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Thread: History of (photographic) lenses?

  1. #1
    Claudio Santambrogio
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    History of (photographic) lenses?

    Hi,

    I have been trying to get an overview on the history of (photographic) lenses - evolution of designs, chronology, revolutionary discoveries… in short, I am trying to learn something about history of lens design. There seem to be a few resources both on the 'net and in the libraries - but before I start wasting time on reading through all of them… would anybody be able to reccomend where to start? Or where which ones are particularly worth reading?

    I *think* I am particularly interested in the early history of the photographic lens, and in large format… Or maybe that's just because I love "quaint" and antique stuff…

    Thanks in advance!

  2. #2
    Resident Heretic Bruce Watson's Avatar
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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    THE book, is Kingslake's A History of the Photographic Lens. That's probably all you need. Kingslake is a legend in lens design and for many years ran the operation at Kodak that made lenses.

    Bruce Watson

  3. #3

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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    As mentioned by Bruce Kingslake's book is a "must". All other important books about history of lenses Kingslake has noted in the references of his book.

  4. #4
    Mark Sawyer's Avatar
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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    I have Kingslake's "A History of the Photographic Lens" and "Lenses in Photography", and would recommend both. But if you're interested in pictorial lenses, Kingslake gives very little information on them, perhaps a page (if that) in either book.

    For soft focus lenses, Dr. Russ Young's excellent dissertation can be found here:

    https://research-repository.st-andre...ndle/10023/505

    But of course, whether you're using sharp modern optics or vintage soft lenses, what you learn from books won't be in the same ballpark with what you learn from making photographs...
    "I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."

  5. #5

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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    I would suggest that you look for a copy of, "Photography/ Its Principles and Practice" by C.B. Neblette (550 pages). I have the second edition, printed in 1930, and it would be my choice as a modern day text for teaching non-digital large format photography.The chapters on photographic optics and the photographic objective are excellent.

    Much of what I know about the photographic process was garnered from reading C.B. Neblette. I believe he did a later book devoted to lenses, although I have not seen it.

  6. #6

    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    here is a preview of Kingslake book....It is one of the better ones for a general overview

    http://books.google.com/books?id=OJr...e+lens#PPP7,M1

    Dan

    Antique & Classic Camera Blog
    www.antiquecameras.net/blog.html

  7. #7

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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    If you have a library subscription to IOP journals, this article is worth a read:

    http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/0959-5309/47/3/314

    I*m not sure it's worth the single article price though...

  8. #8

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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    Arthur Cox' book Photographic Optics

    A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum, available on CD from the individual who posts here as CCHarrison. Incoherent in places, incomplete, inconsistent, sometimes incorrect, often infuriating, but invaluable. There's nothing like it for help in deciding which lenses to buy or not to buy.

    Kingslake's History is a bit idiosyncratic, slights Kingslakes' contemporaries (perhaps he didn't get on with his classmates?), and says little about most post-WWII developments. We all revere Kingslake for the good work he did as a department head at EKCo but I think there are better sources.

    About revolutionary discoveries. There haven't been many.

  9. #9

    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    The Lens Vade Mecum is available for instant download here:

    http://www.antiquecameras.net/lensvademecum.html

    The VM is more of an encyclopedia of lenses than a history of lenses, per se. But as Mr. Fromm stated - it is a must have and covers lenses from Petzvals to the 2002 voigtlander/Cosina lenses...

    Dan

    Antique & Classic Camera Blog
    www.antiquecameras.net/blog.html

  10. #10

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    Re: History of (photographic) lenses?

    I can recommend both Kingslake and Neblette. Both are long out of print so you best bet might be ABE books.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

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