Building new UV setup; request for comments

[nfoto]

Should be possible to purchase precision-made pinholes and zone plates online. Did that years ago when I used pinholes with large-format film.

 

See www.pinholeresource.com for more details. They used to sell a very nice book on pinhole photography as well.

 

However, by definition, with pinholes you trade an "infinite" depth of field with sharpness. Thus, in pinhole photography, nothing is sharp meaning really sharp, it's only degrees of unsharpness. That is why working with large formats made an illusion of sharpness easier to attain.

 

For shorter wavelengths, the illusion of sharpness increases so deep UV will be less unsharp. But still not *sharp*.

[Andrea B.]

Bjørn, do you have a UV pinhole to show as an example?

[Andy Perrin]

I have done pinholes in ordinary light, with film, a long time ago now — I built one as a kid and developed my own film and so on. It was fun.

 

I was most curious about zone plates, actually, because I haven't tried them yet.

[Andrea B.]

Enrico, thank you for the reference to the Zeiss Luminar 63/4.5. That's nice to know. I've added it to the list for placing into the Lens Sticky.

[lost cat]

Enrico, thank you for the reference to the Zeiss Luminar 63/4.5. That's nice to know. I've added it to the list for placing into the Lens Sticky.

 

I'm curious, how many lenses are on that list so far?

[Andrea B.]

Can't say as I've ever counted them ! :D

[Andy Perrin]

All right, I am now the proud owner of a Novoflex [Noflexar]. Thanks to all who contributed. This discussion has been educational. I do suspect I could have saved money by going the helicoid route, but this lens seems very well suited to my projected needs.

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Edit for additional precision.

[Andrea B.]

Andy, we all wish you well with the Noflexar and will enjoy seeing your first posts with your new UV set-up.

 

BTW, this little hobby of ours is appealing and so you might eventually find yourself the owner of more than one UV-capable lens.

[Andy Perrin]

*sad wave to disposable income as it flies into the distance*

[lost cat]

Andy, we all wish you well with the Noflexar and will enjoy seeing your first posts with your new UV set-up.

 

BTW, this little hobby of ours is appealing and so you might eventually find yourself the owner of more than one UV-capable lens.

 

 

Yep.

[nfoto]

To be nitpicking Andy: you own a Noflexar lens made by the German company Novoflex.

[Andy Perrin]

Yes, this is clear to me, but I'll try to be more precise next time.

[Andrea B.]

I wonder if Novoflex makes anything similar these days? I haven't looked at their website for ages.

[JCDowdy]

They made bellows lenses in several focal lengths about the same or earlier vintage. I have tried a 105mm and 135mm which seem to have a lot of color fringing in UV. I have not tired a 60mm and there are several versions of it.

[Andy Perrin]

I think I saw the 105mm here? Can color fringing be taken care of with shooting at higher F-number? (Yes, that is a newbie question.)

[JCDowdy]

I am not recommending either lens but yes that is the 105mm model. That one looks rather nasty and costs more than 2x what I paid.

 

I was mostly just interested to know if anyone had ever tried one of the 60mm versions.

[Andy Perrin]

That one looks rather nasty and costs more than 2x what I paid.

Yes, that seems to be today's theme.

[JCDowdy]

Yes, after being disappointed with the 105 & 135 I was reluctant to try a 60mm and undecided as to which one.

If I were to try one it would likely be an older Staeble Novoflex like this one. The widely regarded 35/3.5 is supposed to be a Staeble or so I have read.

[nfoto]

John, I have several of these 60/4.5 up for sale ... Did a little lens cleaning and found various superfluous lenses.

 

PM me if interested.

[Andy Perrin]

Playing with a Steinheil Munchen EDIXA-Auto-Cassaron 2.8/50mm, which I plan to return. But I had a question. What does this switch on the side do?

[colinbm]

Manual to Automatic aperture.

[OlDoinyo]

The lever may be to enable/disable the pin-actuated diaphragm (a common feature of older SLR lenses when lenses were all-mechanical and there were no onboard motors.)

[Andy Perrin]

Thanks, OlDoinyo.

Colinbm, it can't be Manual to Automatic. This lens is purely mechanical.

[Andrea B.]

Well what does the lens do when you move the switch?

 

Why are you returning the lens?

[Andy Perrin]

The switch does nothing at all (that I can detect!) when I move the switch. Very mysterious. Although I like OlDoinyo's suggestion that it might be part of a pin-actuated diaphragm, because if the other part of the mechanism on the camera side is missing here, that would explain why it doesn't do anything.

 

I'm returning it mainly because I don't need it, and I have a finite amount of money. This is one I picked out before joining the forum and deciding on the Novoflex Noflexar.