been manufactured for 30 years or so. So your lens may have been a barrel lens set into the shutter later in life (or maybe mine was), I haven't come across enough information yet to be able to say for sure. Your lens may also have been manufactured towards the end when the #2's were no longer available. Since my shutter is a Compur I'm guessing that it was originally sold set into the shutter, since this was the "standard" factory shutter back then. I have come across references to 8-1/4" Artar's in #1 and #2 shutters (and now #3's), and 14" ones in #2's and #3's - so I definitely believe yours was mounted after the fact - it appears that these lenses are likely to be mounted in any available shutter. Check the following websites for some info.

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~qtluong/photography/lf/classic- experts.html

http://www.hevanet.com/cperez/testing.html

-- Wayne DeWitt (wdewitt@snip.net), August 18, 2000.

At their optimum distance, these lenses are reputed to be incredibly sharp. I had the legendary 12" for awhile. It had plenty of coverage for 4x5, but it didn't seem to be all that sharp at infinity. Wisner, and perhaps others (e.g. Grimes?), have the knowhow to adjust the spacing so as to optimize these lenses for infinity use. While I didn't check for it myself, I read that stopping these lenses down gives them that much more image circle, like one would expect from a Dagor. As a dialyte, I believe these lenses correspond most to Rodenstock's Apo-Ronar lenses.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), August 20, 2000.

I have some old documentation which states that the 210mm Red Dod Artars have an image circle of 163mm at f16.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), August 20, 2000.

Third try . . . I read that stopping these lenses down does not give them that much more image circle.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), August 20, 2000.