The Wisner Classic Lens Collection
I have long both used and promoted these older style lenses for the fine art photographer who must often pack and carry his equipment far, high and wide. Usually smaller and lighter than modern lenses, they also often represent (unless very, very rare) a less expensive alternative, as well. This is a new section designed to help the photographer understand what the lens is, what it can do and how it can be used. Most lenses are accompanied with short profile and often a little history.
email your technical questions to sales@wisner.com
407mm Zeiss Protar f:9, Series III in original Compound shutter $1800. This one is very rare, indeed. It is the only one I have ever seen. Covers over 90 degrees, . Ideal as the normal lens for 11x14, or long lens for 8x10. Glass in good condition, general appearance good.
317mm Zeiss Bausch&Lomb Series III Protar f:9 in Illex. $995. Like the lens above, also rare. Intended for 8x10, this is a wide covering lens (over 90 degrees), allowing large movements.
Protar set, B&L 280mm, 350mm, 400mm. Four cells, focal lengths from 175mm to 400mm. $800 A convertible set suitable for 4x5 or 5x7. Bausch and Lomb licensed version of the Zeiss convertible VII Protar, as above. Remounted in Illex. sold
165mm Goerz Golden Wide Angle Dagor, f:8, mint, coated in Compur. $1295 This is one of several lenses (along with the Cooke wide angle, the little Protars and the Wollensak wide angle lenses) that I have been recommending for years as the most practical for 8x10 backpackers. I personally use the Zeiss issue of this lens, the f:9 Zeiss Dagor 150mm. If you are not sure what they can do, have a look at some of my own images in the my portfolio. You can get there from the gallery button on the home page.
19" Red Dot Artar, mint, Wisner remounted in Illex, coated $1,100 This lens is the favorite among many, many large format photograhers for use as a long landscape or portrait lens. Nevermind that they were originally designed for copy work, even Goerz themselves realized the great practical advantage of using these lenses as taking lenses or in the field, and began supplying them in shutters.
390mm f:12.5 B&L Protar, Series IV, in #3 Illex. $1200 Rare, long, wide covering lens, compact and light weight. Perfect for large field cameras such as 8x10, 11x14, 12x20, the lens covers over 90 degrees but is only the size of an eight inch Dagor. This lens is a special lens which was redesigned by B&L after the Zeiss patents ran out and they were free to intruce thier own design. The basic lens form is the same as the the early Ziess Protars, but in this lens the astigmatism and spherical aberration has been beautifully corrected. This is a very sharp lens. Sold
14cm Zeiss Protar V f:18 in original barrel, waterhouse stop disk $400 . This has long been one of my favorite lenses for 8x10. Many of my portfolio images have been taken with one of these lenses. I do not like to mount these in shutters, but rather, use the original barrel and a lens cap. You get the most coverage this way, and they are tiny to carry, weighing only a few onces. sold
12" Dagor in Illex f:6.8, fair condition cosmetically, glass very good, $450 This has been a standard lens for over 100 years for large format photographers. This lens covers nearly 90 degrees, will cover 8x10 with ease (even 8x20) and is often used as a portrait lens on 4x5. Fully cemented design, known for good contrast and very sharp at f:16 and smaller. This design is so efficient that it was re-manufactured as recently as the 1980s by Schneider USA as the 355mm Golden Dagor, f:8. sold