Offbeat, strange, and mystery lenses

**Arne Croell** · 23-Jan-2010, 13:48

The two recent threads on the "Semmar" and the fake/nonfake "Krishna-Symmar" got me thinking: What other strange and offbeat lenses have you seen, owned or heard of? I don't mean just rare, some of those might be relatively well known like, say, Nicola Perscheid lenses. More the ones that initially draw a blank and a question mark when you see them.

Let me start with a pair from my "collection" that I bought off of the German ebay a few years ago, shown below. The Japanese maker is actually well known and still around, but not with regard to any large format lenses: Tamron!

The two "Color-Tamron" f/6.8 lenses in 150mm and 180mm focal lengths, convertible to 260 and 315mm, are apparently Dagor clones (or a reverse Dagor, hard to distinguish from reflections). Designwise, Tamron took a page from the Voigtländer Apo-Lanthar playbook for the front cell mounts, but they were honest enough to just use red and blue stripes thus correctly indicating an achromat. They came with nice felt-lined anodized aluminum push-on back caps and turned and anodized aluminum screw-in front caps with a distinctive design of the Tamron name. Quite a quality appearance. According to the company web site, the Tamron name was registered in 1959. The script style evokes the 60's or early 70's so thats probably when they were made. However, a search on this site or elsewhere either draws a blank or thousands of pages on Tamron 35mm or digital lenses. No relation of Tamron to LF mentioned on their company web site. And so on...

So any mystery lenses you encountered? Or more information on the Tamrons?

**Dan Fromm** · 23-Jan-2010, 14:20

Arne, I have two little mystery lenses, both German.

75/2.8 Anastigmat, with no maker’s name or serial number. Engraved “Anastigmat 1:2,8 / 75 Germany.” In M39x1, stops to f/32. A complete mystery. Sold on eBay as an enlarging lens, which seems unlikely. Unexpected lens design, essentially a Tessar but with three singlets in front of the diaphragm. Seems much like the Vade Mecum’s lens diagrams Sc 004, described in text as a 50/2.8 Schneider S-Xenar; Sc 047 and Ste 023, neither described in text. Vignettes on 2x3 at 40 feet.

180/6.8 Fotokopist Spezial Reproduktions Optik, stops to f/45. Uncoated. Slightly asymmetrical 4/4 double Gauss. Threaded M39x0.75. Found at a camera show. There was a Fotokopist GmbH in Berlin in 1941, also one in Frankfurt am Main in 1940 Fotokopist seems to be a job description as well as the name of a firm. When I tried it out, it shot poorly at distance (flare, mainly).

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Dan

Sorry, I can't help you on the Tamrons, they are complete surprises.

**Arne Croell** · 23-Jan-2010, 14:34

Great, that kind of stuff was what I had in mind. I could find a bit of information(thanks, Mr. Thiele) on the "Fotokopist GmbH" (GmbH is equivalent to LLC) which, you are right, used their process as a name. They were located in Berlin, that is correct, and the trademark name was registered twice, in 1928 and 1954. The product was, obviously, copying machines, but of what kind I don't know.

**Steven Tribe** · 23-Jan-2010, 14:44

It is a mystery to me that Koristka, a professional lens maker and succesful agency for Zeiss, could produce a series of soft "struss" type meniscus lens with the names, small ars, medium ars and large ars. Doomed to failure in the english speaking market. Does anyone know the explanation for the name? I'll look through my odd objectives and see whether I can contribute with a more serious offering!

**Emil Schildt** · 23-Jan-2010, 17:30

Originally Posted by Steven Tribe

It is a mystery to me that Koristka, a professional lens maker and succesful agency for Zeiss, could produce a series of soft "struss" type meniscus lens with the names, small ars, medium ars and large ars. Doomed to failure in the english speaking market. Does anyone know the explanation for the name? I'll look through my odd objectives and see whether I can contribute with a more serious offering!

"ARS" = latin for "ART" ?

**Wayne R. Scott** · 23-Jan-2010, 21:35

My mystery lens is a Hexar Ser. 1 f4.5 21cm Rokuoh-sha. It is mounted in an Ilex Acme No.4 shutter. I bought it for the shutter but I think I will try a few shots with it.

Any body familiar with this lens?

Wayne

**Arne Croell** · 24-Jan-2010, 01:41

Originally Posted by Wayne R. Scott

My mystery lens is a Hexar Ser. 1 f4.5 21cm Rokuoh-sha. It is mounted in an Ilex Acme No.4 shutter. I bought it for the shutter but I think I will try a few shots with it.

Any body familiar with this lens?

Wayne

Rokuoh-sha was one of the older names of Konica, and they used the name Hexar for cameras and lenses until the end of Konica. According to this article (http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Konica) they stopped using the name Rokuoh-sha in or after 1943, so that helps with dating. Given the age and the f/4.5 its either a Tessar type (most likely) or a high-speed dialyte like the Steinheil Unofocal. That should be easy to distinguish by counting reflections.

**Dr Klaus Schmitt** · 24-Jan-2010, 15:43

My mystery lens is a Takumar LF lens, made of quartz and maybe a one off piece, custom made for the Swedish police once for forensic work. Never heard before, that Asahi Pentax made LF lenses. What I could find out about is is here, mainly from the Kanji inscription on the box outside.
http://www.macrolenses.de/ml_detail_...bjektiveNr=305

**Dr Klaus Schmitt** · 24-Jan-2010, 15:51

2nd one is a prototype from STEINHEIL, a Super-APROMAT 5.6/300mm barrel lens, high resolution (it reads 180lpm on the box), never found more info about it.
http://www.macrolenses.de/ml_detail_...bjektiveNr=309

**David Lindquist** · 24-Jan-2010, 19:46

There was a short report on the Color Tamron line of large format lenses in the Swiss photography magazine "Camera" about 1969-71-72. (I subscribed to this magazine which ceased publication in 1981 starting in 1969; I remember it was in one of my early issues). Being something of a Dagor/Goerz lens fanatic/freak, I was struck by their apparent similarity to the Dagors. In particular they were described as covering 87 degrees stopped down. I kept my eye out for them appearing on the market in the U.S., but never saw any either in stores or in photographic supply house catalogues. Unfortunately when I moved in 2006 to where we live now my run of "Camera" from 1969-81 was one of the things I got rid of. Maybe someone out there still has their collection of this fine publication from those years and could look. The report probably was in a sort of "new products" section.
David Lindquist