I removed the single glass Meniscus lens from a terminal VPK camera. Then, after removing all the lenses from a broken 135mm M42 mount lens, I fabricated a holder for the meniscus lens and mounted it on the helical focus system. The lens sits 50mm inside the lens housing, making for a very deep lens hood. The flare in the images is mainly from the lens itself, rather than from the Sun. This lens is from a camera manufactured sometime between 1915 and 1926 as the body had the autographic door. Using these dates, it is obviously uncoated, which just adds to the charm of the images.
I am able to focus down to about ten inches and to Infinity and beyond. No, I haven’t seen Buzz out there yet, but I will keep looking. 
This lens is known for its soft focus and generous flare. In addition, the bekoh is almost unmatched when shot wide open. The original lens assembly for the meniscus lens had a metal ‘choke’ mounted in front of the shutter and aperture blades to restrict the maximum opening to ~f11. I measured the focal length at ~65mm. Since I was interested in getting the best of the worst, I left out any aperture adjustment. I have seen a figure of f6.0 on the Internet for this lens mounted this way. I believe it is a stop or so wider.
Something to keep in mind is the original size image the VPK captured – a rather small 1 5/8 inch x 2 3/8 inches. The images shown here are very oversized in terms of resolution versus the designed capability of the lens and the quality of the film in use.
This is an approximate example of the original size image.
excellent images gregory! i think it will be a shame to shoot the lens with diaphragm stepped down.
Comment by piticu — May 9, 2009 @ 8:29 PM