One day I saw an old beaten up Leitz medium format projector on sale on ebay. On closer look, I see that it has a Dimaron 150mm f2.8 lens on it. I contacted the seller about buying the lens on its own and to my surprise, they agreed and all for $25USD! The lens came and considered how beaten up the original projector was, the lens was in pristine condition. It even came with the original cap!
Using just a simple cardboard gift box that i saw lying around, I cut up a small square. I put the lens on the paper, drew a circle and cut a small hole that will fit the lens. Then I mounted it on my Speed Graphic and see how it looked in the focusing screen.
Somehow, there was no light leak and the lens is able to fit 4×5 without vignetting! I didn’t try tilt shift but I doubt it can cover that. I was really happy that it can even cover 4×5, consider it was from a medium format projector.
I quickly setup a scene to test the lens with FP3000b. Here is the first shot.
Amazing sharpness, solid contrast and dreamy bokeh.
I was blown away with this lens, even though this is only a piece of glass and doesn’t have an aperture. I am basically stuck with f2.8. For individual portrait, I think it’s perfect, but for group shots, I don’t think this will be too functional. Nevertheless, I am super happy with the result and it’s only $25USD! What a lucky find!
