wda Posted November 2, 2018 Share #21 Posted November 2, 2018 Advertisement (gone after registration) 2 hours ago, Tony Cole said: Can anyone viewing this thread let me know anything about a Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm f2.5 lens I've just found among a deceased relative's belongings. The important thing about this weighty object is that it has a mount which fits Leica LTM - I've just attached my Leica II to it!.. However, it has no obvious helicoid focussing unit, though the lens itself itself is in really good condition. What might it have been used for, I wonder?................someone help me out ,please. Tony, I think this lens was used for aerial photography at altitudes where focusing was set to infinity by design. Hence no helicoid thread. When sold off surplus to requirements, enthusiasts used them in home made cameras, or adapted them to work with technical cameras via adapters. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted November 2, 2018 Posted November 2, 2018 Hi wda, Take a look here RAF Photo Reconnaissance. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
willeica Posted November 2, 2018 Share #22 Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, Tony Cole said: Can anyone viewing this thread let me know anything about a Kodak Aero Ektar 178mm f2.5 lens I've just found among a deceased relative's belongings. The important thing about this weighty object is that it has a mount which fits Leica LTM - I've just attached my Leica II to it!.. However, it has no obvious helicoid focussing unit, though the lens itself itself is in really good condition. What might it have been used for, I wonder?................someone help me out ,please. Good to see you on here, Tony. Aero Ektar lenses are sometimes used with Speed Graphics https://lommen9.home.xs4all.nl/aero/ and bellows focussing. For aerial reconnaissance the lens would have been set at infinity. The RAF used the Reid I with LTM mount ( I have one) in the 1950s and 60s, but its main use was as a cathode ray camera, presumably to take images from radar screens. I somehow doubt that Aero Ektars were used for this even with a bellows. The mount on my Reid I looks like it got a fair bit of hard use, though. I would love to hear from anyone who has more information about this. William Edited November 2, 2018 by willeica Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted November 2, 2018 Share #23 Posted November 2, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, gyoung said: There were quite a lot of Aero Ektars around in the 1960s when I first got into photography, usually mounted on 5x4 cameras. Indeed, and they were dirt cheap then! My best came from a complete aerial camera still in the original, untouched military packaging - $125, and the seller probably made $100. I kept only the motor, lens and fiducial glass pressure plate. Edited November 2, 2018 by pico Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-ambivalent Posted November 3, 2018 Share #24 Posted November 3, 2018 I'll get in on memory lane to say I recall as a young boy in my small town library seeing adds in Sky&Telescope magazine selling 12" f/2.5 Aero Ektars for use in user-built wide field sky cameras with 4x5 cut film. How I lusted for one of those, not knowing how poor we might have actually been, it was quite attainable. The military's expertise in Waste provides such wonderful pickings for some. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Albertson Posted November 5, 2018 Share #25 Posted November 5, 2018 The Canberra still flies. NASA fly a couple of them for high-altitude sampling, one of them brought back from the dead after 40+ years in the Davis-Monthan boneyard. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.