Kalosat Soft Focus Lens Hanovia

**tonypa** · 28-Dec-2006, 11:12

I have 2 KALOSAT lenses made by Hanovia Lens Laboratories, Newark, NJ. Can anyone share some information about these lenses? ie. the Focal Length, etc. They are marked Series IIB ; and Series IA F-4.5. Thanks, Tony

**Ernest Purdum** · 28-Dec-2006, 13:03

What little I know comes from the Lens Collectors Vade Mecum which says that they are meniscus lenses made of fused silica. This material would reduce the chromatic aberration expected of simple meniscus lenses.

I thought that there was an earlier question on these lenses, but couldn't find it.

I found nothing about focal lengths, so I guess you'll just have to try them.

There is some more mention of fused silica lenses on a recent thread by Dr. Klaus Schmidt.

These are very obscure lenses, but maybe somebody knows more and will comment.

**Ernest Purdum** · 28-Dec-2006, 13:07

My apologies to Dr. Schmitt for mis-spelling his name. His thread is entitled "Quartx LF Lenses?".

**Jon Wilson** · 31-Dec-2006, 01:45

Per Jay Allen's Book on Soft Focus & Portrait Lens, he describes your barrel lens as "spectral diffusion lens." They were "constructed of a single element of quartz, transparent to all of the valuable light rays in spectrum, including ultra-violet." He describes the Series I lens as being f4.5 and the Series II lens being f6.3.