Hopefully this image shows the delicacy and nuance that this lens is capable of, it's an image of a glass artifact that looks to me as if it was a lens made completely out of glass including the barrel.   I've called it 'Glass Noir'.

The VPM in 286mm mode is very soft, but still capable of detail @ wideopen as this image is.   This was w/bellows extension out to 21 inches on my 810 including my reducing back and 4x5 ext. sleeve as I couldn't get enought extension to get close enough w/my 4x5 Toyo, and this SM was close.

I love getting close w/these lenses which helps to blow up and sometimes blow out the background versus foreground clarity.

Take care

This was my New Year's Eve 2009 party hat, and it's incredible that this hat survived New Years as it was a wild night, but that's another story.   The image is aptly named 'Party Hat'.  This is my favorite image of everything I've shot w/the VPM.

This is the VPM w/the 286mm FL Positive Meniscus which is WAY SOFTER than either the 235mm or 400mm positive meniscii and it's positive dreamy wideopen, which means you either need to stop it down to get anything sharp, or resort to really subdued light at wideopen.   This shot is wideopen w/REALLY subdued light, and w/low levels.

In terms of Chromatic Aberration/color fringing, this lens is so soft that it makes shooting w/color pleasant/different(at least to me) and so even thought this type of lens isn't designed for color, I feel free to do it anyway.   Whether it works for you, you'll have to be the judge.   I haven't changed or tweaked the original color.

I included the end of my aluminum sheet at the back on purpose as an artistic choice......focusing choices were tough as I had both the top of the hat and the brim to consider.   You haven't lived until you've photographed a 'jet black' hat w/out flooding it w/light to get some kind of detail.   I had to put a 'dash' of illumination here, and a 'dash' there and build up the illumination 'bit by bit' to suggest the contours of the hat.

Framing was also tough because the had didn't know if it was coming or going. 

Take care

I'm sure y'all have seen this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=250409060115

Is it worth the "buy-it-now" price of $399+ ???

George...

This is the VPM, consisting of an Ilex #5 shutter in front of the lensboard, a LF Goerz Artar barrel, w/a glass adaptor that's screwed into the rear. 

The second image shows the 235mm meniscus lens element seated in its adaptor, which consists of a 'sandwich' of 2 62-67mm step up rings screwed onto either side of a 67mm male to male sleeve(sold as a 67mm macro reversing ring). 

Sitting on the adaptor is a second copy of 286mm meniscus lens element whose thickness is roughly about 75% of the thickness of the positive meniscus lens element that Jim Galli showed me from his Pinkham & Smith Semi-Achromatic Series 1.   The 235mm and 400mm positive meniscus lens elements were from another distributer and were quite thinner.   The common thread shared by all three of these lens elements is that they have a pronounced curve/bulge, as opposed to a common diopter which I purchased to experiment w/this system, which is 'flatter' and doesn't produce the look of the above mentioned glass.

The 235mm and 400mm produce roughly the same look as the Pinkhams/The Karl Struss lenses, but is a little sharper w/foreground focus.   The 286mm glass is way softer than the other 2 and not as crisp w/foreground focus, and needs to be stopped down to get any appreciable nuance, so I'll be doing further tests w/this glass.

Also uploaded are the images 'TwoFaced', and 'Snoot' which I think is representative of what this lens can do. 

I'm done w/anymore prototypes, the Variable Positive Meniscus is it for me, and I'm quitting while I'm ahead.  

This guy is all laughs.........and being made out of ceramic, he never moved so much as a millimeter once I got him into position.  

I think this shows the ability of this lens to capture nuance at almost wideopen.   The same proprosition applies for this lens as the Pinkham SA Ser. I in that depending on your lighting, you can incorporate flare or eliminate it.

I've read w/bemusement the thread on Bokeh on the LFF forum.   These lenses do what they do, and while I copied what these folks created over 100yrs ago, it's mindboggling they came up w/these very fomulas from scratch.

This image is titled 'CeramicSmile'

Take care