[LargeFormat] Aero-ektar question

[largeformat@f32.net]

On 19-Oct-02 Joseph O'Neil wrote:
> Hi All;       
> I picked up one of those classic 178mm, F2.5 Aero-ektars, complete with red 
> fitler, in good shape.  No shutter, but Iris, and eveyrthign works 
> otherwise.  Serial number EM3025 -so that is 1943 if iam correct?

Yes, 1943.

>       Anyhow, i only shot B&W, and I have a spare lens board for my 4x5 
> mono-rail.  I am 99.9% certian this lens will cover 6x6, having read 
> serveral reports on the web of people using this lens for that format,  and 
> I am pretty sure about 4x5 as th elens itself says "5x5", but before I do 
> drill alensboard, does anyone know for sure?

5x5 indicates that the lens was designed to make 5x5 inch negatives.  I think it
was usually used with aerial roll film of nominal width 5 inches.

>       I did a search on  the net, found many references to this lens, but 
> nothing to state how much coverage it exactly had.
> 
>       Did read lots of neat stuff about "radioactive" glass, but those 
> radio-active lenses are supposed to have a brownish cast in teh read lens, 
> and settign thelens ona  light box, I see no cast.
  
Without a comparison, the brownish cast can be difficult to see if you don't
know what it looks like.   My web page on Aero-Ektars has some comments on
viewing the color cast:
http://home.earthlink.net/~michaelbriggs/aeroektar/aeroektar.html    Laying on
a light table like you did is a good approach.

> That, and my Civil 
> Defense geiger counter I obught off ebay (don't ask - impulse buy) fails to 
> show any readings, but then, that geiger counter was problaly made for when 
> they dropped big nukes, not small time radiaiton.  :)

The Civil Defense Geiger counters make rather coarse measurements -- the scales
should read "you will die in a few days", "few hours", "now" (a joke).  Also,
many of the old civil defense meters are no longer working.   Has your
Geiger counter ever shown the presence of radioactivity?    Every Aero-Ektar
that I have measured has been radioactive.

--Michael