Originally Posted by
Petzval Paul
To the best of my knowledge, only the very first Semi Achromatic Smith lenses (remember, they were not called 'series I' until much later) were brass barreled, then followed by aluminum ones with the large aperture housing with the knob for adjustment, and then the adjustable iris rings which were mostly seen on the ones marked series I, II, etc. First there were just 'Smith lenses', then 'doublets', then 'special doublets', which became known in time as series, I, II, and III. After 1915 or so, the raw aluminum barrels gave way to the black enameled ones, featured on most VQ's and all Sythetics. After 1920 or so, the first three series seemed to give way to the newer designs and from then on were mostly made to order. I have heard that some SA models have been seen with the black barrels so my guess is that they were from after the demise of the unfinished aluminum barels and were specially ordered. It has been surmised that Wollensak made those barrels but I am unsure if there is any definitive proof, not that I have any reason to doubt it.
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