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Heya (great new forum topic!)

I'm new to large format and plan to build my own 8x10 in the near future - learning on the way first by making a 4x5 which I have bought an old Zeiss lens for (I am also plan to use a Rodenstock enlarger lens as well) ...

I am too busy to start work so far but have been offered in the meantime a selection of old military lenses that may or may not be good for an 8x10 - does anybody perhaps recommend any of the following ? :


- Zeiss Jena Tessar 'XII' APO 64cm F10 - ~90 No. 625245 - the cement(?) between the two rear elements is separating a little at one edge, but by stopping it down to about f16 it is no longer 'seen'

- Unbranded but seller suspects either a Cooke or Taylor-Hobson 5" f4 - ~32 No.158157 'ree 14A/1101'

- Unbranded again and again suspect its a Cooke or Taylor-Hobson ANASTIGMAT 14" f5.6 - ~128 No. 280729


All have the 'A~M' logo on them which I think is something to do with 'Air Ministry' / Air Force - they were apparently used for aerial photography, and are probably pre-WWII era...

I am after a wide lens, which puts the Zeiss out of the picture, but am wondering if the 5" is either too wide or would not have the coverage for 8x10 ? (it is a smaller lens also) - Altho not wide for 8x10 is the 14" the safe bet here ?

As I mainly deal with long exposures (minutes+) I usually am stopped down quite a bit, does this affect the size of the image circle ?

What sort of worth are these lenses ? all clean except Zeiss (see above), no shutters - if the Zeiss APO is a good price should I just buy it on principle ?


wowsa,
A heap of questions there - looking forward for any help - hope I can return the favor one day

cheers,
nick

The APO-Tessar is probably a repro lens, so should have about 40-45 degrees coverage. So the image circle should be more than big enough - if you can make a strong enough camera to use it on. That lens is massive!

The 5" lens won't cover. There are very few f:4 wide-angle lenses, and there is no indication this is one of them - nor can I remember any offhand.

a 14" f:5.6 Anastigmat should cover 8x10" with quite a bit to spare. But again the weight might be a bit much?