From: Richard Knoppow (dickburk@ix.netcom.com)
Date: 10/08/01-07:11:59 PM Z
At 09:41 AM 10/08/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Greetings-
>
>The gods have been generous to me lately....
>
>I have been given a lovely old Eastman 5x7 camera in great shape but for a
>ground glass and lens.... do I recall that regular frosted glass will work
>fine as ground glass???
>
>I am also keeping an eye out for a 240mm lens for it - and also a 240mm
>enlarging lens which I will use on an 8x10 Durst enlarger which has also
>recently bestowed upon me.... (I'm told the shorter length will help keep
>base-to-head heights reasonable - the darkroom I'm going to have to build
>will necessarily not have a great deal of ceiling height... but will it
>cover??)
>
>I am receptive to used and to functional vintage hardware - checking E-bay
>regularly. I am also looking for a decent used 4-bladed 20x24 easel....
>
>Thoughts??
>
>Many thanks!
>
>Jon
>
A good source of ground glass is Edmund Scientific. They recently split
the company into two parts under new ownership and I am not sure which half
has the glass. A Google search should find the web sites. 5x7 is around $15
US, 8x10 about $20. You are paying for the labor of cutting it rather than
the glass. The stuff I got from them was the same as the original glass in
old Agfa/Ansco and Speed Graphic cameras. Same texture and thickness.
You will have to trim the corners, easy to do with a simple glass cutter.
I would order two sheets so that you have a spare.
Lenses are available from many sources. I've gotten my LF lenses at local
camera sales but there are a couple of LF specialists. Lens and Repro in
NYC for example. They are not the cheapest but are reliable. A look through
Shutterbug magazine will find others. Of course, there is also eBay. I look
at the pictures but have never bought or sold anything using it.
If you can turn one up look for a Kodak Commercial Ektar in good shape.
They still go for reasonable prices and are outstanding lenses. There are
many othere older lenses of good quality. The f/7.7, 203mm Ektar is also an
excellent lens but has marginal coverage for 5x7.
I wonder which camera this is; Kodak built a few. The most common is the
Model 2D. There was a cheaper model (E, I think) which has a fixed front
standard and less bellows draw. The 2D was a very commonly used view camera
in commercial serivice. They are well made and fairly rigid cameras.
As far as enlarging lenses the same sources apply. Remember that old
process lenses, like the Red Dot Apo Artars, which abound at the moment
make excellent enlarging lenses. For LF they are working in their optimum
magnification range. Slow, but that's not usually a problem.
Also remember that the coverage of a lens is larger at closer than
infinity focus. At 1:1 magnification its double the infinity diameter. For
5x7 about a 190mm lens will be adequate, and for 8x10 about a 250mm lens.
Longer lenses will have somewhat less light fall off toward the corners.
The big Durst is a Rolls-Royce enlarger. The only warning is that Durst
does not support older equipment.
---- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA dickburk@ix.netcom.com
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