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Detrmining age of a 5 x 7 Agfa Ansco View Camera
Hello,
I recently bought a vintage Agfa Ansco view camera and lenses. I'm hoping someone can give me an idea of when the camera was made, the model and information on the lenses. The camera is a 5 x 7 Agfa Ansco with a 5 x 7 back. The metal plate on the front of the camera reads: AGFA ANSCO CORP'N Binghampton NY The finish on the camera is stained cherry, with a high gloss lacquer finish. The hardware is finished with a bronze or gold gilt paint. I'm not sure if it is brass underneath the paint or some other metal. The various knobs on the camera are metal rather than the later Bakelite. The camera has rear focus only, the front standard is stationary. The front standard has rise and fall and shift only, no tilt. A brass L was inset at the bottom of each side of the front standard for added rigidity. Unlike some photos I've seen of 5 x 7 Universal Views, the front standard vertical supports do not taper at the bottom. A Packard shutter was installed behind the lens panel at some point in its history. The bellows and handle are the original leather. The camera has a built-in bed extension and could extend out to a maximum length of 21 inches if the bellows were supple. A key lock handle locks the front and rear beds together. Any idea what age the camera is? I was thinking it had to be post 1926 (after Agfa Ansco merged). I also question whether this is could be a Universal View because it does not have front focus. I don't think it is the Standard model because of the finish, the excellent hardware and 21 inch rear extension. When did Ansco introduce front focus on its view cameras? It also came with four lenses: 1. 12 inch f/ 5.5 Goerz Celor in brass barrel with US stops. US stops from 2 to 256 No shutter 2. Bausch & Lomb Protar Series VII 16 1/8 inch for both cells. Cells mounted in a Wollensak Optimo shutter. F-stops f/6.8 to f/64 3. 8 1/4 inch Goerz Dagor f/6.8 Series III No. 3 In aluminum barrels mounted in a Koilos compound shutter 4. Bausch & Lomb Zeiss Protar Series V 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 In small brass barrel with US stops 20 to 256 No shutter Any information on the camera and lenses would appreciated. |
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Detrmining age of a 5 x 7 Agfa Ansco View Camera
Scott Sharp wrote:
Any idea what age the camera is? I was thinking it had to be post 1926 (after Agfa Ansco merged). I also question whether this is could be a And before 1943 [I think that's when the US government took over] when the name was switched back to Ansco. Universal View because it does not have front focus. I don't think it is the Standard model because of the finish, the excellent hardware and 21 inch rear extension. When did Ansco introduce front focus on its view cameras? It sounds like a portrait camera to me. It also sounds like it's got the basic finish. At least that's my guess. Nick -- --------------------------------------- "Digital the new ice fishing" --------------------------------------- |
#3
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Detrmining age of a 5 x 7 Agfa Ansco View Camera
"Scott Sharp" wrote in message oups.com... Hello, I recently bought a vintage Agfa Ansco view camera and lenses. I'm hoping someone can give me an idea of when the camera was made, the model and information on the lenses. The camera is a 5 x 7 Agfa Ansco with a 5 x 7 back. The metal plate on the front of the camera reads: AGFA ANSCO CORP'N Binghampton NY The finish on the camera is stained cherry, with a high gloss lacquer finish. The hardware is finished with a bronze or gold gilt paint. I'm not sure if it is brass underneath the paint or some other metal. The various knobs on the camera are metal rather than the later Bakelite. The camera has rear focus only, the front standard is stationary. The front standard has rise and fall and shift only, no tilt. A brass L was inset at the bottom of each side of the front standard for added rigidity. Unlike some photos I've seen of 5 x 7 Universal Views, the front standard vertical supports do not taper at the bottom. A Packard shutter was installed behind the lens panel at some point in its history. The bellows and handle are the original leather. The camera has a built-in bed extension and could extend out to a maximum length of 21 inches if the bellows were supple. A key lock handle locks the front and rear beds together. Any idea what age the camera is? I was thinking it had to be post 1926 (after Agfa Ansco merged). I also question whether this is could be a Universal View because it does not have front focus. I don't think it is the Standard model because of the finish, the excellent hardware and 21 inch rear extension. When did Ansco introduce front focus on its view cameras? It also came with four lenses: 1. 12 inch f/ 5.5 Goerz Celor in brass barrel with US stops. US stops from 2 to 256 No shutter 2. Bausch & Lomb Protar Series VII 16 1/8 inch for both cells. Cells mounted in a Wollensak Optimo shutter. F-stops f/6.8 to f/64 3. 8 1/4 inch Goerz Dagor f/6.8 Series III No. 3 In aluminum barrels mounted in a Koilos compound shutter 4. Bausch & Lomb Zeiss Protar Series V 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 In small brass barrel with US stops 20 to 256 No shutter Any information on the camera and lenses would appreciated. Its hard to date view cameras because they didn't change much over the years. I think the camera you have is the Agfa 5x7 Studio Camera, it can be found in the on-line 1941 Agfa catalogue at: http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/agfa/agfa.html See pages 8 and 9. The camera was available in three finishes. This catalogue also describes other Agfa view and studio cameras of the time. I have both an 8x10 and 5x7 Universal View of about this period. Both of these cameras have the "standard" finish, that is French polished Cherry with bronze-gilt metal fittings. I don't know when this camera originated but most of the Agfa-Ansco studio and view cameras date back to the mid 1920s with few changes. As you know the ancient company of Ansco was bought by Agfa in 1926. The Agfa trade name predominated after that. In 1941 all German owned properties in the US were seized by the government. Agfa/Ansco was then put under a caretaker management but continued to use the Agfa name until sometime about late 1943 when it was dropped in favor of Ansco. However, I suspect old labels, etc, were used until they ran out. The Goerz Celor is a symmetrical lens of the Dialyte type, i.e., four air spaced lenses. It is the generic type on which the Apochromatic Artar, Dogmar, and 70 Series Kodak Anastigmats are based in addition to a lot of other lenses. These should be good, sharp lenses but are limited in their coverage to an image circle no larger in diameter than the focal length. It does not get larger with stopping down. The later Dogmar is the same type of lens but with some power shifted from one cell to the other to optimise it for distant objects. I am not sure of the date of its discontinuance but the Dogmar dates from the late teens and I suspect the Celor was not made much later. This was one of the two designs brought to Goerz by Emil von Hoegh, the other being the Dagor. The Bausch & Lomb Protar Series VII is the same design as the Zeiss Convertible Protar of the same series number. B&L began by building them under license but all German patents became property of the U.S.Government on the outbreak of WW-1 and were expired by the end of the war. Up to 1914 the lenses will say Bausch & Lomb-Zeiss on them. These are very sharp lenses. The combined focal length of this lens is 9-1/4", f/6.3 listed as covering a 6-1/2 x 8-1/2 plate at full aperture. At f/45 the combined lens covers about 75 degrees. The single cells can be used at their marked FL behind the iris. Speed is f/12.5. The lens can be used in front of the iris with some loss of correction, its speed is then slightly faster because of the magnification of the stop by the lens. The individual cells of the Protar are corrected for coma so they yield sharp images at the margins at larger stops than do the single cells of a Dagor. As a combined lens there is not much difference. Coma is cancelled in symmetrical lenses. The Wollensak Optimo was a deluxe shutter. The shutter blades turn completely around each time its tripped rather than reciprocating as in most shutters. As a result the shutter is capable of higher speeds although it won't really do the 1/300th marked. The regulator is an air brake and cam. When they wear the slow speeds become shorter. The Dagor is a famous lens. Dagors were made from around 1895 until the late 1970's. They are essentially wide angle lenses. At f/45 a Dagor will cover about 87 degrees. The Dagor has some zonal spherical aberration (so does the Convertible Protar) which makes it a little soft when wide open, sometimes useful for portraits. At f/22 its very sharp across the entire field. A single cell of a Dagor can be used behind the stop with a focal length of about 1.8 times the combined FL. The individual cells are not corrected for coma so the lens must be stopped down to around f/36 or smaller to be reasonably sharp at the margins. The Series III is the f/6.8 version. There was some, but not much, change in this design over the years. Old ones are perfectly good if in good condition. The Koilos and the Compound are different shutters. I think the Koilos was a Goerz made shutter, the Compound is an air brake regulated shutter made from around 1905 until the late 1980s. They are very reliable and can be quite accurate when properly cleaned. Watch out, some early ones have fiber or rubber blades. The Zeiss and Bausch & Lomb Series V Protar is an extra wide angle lens of f/18 speed. It should be stopped down to around f/36 - f/45 to be sharp at maximum coverage. These lenses will cover about 102 degrees. They are often found in barrels because the spacing between the cells is so small that only a few shutters, notably the B&L Volute, will work with it. These lenses do not have the compensation for light fall off found in modern WA lenses. The fall off is probably a little more than the theoretical cos^4 theta. The 6-1/2 x 8-1/2 lens has a focal length of 5-9/16". The B&L-Zeiss marking dates it from before 1914. Keep in mind that the lenses may be older or newer than the camera. The home site at: http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info.html also has many other catalogues including several lens catalogues. Probably all of the lenses you are asking about can be found in one or another of them. -- --- Richard Knoppow Los Angeles, CA, USA |
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