Voigtlander (Pre Euriscope) "A." engraving

[Manza]

Hi all! Finally I am about to buy my first LF camera and one of my options is a 17.5x12.5 with a Voigtlander lens stamped the following way:

"A.
Nº22249
(waterhouse slot)
Voigtländer & Sohn
Wien,
Braunschweig"

I've been trying to figure out what kind of lens it is but I couldn`t find any info about As.:(
Could somebody tell me what family of lenses this stamps correspond to? I'm mainly interested in portraits...

Thank you!!! :)

[karl french]

Pictures would help.

[Steven Tribe]

I will check the corrado book tomorrow as the A may Indicate a Petzval rather than an early Euryskop.
Certainly the serial no. is OK for these unmarked aplanats, but most at this time were “C”s or “III”s.

See https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?79350-Archaic-Proto-Euryscope

[karl french]

The Euryscop was introduced in 1878, so serial number should be closer to 24,000 for an early Euryscop. Both my "Pre-Euryscops" are in the 24,000 range.

[karl french]

I did just find a reference to an "A" lens in the 1876 McCollin catalog. It was listed as a petzval of 167mm focal length for plates up to 4x5.25"

[Manza]

Hi Karl, this is the lens:
206967
206968
206969

[Manza]

Hi Karl,
Thanks for the information! Great, ideally I would like to start with a Petzval, but based on this information it won`t be enough to cover the 5x7 plate of the camera it is mounted on. Would you say it is a good lens for somebody making his first steps in wet plates? Or maybe there is a better option out there? To give you an estimate its price falls between 300/400...
Thank you again

[karl french]

Hmm, that does look very "Pre-Euryscop." And in the catalog it mentions that the A petzval comes mounted with rack and pinon. If this is an aplanat, from the size of the lens I would say it would cover the format.

The f6 Euryscops usually had Arabic (Indian) numbers and the f8 "long focus" Euryscops had Roman Numerals. Either would be fine for wet plate. The f6 would be better for portraits, both in terms of speed and 'character.' Really, there are so many things to master while learning the wet plate process, you probably don't need to worry too much about the lens.

[Steven Tribe]

This is definitely a small Petzval. “A” has been used from at least the 1864 catalogue. There were also B and C Petzvals.
In 1864, the focal length of the A was 159mm and the front lens/rear lenses were 33.5/34.1mm.
Yes, by the 1870’s the dimensions for this model may have changed slightly.
Barrel, rather than pinion drive, mountings are common for Petzvals.
Speed is around F5.

[Louis Pacilla]

This is definitely a small Petzval. “A” has been used from at least the 1864 catalogue. There were also B and C Petzvals.
In 1864, the focal length of the A was 159mm and the front lens/rear lenses were 33.5/34.1mm.
Yes, by the 1870’s the dimensions for this model may have changed slightly.
Barrel, rather than pinion drive, mountings are common for Petzvals.
Speed is around F5.

I do not agree w/ you on this one brother Steven (long time no communication hope you & family are well). This is way more likely a rapid rectilinear (pre-Euryscop) of f6-f8 just a Karl suggest. I have a couple earlish Voigtlander Petzvals here and their barrels are much longer in relation to the FL. This also looks like it's missing it's hood which would have been way shorter then the hood on petzval of this time frame. I have seen a few Voigtlander rapid rectilinear lenses pre Euryscop with an A, B or C so it does not always denote Petzval/RR.

[Steven Tribe]

My “guess” is still a slow Petzval! Even though it doesn’t make sense on a 13x18cm camera!
I think the WHS is off-center in the barrel - but not by much, which is characteristic of the Voigtlander design.
There are no other “A” Euryskops around! Petzvals were not usually engraved with model type/size at this time - deduction is necessary (lens width and focal length).