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My expanding Friedrich Axinon collection.
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2022 7:15 pm    Post subject: My expanding Friedrich Axinon collection. Reply with quote
A shot of the different FL's of Axinon lenses i own. Some are labeled Camerz, the 90mm and 105mm, those were used on giant rollfilm "school picture" cameras. The rest were marketed as enlarger lenses. These are all f=4.5, top left to right 127, 125, 115, 105, 90, 72.2, and 55mm. Photo Cornucopia lists 13 FL's but the 127 and 72.2 are not on that list. As you can see most of these are bezel labeled, but the 115mm and the 72.2 are labeled on the outside of the front element housing. From Photo Cornucopia I learned they are 4 element designs, other sites concur and claim they are a tessar plan. They are all extremely well made, with top end fit and finish, all metal and glass with engraved markings. They are coated. I am not sure whether single or multi-coated. Optically, they are excellent, and work extremely well as macro lenses.



The 125mm is an interesting story as I got it on ebay as "NOS" mounted in a Prontor-Press shutter. The shutter still has the plastic cover on cable release socket and has no markings on the plaque for aperture designation. I remounted the front element in the housing of one of the duplicate 105mm camerz lenses. I have 3 of those. I can't resist dirt cheap high grade optical tools. I got twofer of those for 15 dollars iirc.



PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 2:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Congrats Friends

If it is 4 element enlarger, it is almost sure it will be a Tessar type.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I realized after I posted this that I actually have the 135mm as well.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 1:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
I realized after I posted this that I actually have the 135mm as well.


Very interesting! Great to hear that they‘re good lenses as well. Here‘s the info on them from a sales brochure:

AXINON SERIES
A four element Tessar Type system: comp(…) (de)sign with new lanthanum glass 55° angle. (achro)matized, coated.
Available in
f2.8/35 and 50 mm
f3.5/40. 50. (70?) mm
4.5/45, 55, 75, 90, 100, 105, 115, 125. 135 mm in normal mount with iris. Some are available (in) mount for projection.

The things in brackets are missing on my scan, so just some speculation.

I‘m very interested in C. Friedrich as a manufacturer, however first and foremost their S-Coronar lenses. They seem to have been very small compared to most of the German big names, but they must have sold quite a number of lenses in the US via Rolyn Optical. I assume that might also be the connection to the Camerz school cameras. I wonder if they just used the regular enlarging optics for that or if they were somehow tweaked for that purpose.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes. Go for the double-gauss lenses which are the best from Friedrich. Wink


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 3:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have searched for the S-Coronar but have never seen one for sale.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have only one 75/2.8 and I would like to have more. Very difficult to find one with FL>=50mm and F>=2.8 in reasonable price nowadays! Twisted Evil


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
I have searched for the S-Coronar but have never seen one for sale.


Yeah, they tend to be rare.

calvin83 wrote:
I have only one 75/2.8 and I would like to have more. Very difficult to find one with FL>=50mm and F>=2.8 in reasonable price nowadays! Twisted Evil


Great that you have a 75/2.8 though. John Jovic (responsible for the Big List of enlarging lenses: https://photocornucopia.com/1061.html) has one of those as well and shared some sample shots which look great: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4511645

If you're able to share some as well I would be very interested to see them.

I've used a Friedrich "S-Coronar 25 mm f/1.4" (not mentioned in any of the lists I was able to find so far) a lot recently and it's a wonderful little lens. It has got a pretty small image circle though, so that's a macro lens only. Even there it's not great in the corners, but I don't mind for a lot of my experiments and I just love the rendering combined with the sharp center:

A-wash with detail by simple.joy, on Flickr

Starry nigh by simple.joy, on Flickr

Ice: the window to the… cold! by simple.joy, on Flickr

Don't want to derail the thread though, if it's supposed to stay on the Axinon topic. Unfortunately I can't contribute too much in that regard because I only have one of those (9 cm) and unfortunately in pretty bad condition and not used it so far. I always liked how these lenses look and feel though.

Do you have some sample shots, taken with these interesting Tessars?


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
We had an ice storm last night. Work is delayed until it melts a bit more. Spent a few minutes with the 72.2mm.







PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
We had an ice storm last night. Work is delayed until it melts a bit more. Spent a few minutes with the 72.2mm.


Very beautiful - excellent captures!

72.2 mm is probably custom built for a certain application or device, reminds me of some printing or scanning lenses… it‘s a nice focal length though. Do most of these lenses have a circular aperture?


PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2022 7:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yes. All of them have a bunch of blades. The 72.2 is a RMS thread but came with a jam nut. I have an RMS to M39 so an easy on to adapt. The others are mostly the 39mm x .075 which is a bit of trouble. I do have an adapter coming from RAF but quite expensive. In the meantime I have just been mis-threading (judiciously so as not to bung the threads) into a m39 to m42 bushing. When I retire next month I hope to take a class in machining tech at the local community college.


PostPosted: Wed Dec 28, 2022 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
jamaeolus wrote:
Yes. All of them have a bunch of blades. The 72.2 is a RMS thread but came with a jam nut. I have an RMS to M39 so an easy on to adapt. The others are mostly the 39mm x .075 which is a bit of trouble. I do have an adapter coming from RAF but quite expensive. In the meantime I have just been mis-threading (judiciously so as not to bung the threads) into a m39 to m42 bushing. When I retire next month I hope to take a class in machining tech at the local community college.


Thanks a lot. I got a chance to try the Axinon 9 cm for a macro-shot - it seems to work fine in spite of the terrible state it is in:

Nature and craft aligned by simple.joy, on Flickr

I will probably try to use it for a couple of shots outside as well, if the weather improves.

A class in machining tech sounds like a great idea - all the best wishes for your plans!
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