Vintage 4X5 Lens Experiments

Before Christmas I picked up a 117mm Kodak lens off an old 2A (or similar) folding camera. It covers (with little extra room) a 4X5 negative. Here are my first test images.



Here was my first test shot. The lens is a bit lower contrast than I'm used to, but the sharpness is simply staggering considering the lens is about 100 years old. That's a bi difference in lens design philosophy from back in the day versus today. Older lenses increased sharpness by increasing lens lines per millimeter resolution. So, if I remember correctly, the sharpest lens ever made is around 175 lines per millimeter (by comparison, the Pentax FA Limited 31mm and 77mm are around 165 lines and Canon L zoom lenses are around 120 lines) at the sharpest point in the sharpest aperture. However, older lenses appear softer because they lack contrast and acutance when compared to modern lenses. So modern lens design focuses a lot on greater contrast (which manifests as acutance in images) and create images which appear sharper.


Here's a shot with some lanes movement. The lens goes from sharp to buttery nothing pretty fast. But it's got potential, I think.


For comparison, the same shot (different orientation) but with my Caltar lens.