I just picked up another old Speed Graphic ( love these old beasties )and this one came with a spare lens that I have not seen before. It is a Wollensak 3.5" f12.5 EXWA. Now I realise that this is one slow lens, but I am guessing that EXWA stands for EXtreme Wide Angle. Does anyone know the image circle on this lens? I am wondering if it might cover 5x7 as well as 4x5.

Thanks, -harry

-- Harry Pluta (hspluta@msn.com), March 09, 2001

Answers

I think you are referring to the Series II Velostigmats. Actually, I think the full open aperture on these is larger i.e., they open to about f/8 or wider for focussing but the aperture scale is marked from f/12.5, which probably means you need to stop down at least that much when taking the picture. I'm almost positive there is no way these would cover 5x7, unless you focussed fairly close. Cheers, DJ.

-- N Dhananjay (ndhanu@umich.edu), March 09, 2001.

Harry, the 1965 B+J catalog lists that Wollensak lens as "to cover 3 1/4x4 1/4". For 5x7 it was the 4 1/2 inch Wollensak.

-- Chauncey Walden (CLWalden@worldnet.att.net), March 10, 2001.