Posted by Bob Seith on November 03, 2000 at 12:38:39:
In Reply to: Re: Lens scratches on Ektar 127mm lens posted by Volker on November 03, 2000 at 12:04:42:: Hello Bob. I am surprised how rapidly you answered .
: It´s the first time that I entered this helpboard.
: You are right. Hardcoating today is different and
: much harder. I only didn't liked the word softcoating.
: If you know so much about this lens, please answer me
: some of my beginnerquestions . This is a great website
: for Graflexlovers. I am the latest entry in the helpboard.
: Saludos de mexico, Volker.
I probably didn't choose my words carefully enough. "Soft"
coatings
coatings certainly existed before Kodak debuted the
"Lumenized" process, which they did indeed
suggest was a "hard" coating. It was hard-ER.
Kodak used a different coating process on earlier
lenses. The 101mm Ektars that were used on the
Kodak Medalists were originally coated only
on the INTERNAL surfaces. That's how soft the
coating was. By late in the production run
for the Medalist (1946?) they were coming with
the Lumenized coating, on all surfaces. But
I have seen examples with the "L" letter on
the lens, yet there is no visible coating on
the front. My technician told me it was
likely it simply got cleaned off by repeated
scrubbings over the years.
The Ektars were generally fine, fine lenses.
The name covers a number of design types;
Kodak simply used it to designate their quality
lens line, not the use of a specific optical
design. The 127 mm version, for example, is
for all intents and purposes a Tessar-type
lens, which is actually a fairly old design.
But it's a good one.
I have another Ektar for my Graphics, a 203 mm
(?) f. 7.7. It is an entirely different
design. I can't remember the technical term,
but it is unusual in that the lens is
actually sharpest WIDE OPEN. Resolution
diminishes a bit when you stop down (although
depth of field increases, of course).
If you ever see lenses marked "Commercial
Ektar," those were the really, really best
Kodak optics of the period. They were used
mostly in view cameras, by the pros.