Cooke Series XVa Triple Convertible lens for 8x10 large format from Clive Russ

COOKE SERIES XVa TRIPLE CONVERTIBLE LENS

As you may recall, I purchased one of these lenses from you earlier in the year. The weather has finally started improving here and I've managed to get out and use the lens. I have to say that I am very pleased with it so far. I am also very glad that I bought the additional element caps provided by S.K.Grimes as they are proving to be very handy in the field. I am especially impressed with the performance of the lens wide open. It is exceptionally bright and sharp at the widest apertures. When I did some close-up indoor work over the winter, I noticed a focus shift when I stopped down while photographing some plants. I was unable to reproduce this outdoors focusing on objects further away from the camera. Also, I am very please at the sharpness of the single-cells, branches, grass, rock texture were very sharp in all 3 focal lengths.

Thank you again for helping me to acquire one. I have left positive comments about it on APUG.ORG and I'm sure many have read about it.

Mike

WE HAVE A WINNER!

"This lens (# 045) is beautifully sharp, wide open, as noted in your own tests and Gordon Hutching's article in View Camera Magazine. All focal lengths show an equal degree of sharpness. I am well pleased and the superb optical performance and the machining is well worth the seven month wait."

Ray

April 2005

"Clive - the beautiful lens !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is here...!

THANK YOU, Carl"

"....I saw wonderful performance. If the lens proves to be this good, I may sell off most of my 8x10 lenses as there will be no need for them as far as being daily users.

Thank you again for your assistance in getting this lens for me."

Mike

TO PURCHASE CLICK HERE

Here is a sneak preview of the new Cooke Series XV convertible lens. It is estimated that they could be shipped in June, with a review in View Camera Magazine by Gordon Hutchings to be published in the July/August issue. I will be able to use a lens before that and will post some images on this site as soon as I can. The price will be about $2250, with a little more for a No3 shutter from my neigbor, S.K. Grimes, if you need one. With the fluctuations in the currency this price may change by then. Keep your powder dry. You can get two additional focal lengths by buying two lenses and combining the elements to take advantage of using two 19" or two 25 1/2" elements, making a symmetrical lens!

The Eagle has landed, and it looks fantastic, beautifully made. It has a similar look to the PS945, with coatings that make the glass look almost invisible, but when you can see it, it is small without any dangerous scary protruding surfaces. It is like an Artar, and small enough to use on a Graflex 4x5 as a long lens. More to follow, and photos of the lens and with the lens as soon as I can get it done.

The new Cooke XVa in front, with some ancestors, golden Dagors, Plasmats, Cooke triplets.......and missing is the original Cooke XV, Ansel Adam's favorite, Wollensak Ser 1a and Protars. In looking at the image from the new Cooke XVa, it seems like some of these older lenses are now not as useful because the modern coatings and great image of the new lens make it a better lens. The new Cooke XVa image is fantastic on the ground glass screen, and sharp at full aperture. The coatings are so good that the glass is almost not visible unless there is a large flat white surface placed to show the reflection. The image is contrasty, sharp and the "bokeh" is as smooth as the PS945. This is a perfect companion lens to the PS945. The XVa is different from the PS945 in that it is sharp at full aperture, and the full aperture image is really nice. I will be using my Cooke XVa as a long lens on a Graflex 4x5 and 5x7, using it mostly at full aperture, and also on the 8x10 camera where the primary 12 1/4" (311 mm ) focal length covers easily making a beautiful image, and the 19" (476 mm ) f/11 and 25 1/4" (646 mm) f/16 make the perfect long lens complement to the normal focal length. This means a very small package for a three focal length lens for an 8x10 camera. Ansel would not have to close this one down to f/64 to make magic. The only reason to close the aperture down is for the depth of field.

The small size of the glass makes this lens less vulnerable to damage, and of course very convenient for field use. Filter sizes are modern and easily available. Back is 62 mm, blank for single element lens is 62 mm, and front is 77 mm.

I have made some exposures on 8x10 film, shooting directly into the light, with a long exposure range. These will be developed in pyro to hold the long range.

Here the setup is chosen to show sharpness and light control. The exposure range is very long, and the background will show the quality of the out of focus area, and also be a test of the coatings. The camera is pointed down, the back brought to vertical, and the lens is shifted down to show the coverage.

Thanks to Adam Dau of S.K. Grimes for mounting the lens immediately, and for making another board to mount the lens to a Graflex.

This is an image from the Cooke XVa exposed at full aperture. Notice that there is out of focus image in front of and behind the plane of focus. Notice also the exquisite handling of the light in the window. The range of this light is many stops, like about ten and not easy for any lens to handle well. The graininess of the image here is from the small file of the digital image, made small so it does not take too long to load up. The original negative is creamy smooth as would be expected.

Here is the same image exposed at f/22, showing greater depth of field, and still the smooth transition as it goes out of focus.

This is a detail taken from the negative exposed at f/6.8 showing the sharpness of the lens even at full aperture. A Golden Dagor does not project that sharpness at full aperture.

This is, for me, a very pleasing result and that means I will be paying up myself to own this lens. If you would like one too, please contact me to put your order in. The lenses will be supplied slowly because they are hand assembled, so first orders in will be the first filled.