I've been looking through my viewfinder at different subject matter w/this lens since I bought and restored it, a restoration which took about 7 months.  The Ser. III is the softest lens I've ever had on a camera, when looking at something illuminated by bright light, and pointing it in certain directions, I wasn't able to make out anything I was looking at but a garish/blown up/blown out mess.    There are lighting scenarios where using this lens isn't going to work, and the challenge of using this lens is matching a lighting scheme to this lens where the lens can perform its best.

    Over the course of having the lens, I started playing around w/lighting schemes and I gradually started to think of  subdued light as the way forward for me and this lens, and while juggling around low light schemes and checking 'em out w/this lens on my Toyo, l began to see whiffs of this lens potential. 

    The Ser. III is the most extreme example of how lenses like these are really 2 lenses, they're one type of lens giving a soft dreamy rendering w/a lot of pop around the highlights in scenes w/very bright lighting, they become a more subtle type of lens capable of more nuance in more subdued lighting situations w/more subdued highlights.   

     The lens is very difficult to focus under the best of circumstances, and you really have to fish for where the focus is.    Since the lens is so soft you can be looking through the groundglass and not realize you've passed by that 'sweet spot' where there's a sharp image overlaid w/a soft one.  The plane of focus is ever so thin, as it was on this shot, where I'm at 4 feet away from the Subject Matter w/a 16 inch lens.

     I shot this w/some very old Polaroid 804(8x10 instant) using natural light and a single modeling light from one of my strobes.  I went through about 7-8 Polaroids, until coming onto the lighting scheme you see here.  Shutter time for this shot  was 'one thousand one, one thousand two, and then since the light  coming through the windows wouldn't wait, I immediately shot a sheet of both FP4 and Porta 160 color to see what that would look like.

    What I believe you can see in this image is the sharp image overlaid with a soft one, particularly on camera right as you look at the edge of the glass globe, either that or I'm seeing things.  You tell me.

    Focusing this damn thing for the better part of 15 minutes straight before taking this shot gave me a headache, but I think I learned some things about the lens. 

A teaser.

I was BUSY this weekend and you get a 2 fer!  I promised a page of comparison shots with the NEW2ME Hermagis Eidoscop 150mm on 4X5.  It is here:

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/150Eidy/150Eidoscop.html

But wait!  There's more!  If you push the button NOW I'll include an extra post about a Darlot 12" Landscape lens for FREE!

http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/150Eidy/12inchDarlotLandscape.html

Hurry! because this offer won't last forever   :cool:

Love to hear your thoughts as always!

Needless to say I am smitten with a new lens.  Hermagis Eidoscop 150mm and 4X5 Ektapan.  The Eidoscop shares it's design lineage with the Nicola Perscheid and the Pinkham Visual Quality series IV lenses.   The French re-interpret the contrast to their liking and I must say, I love the Eidoscop lenses.  The Ektapan was 1977 film with plenty of film base plus fog present.  It was nice to play in 4X5 for a change.  What a lens!  This was done 1 stop in from wide open, f6.3

When it rains it pours.  There's been some great posts.  Nelson,  Sweet!  I've got this 150mm Hermagis Eidoscop that needs a Razzle.  Ah well, other priorities will prevail.  Here are a couple of grab shots from this weekend.  I needed two sheets to round up a JOBO 3005 tank and so did these.  They're an interesting study side by side.  First is the TRM @ f6.8, and second is the same at f45 1/2

The first was 7 seconds @ f6.8 and the second was 14 minutes f45 1/2.  Negs are identical which says a lot for the Pcatechol.  This lens is at it's best with some piece of the subject in sharp focus and then the rest left to itself.  I like 'em both.  Not bad for filler :~'))

Note me as another satisfied customer of Dean Jones, the Australian camera-hacker and innovator.

Late last year, while tooling around a Tulsa flea-market with my pal Bruce Appel, I stumbled upon a nice Polaroid 110B and purchased it. After making contact with Dean Jones, I forwarded both camera and down payment to Mr. Jones. In March 2008, I received my IRS refund and completed the transaction with Dean, who set about converting my camera. Yesterday, June 23rd, my Razzle was received at the post office, and a quick shot put past the Fujinon 150/6.3 lens.

In a word: Bliss.

Dean Jones is highly regarded, and I recommend him to any seeking an alternative to the much more expensive options out there for RF-focused 4x5 cameras and conversions. Dean is a passionate hacker; but be advised, his waiting list is growing by the day--Get on it soon!

Model: Buffie Brooke
EV/Film: 1/30" @ F8, Fujifilm FP-100C45