What kind of Gundlach?

[Denis O'Regan]

Hello All,

I'm new to this....

I have a Gundlach 8x10 with no other model name on it. (No plate below the lens area.)

The information on the lens is "Gundlach Manufacturing Corp. Fairport KY 8x10 Turner-Reich Anast F: 7.0 SER II 207946"

Does the fact that there's no model name, mean that it's early?

Can anyone suggest a circa and value?

I also have three of the "film frames" (excuse my ignorance of proper terminology)

THNX,
Denis

[Ernest Purdum]

The Turner-Reich was an elaborate convertible lens consisting of five pieces of glass all cemented together in each cell. "Convertible" means that you can screw out the front cell and use the rear one by itself. This then provides a much longer focal length, but is also much slower. Your shutter or barrel probably has more than one set of aperture markings because of this. If there are three, this means that instead of the rear cell, you could take the front cell off and put it on the rear giving still a third focal length, longer still.



The major weakness of the T-R was separation, which shows up as a kind of grainy ring around the edge of the glass.



It is early. For value, go to e|Bay and search completed items for Turner-Reich.

[Tracy Storer]

Hey there,
Gundlachs most popular camera model was probably the KORONA. As far as lenses go, the Turner Reich was among their best, although QC was difficult because of centration issues with five elements in each cell. Gundlach was one of the old Rochester firms that are very confusing to follow, as the founders sold, then started new companies...etc.
Turner Reichs can be pretty decent though. As far as the camera goes, if it's light tight....go for it.
If you really want to learn large format, peruse this site (there is a section for beginners questions) and crack a couple books, I certainly prefer them to the web for serious learning. Steve Simmons and Jim Stone both have authored excellent books on LF photography, buy one of them.
Tracy

[David G. Gagnon]

Hi Denis.

Perhaps this link can help you identify the camera.


http://www.fiberq.com/cam/gund.htm

Enjoy!

DG

[Mark Sawyer]

Actually, I've been watching for a Turner-Reich on ebay for a while now (and used to have one), so I can give a fair guess on their nature and value. You're looking at $100 to 200, depending on condition (quite a few have the serious cement separation problems Ernest mentioned around the edges) and the shutter it's in. Most people seem to like a Compound shutter or a non-original newer shutter, though I prefer the old Betax #4. There are lots and lots of them out there; it's common to have several up on ebay at once. But the there's always some idiot who thinks that since Weston had one, they must have magic properties and are worth a fortune...

As a user, it's an uncoated lens which can work pretty well in the 12" format (if you get a good one; as Tracy said, there were wide variations in quality), but the 19" and 25" conversions were so-so at best, good only for contact printing. The value comes from having three focal lengths in one lens (great for back-packing) and the fact that Weston had one, though folklore has it that his main reason for owning it was that it was cheap, and he never really liked it that much...

A good enough lens to learn on, maybe stick with, and it has a well-known spot in history. Have fun with it!

[Mike Phifer]

Here is some History on the lens: It was patented in 1895 (U.S. Pat. 539,370) by H.H. Turner and J.C. Reich who were Officers in the Gundlach Optical Company in Rochester NY. Kingslake says that it was undoubtly designed by Ernst Gundlach who was born 1834. He emigrated to the United States in 1872. He was later hired by Bausch and Lomb in 1876 to help start their microscope factory. He left Bausch & Lomb in 1878 to start his own company, then later started the Gundlach Optical Company in 1884.