Voigtlander Lens Dating - New info and Bokeh

[CCHarrison]

On my page about Petzval lenses, I have a Voigtlander Serial Lens table. To be honest, I have had that table for well over a decade amd dont recall the original source - but it is a standard source that many others quote. We know that Voigtlander celebrated with a large party held in May 1862 the fact they had produced 10,000 lenses ( Probably about 9,200 Petzvals and perhaps 800 or so Orthoscopes). Its more than likely the actual date of production of # 10,000 was sometime in late 1861 - but thats my speculation. Lens # 10,000 lens actually was auctioned but appears unsold in 2006

Alex from Holland posted in another thread where we discussing Voigtlander serial #'s the following:

"Produced voigtalnder lenses :
untill 1868. 20000 pieces
Untill 1873. 20340 pieces
Untill 1876. 22000 pieces
Untill 1878. 25000 pieces

According to the book these numbers are based on several official documents (page 93). Book was publisched in 2002 and written by Carsten Grabenhorst"

I recently found in the May 1866 issue of Philadelphia Photographer a mention that at this time, Voigtlander had exceeded 18,000 units by this date. That would mean the production pace from 1862 to 1866 was about 2,000 lenses per year, give or take. It also supports Alex's quoted data - at least the 1868 figure of 20,000. It also means the table on my page needs a bit of updating !




What is still curious is how or why production from 1868 until 1876 was only 2,000 units in total over 8 years as given by author, Carsten Grabenhorst. And especially why only 340 lenses were produced from 1868-1873... Was their some historical event I am unaware of in that period? Curious.



I thought you all might also get a kick out of the posting I just placed on my Blog about Bokeh. SEE http://antiquecameras.net/blog.html

Best
Dan

[cowanw]

? Franco Prussian War

[Steven Tribe]

Followed by the unification of the German States around 1871 (based on Bismarck and the North German Bund) with the exclusion of the poor old Austrio-Hungarian Empire! A company noted as being Vienna and Braunschweig could have had identity problems!

[Sevo]

Followed by the unification of the German States around 1871 (based on Bismarck and the North German Bund) with the exclusion of the poor old Austrio-Hungarian Empire! A company noted as being Vienna and Braunschweig could have had identity problems!

More like the other way around - unification (which will have stalled business in forcibly occupied Hanover, even more so for a company headquartered in the now enemy Austria) in 1866, followed by the French-German war of 1870-71, where Austria took a passive role and none of the occupied countries seceded (much to the surprise of the French). After the won war, reparations gave them an opportunity to make the formerly disgruntled provinces proud and happy parts of the new empire and improve relations with Austria - the "Gründerzeit" bubble that influx of cash caused was short and followed by a crash, but it probably accounts for Voigtländer having made more lenses from 76-78 than in the entire preceding decade.

[goamules]

The dating of lenses or other antiques has always interested me. On the Voigtlander production, at first I thought that since they were the first Petzval manufacturer, and remained strong throughout the 1800s, they should have an even production of 500-1000 lenses per year, similar to the other companies. But I forgot about wars and such which can stop or radically slow down production. If true, the dates in the thread above (340 lenses made between 1868 and 1873) means they averaged making only one lens per week for 5 years! Or maybe they stopped production for 4 years, then started up one year and made all 340 lenses in a few months. This was a period of booming growth in wetplate photography worldwide, lens manufacturers would have made all they could sell.

Without a company ledger, or documents that show how Voigtlander was doing those years, it's still hard to believe. Surely there is a company history somewhere, and has anyone looked at the references Grabenhorst used?

[cowanw]

Bismarck probably was torn between allowing a enemy/vienna and a ally/brunswick made lens take a picture at Versailles.

[jb7]

I had been celebrating the 150th birthday of 10861 this year, it looks like I'll have to do it again next year...
although those numbers do look rounded off to convenient hundreds-

[E. von Hoegh]

I thought you all might also get a kick out of the posting I just placed on my Blog about Bokeh. SEE http://antiquecameras.net/blog.html

Best
Dan

There wasn't enough room on the plate for the word "bullshit" (winking smiley)

[Two23]

If true, the dates in the thread above (340 lenses made between 1868 and 1873) means they averaged making only one lens per week for 5 years!

During war years, maybe they were making binoculars and telescopes instead of lenses?


Kent in SD