Water Mill on dry plate

I like this. Has a nostalgic in days gone by feel which is only a little defeated by the half hidden sign advertising the shop.
 
More i see examples of the photo's Kodak f 7.7 Ekta lens produces the more you realise what a great lens it is.
 
It's a brilliant lens - I have one on my Kodak Specialist most of the time. My only annoyance is that I haven't got flash sync on the Kodak Supermatic shutter its in.
 
I have a Kodak 203mm Ektar. When I tested it against my f5.6 210mm Schneider Apo Symmar, I found the sharpness to be equal.
However, the superb quality of this photograph isn't mainly down to the lens. It is down to the photographer. Kevin Allan should be getting the credit, not his lens.
 
Alan Clark said:
I have a Kodak 203mm Ektar. When I tested it against my f5.6 210mm Schneider Apo Symmar, I found the sharpness to be equal.
However, the superb quality of this photograph isn't mainly down to the lens. It is down to the photographer. Kevin Allan should be getting the credit, not his lens.
Click to expand...
Absolutely, the composition is on point and it's an altogether great image ... which would have been great with any lens or a pinhole.

A point to make here though is that the 203 Ektar can often be had for peanuts: my own copy was thrown in with my Kodak Specialist, a pile film holders and a Dallmeyer wide angle ... all in a carry case for just over £100. You regularly see them for not a lot of money on eBay, and for folks trying to start out in large format with good glass for not much money they are a super buy.
 
I thought the 203mm Ektar was great; marginally less contrasty than modern glass but still very sharp. However, I found the lack of proper filter threads a bit of a pain in the backside as far as integrating it into the rest of my kit (using Lee system filters for instance). Satisfactory push-on adapters aren't easy to find for these, so I ended up selling my lens as it wasn't getting used.
 
I solved the filter problem for my 203mm Ektar by using 49mm thread filters. I removed the glass from an unwanted UV filter, then glued the holder to the inside face of the lens board that the 203mm Ektar is attached to, i.e. around the rim of the hole in the board. A yellow, or orange filter, or whatever, can then be screwed to the filter holder when needed. The filter is now at the back of the lens (and not the front) but still works.
 
I have at least 3 203mm Ektar lenses, the coatings were improved. My oldest is in a Kodak Epsilon shutter and came with my Specialist 2 along with the Dallmeyer Wide Angle. I have a pair of later UK cells, I do have spare 0# shutters I could fit them in one, it's way better coated compared to the first.

My best 203mm Ektar is an Eastman Kodak one in a Graphic Synchro Compur 1# shutter, which has a preview lever. This is a very late version even better coating. The beauty of these lenses is they are small and light, and excellent at from Infinity through to 1:1, so ideal for macro work.

Ian
 
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