COOKE SERIES XVa TRIPLE CONVERTIBLE LENS
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
Cooke Optics delivered the first Cooke XVa Triple Convertible in May, 2004.
This page shows some photographs of and with the Cooke XVa lens to show its image qualitites. A contrasty setup, looking into the light, was chosen to show the lens sharpness and flare control. The background and foreground shows the quality of the out of focus area. The camera was pointed down, the back brought to vertical, then the lens was shifted and tilted down.
This image below is made with the Cooke XVa exposed at full aperture, ƒ/6.8, showing the "bokeh" which is smooth in front and behind the plane of focus.
This is the same image exposed at f/22, showing greater depth of field and good "bokeh".
Here is a detail taken from the negative exposed at ƒ/6.8 showing the sharpness of the lens at full aperture. It is much sharper than a Golden Dagor at full aperture.
This display of lenses shows the new Cooke XVa in front, with some ancestors: golden Dagor, Plasmat, Cooke triplet, Wollensak Ser 1a and Protar. The real ancestor is the original Cooke Series XV, Ansel Adam's favorite. He would have been happy to use the much improved new XVa with its improved design and coatings.
