Enlarger lenses?

[Kathmandu]

I picked these up at an antique shop-they caught my eyes,they looked dusty ,and I got them for a song and dance-maybe some one here has some insight on these.

Ilex Optical Co.'s (shutter and diaphragm maker?) and Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar f6.3 300mm lens that still has some cleaning left to do. I need to clean the second element as I have not been able to open that part yet.The other elements cleaned up good(gentle clean). This looks like a contraption from a Jules Verne movie-and weighs about 3 or 4 lbs. The diameter of the outer edge is approx 5 inches.
(With a 12 oz bottle for comparison purposes.The visible specks are in the front ofthe second element,and are cleanable.)





The second one says Gundlach-Manhattan Optical Co. The glass on this has good access for cleaning-the retaining rings still work smoothly.This weighs a little more than a pound.








For now I'd like to clean these as best possible without damaging anything and possibly explore uses for it, in the future. I would love to hear suggestions/possibilities. I realize I may not have many options because of their weight .
Best regards

[luisalegria]

The first is a very nice find indeed. A big Tessar on an Ilex #4

Thats a view camera lens, a "normal" for an 8x10 format, or a portrait/long lens for a 4x5.

Both are good, simple sturdy items and should be very easy to clean and put in working order.

The second is probably a projection lens.

[Kathmandu]

luisalegria:

Thank you for your informative reply-I appreciate it. How does the big Tessar front cell come apart-I need to gt between the elements there to clean . .

Cheers

[visualopsins]

Wow what a find! I think the two-part lens simply screws into the shutter, one part in front, one in back. See http://www.skgrimes.com/ilex/index.htm

The sheer size makes me wonder if the image circle is larger than only 8x10.

[luisalegria]

The usual construction for these Tessars was such that they could easily come apart. I haven't played with such a large one though, my biggest is just a 15cm.

You unscrew the front assembly from the shutter - it should just unscrew, though it might be tight. On the back of this assembly you should see a knurled ring; thats where you unscrew the rear element from the front.

The rear assembly is a one-piece cemented group so there should be no need to unscrew it from the shutter, to get at the inner surface just open the aperture and open the shutter (on the "T" setting"). You can also remove the thing from the shutter of course, it should also just unscrew.

This is an uncoated lens so it should be easy enough to clean with alcohol.

The Zeiss catalogs on Camera Eccentric show Zeiss recommended this lens for 8 1/2" x 6 1/2", but thats probably with very generous allowance for movements; they also recommend their 15cm for 4x5, but the usual practice was to use the 13.5cm Tessar for 4x5, so their estimates give a lot of leeway. It should certainly cover 8x10 for all purposes that don't involve twisting the camera like a pretzel. The image circle at small stops is stated as 16 1/2" diameter, so it should probably even cover 11x14 at f/16 or so.

[Kathmandu]

[luisalegria]

Very annoying problem. Well, thats the vintage lens business for you.

I don't think there's any glue in there. The lens should fall out once you've removed the retaining ring. It is probably just a close fit, plus years of condensation/oxidation.

Some options -

1. Hold the cell in the center of your fist with the rear cell facing down, and pound your hand on the table a few times (don't pound the lens itself on the table !). That may shake it out.

2. If you have a toaster oven, put the cell in there to warm it up (expands the metal) and try it again. No temperature shocks please !

3. See if you can unscrew the name ring for the front element with a rubber ring. If you can't remove the rear element, remove the front one.

[Kathmandu]

The element came out with gentle prying with a soft tipped tooth pick, and moving around slowly until I could hold it and pull it out -I had to gently twist it out anticlockwise-keeping gravity on my side. The element is pretty thick-and I'm now in a position to clean it. Thanks again for sharing your experience and knowledge.

[martinsmith99]

Enlarger lenses are great for flower pics; and always cirular bokeh. Now go take some shot with them and post samples!

[Kathmandu]

martinsmith99:

I am looking forward to taking some flower shots.Its a little late in the night for that right now:D , but I will in time ; and I'll def. post some images

Cheers

[Kathmandu]

After a cleaning:

[luisalegria]

Nice !

How's the shutter ?

[Kathmandu]

The shutter doesn't work at this time. It clicks and snaps but no aperture action-I have not looked inside yet- I'd like to open it up ,when I get some time -and look inside to see the mechanics.

Thanks