the use of enlarging lens's as camera lens's

[du a gwyn]

hello everybody,i've notice that few people use enlarging lenses as the taken lenses on there camera's,the most common i've seen is the 210 glaron f9.how good is this compere to 'standard' lenses,can any lens be use as long it focus on the ground screen,or is it only suitiated for a choosen few lenses?
last year i use to have a 5x7 camera fitted with a enlarging lens(210mm),i use to make the exposure using the 'cap' technique the quality was never up to what i was expecting.i never got to the bottom of the problem and decided to sell the outfit.
all your comment are welcome.
(o by the way!! i really like the images of your last outing especially the stair shot, in black and white.)

[BarryWilkinson]

Hello,

I have a 240mm G-Claron which covers 10x8. It is small but very sharp and screws straight into a Copal 1 shutter. I have not had the opportunity to try a 210mm but I'm sure it's worth a go.

Barry

[Ole Tjugen]

The G-Claron is a repro lens, not an enlarger lens.

I have a 210 8which I'm selling) and a 355 (which I'm keeping), and had a 150 which I sold when I realised I had 15 150mm lenses... now i'm (often) using a 150/9 Germinar-W, another repro lens.

These are really, really good. They're small as well, which leads to the only drawback: They're dark compared to larger, heavier lenses.

[du a gwyn]

many thanks Ole for your reply.these repro lenses where they use as copy lenses originaly?you state that you intend to sell the 210mm lens.if so how much are you asking for it?
hwyl.

[Ole Tjugen]

Hwyl,

I'm selling the lens for the price of the shutter, which is brand new with f-stops engraved by SK Grimes. So ypu'll have to add 10% to the price of a new Copal 1 shutter from Robert White, I'm afraid....

These repro lenses were the "heart" of printing until computers killed off the repro industry. They were used in the making of printing screens, an intermediate step before the printing plate.

There are copier lenses out there too - Schneider's were called C-Claron! Older photocopiers often contain one of these, but later models are really a scanner and a printer combined.

[IanG]

Actually Ole, Schnieder sold some of the G-Clarons as enlarger lens mounted in their typical enlarger lens barrels. They show up for sale on ebay every now and again.

Ian

The G-Claron is a repro lens, not an enlarger lenses.

[Ole Tjugen]

Actually Ole, Schnieder sold some of the G-Clarons as enlarger lens mounted in their typical enlarger lens barrels.

The G-Claron is a repro lens, not an enlarger lenses.

Actually Ian, Schneider used the same barrels for enlarger lenses, repro lenses and copy lenses. Mine came in that kind of barrel, from a repro house.

Enlarger lenses are typically at least one stop faster than f:9.

[IanG]

Schneider seemed to have a glut of G-Clarons probably as a result of the fast switch to digital in the printing and graphics trade, and G-Clarons were being sold by some dealers as budget lf enlarger lenses.

It's interesting that Schneider themselves don't actually recomend the G_Clarons for use at infinity, merely stating it can be used:

"The G-Claron is a lens of symmetrical design with six elements in four groups, optimized for 1:1 reproduction. The normally used range of linear magnifications is 5:1 to 1:5.

The G-Claron may also be used for distances up to infinity by stopping down to f/22 or less. For photographic work the G-Claron can be used up to an angle of 64 degrees and is free from mechanical vignetting at f/16 or smaller apertures."

An analogy is using a standard lens for macro photography, it will work but don't expect the same quality as using a properly designed macro lens.

Ian