Does any one know of the technical specs or character of the Ilex Ocillo Paragon 75mm f1.9 for macro work on 4x5. Found a beauty for cheap and was told it covers for macro on 4x5 but otherwise I'm in the dark on this one.

-- Paul van der Hoof (paul.vanderhoof@losangeles.af.mil), February 13, 2002

Answers

Remember that they are corrected for the curvature of an older rounded CRT a few inches away and also for colors outside our normal spectrum. I've played with them at smaller aps to correct and was underwhelmed. A $9 flat field japanese enl. lens from ebay would likely be a better choice. The old #3 ilex'x can be useful. Good luck.

-- Jim Galli (jimgalli@lnett.com), February 13, 2002.

Yes, I tend to agree with Jim. Those old oscilloscope cameras weren't designed for high image quality, just to get a useable picture of the green 'scope trace. The wide aperture was necessary because the scope trace gets quite dim at fast sweep rates.
I don't know about the 'paragon', but it might be similar to a Wollensack 'Oscillo-Raptar'. I've seen those with the same spec of 75mm focal length and f/1.9 aperture. The oscillo-raptar is at the top end of oscilloscope camera lens quality, which still ain't saying much. The shutter's probably the most valuable part of it.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 14, 2002.