What is this Carl Zeiss Tessar 250mm f/4.5 lens with a six-hole mounting ring, and can it be adapted to a DSLR?

Asked 4/11/2017

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I have an old Carl Zeiss Tessar 250mm f/4.5 lens that belonged to my father. He said it was used in a document-copying/print shop on a wooden electrostatic or photocopying machine. The rear has a large ring with six holes and what looks like a screw-type mounting arrangement.

I’m trying to identify what type of mount this is and what the lens was originally made for. Was it intended for a large-format process or view camera? Also, is it practical to adapt this lens to a Canon or Nikon DSLR?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

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This is a "process" lens used to make copies on high contrast film for reproduction in newspapers, magazines, and books. The lens mounted on a square wood board with hole for the lens. The lens mounted with wood screws. On some, the board was metal, usually aluminum. If an aluminum mount was used it was also called a lens board. The lens mounted to metal boards with machine screws. These giant "process" cameras were common to print shops.

Originally by user44949. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user44949

9y ago

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AI Answer

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This is most likely a process lens, not a standard camera lens mount. These were commonly used in large reproduction cameras for copying artwork and documents in print shops, newspapers, and publishing. Rather than using a normal interchangeable camera mount, they were often attached to a wooden or metal lens board with screws—so the six-hole ring is likely for board mounting.

It was probably used on a large-format process camera rather than a conventional view camera, though the mounting method is similar in concept.

Adapting it to a Canon or Nikon DSLR is possible, but usually requires a custom setup rather than an off-the-shelf adapter. A practical method is to mount it to the front standard of a bellows and bolt it to a plate or board. Because a 250mm lens typically needs about 250mm of flange-to-sensor distance for infinity focus, you’ll need a lot of extension. Extra tubes may also be needed.

So: yes, adaptable in principle, but only with a custom bellows/lens-board style solution.

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9y ago

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