Plasticca lens configuration

There has been a discussion on the Large Format Photography Forum recently about an exotic lens known as the Oscar Zverzina "Plasticca" lens. This has a meniscus lens element in front and a yellow filter element at the rear (mine has faded to nearly clear with age), and a fixed very open aperture. Some users have speculated that reversing these elements, placing the meniscus at the rear, would make the lens softer throughout the image.

I have an Oscar Zverzina "Plasticca" "Kunst objektiv" (Art lens), 210mm, which I haven't used much because it seems too sharp in the center for my purposes.

So, I tried an experiment, reversing the position of the meniscus. These images are the center 24x36mm of the image:

Oscar Zverzina "Plasticca", normal element position

Oscar Zverzina "Plasticca", elements reversed in barrel

Test Rig

I'll certainly use mine in the reversed position. Nice diffusion...

So what is "A New Pictorialism"? ...Part 1...

My interest in the period of photography known as Pictorialism began when I found a copy of the Taschen edition of Camera Work / The Complete Photographs 1903-1917 in a local bookstore. The question of why some of these photographs resonated so strongly with me became a quest for understanding of the styles and the context of photography at the beginning of the twentieth century. That in turn led me to study the birth and development of photography in its entirety.

My background as a musician and composer (in my youth) had given me some understanding of the development of styles within the context of prevailing social and economic forces.  Further, my background as a technologist has sensitized me to the dynamic relationship between a developing technology and its use by artists. My childhood love and familiarity with the Monet collection at the Art Institute of Chicago set a resonance with qualities I found in the work of the Pictorialists, particularly the work of Stieglitz, Steichen, Kasebier, Clarence White and Fredrick Evans, all of whom were exhibited as part of Steiglitz' Photo Secession.

So, in a series of occasional posts, I will try to articulate those aspects of Pictorialism that I am trying to use in my own work, as well as to mention those things that  do not transfer to A New Pictorialism. On the way, we'll look at some examples, both old and new.

Stay tuned!

Morning 1908
Clarence H. White
Camera Work 23

Darlot Pillbox Meniscus lens

Darlot Pill Box Meniscus lens, circa 1860-1880, about 180mm

A. Darlot was a French optical company, founded in the 1850s as Jamin-Darlot in Paris. In 1860 it became Darlot. It made camera lenses, marked "Darlot, Opticien" or "Darlot Paris" and the initials "AD" of A. Darlot, the letters crossed as logo.  B.F. & Co. refers to Benjamin French & Company, who were the sole U.S. Importers of Darlot lenses for many years.

This lens is a Pill Box simple meniscus landscape lens, which Darlot manufactured from about 1860 to about 1880. This lens is probably from the latter production.

The Pill Box design uses diaphram washers held in by a retaining mechanism, allowing the user to change washers to stop the lens down. Invariably, only the installed washer has survived. However, pictorial usage of such lenses dictated that the entire end cap be removed, so that the spherical distortion could be appreciated for its diffusion effects. My copy of this lens has one washer stop, which gives me the following apertures (roughly estimated):

• With the end cap removed: f/5
• End cap on, no washer: f/11
• Washer installed: f/20

Here are some example images:

Washer installed-fully stopped down

Retaining cap removed- wide open

wide open

wide open

six image stitched- wide open lens- CameraFusion back

in color

I also have the Darlot-manufactured Puligny Adjustable Landscape lens featured in another post, as well as a Darlot No 2 Hemispherique Rapide lens and a Darlot wide-angle landscape lens. The latter two are entirely too sharp for my tastes.