Posted by volker on November 03, 2000 at 22:42:10:
In Reply to: Re: Lens scratches on Ektar 127mm lens posted by Bob Seith on November 03, 2000 at 12:38:39:: : 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.
Hey, Bob, what a good information. That´s
what I am looking for.Do the Wf Ektar 80mm and the
WA Optar 90mm and the 90 mm WA Raptar give poor results? Or
are they good performers stoping down to 16 or 22?
Thanks, Volker