Kodak lens information needed

[Andrey Donchev]

Hi, I have two pristine lens cells from Zeiss Kodak Anastigmat No.4, F-6.3. On the outer part of the front rim is written:" Made only for EASTMAN KODAK Co. by Bausch & Lomb.OPTICAL Co. Rochester, NY ". By my calculations it looks like 6 1/5 in. focal length.
Can someone please, give me more precise information regarding this lens. I'm asking because I have only the lens cells. and can't test it. I have also a nice Seikosha-s shutter in which those cells, after a bit of machining can be mount. I don't want to spend those $ before to know what to expect.
Big thanks in advance!

[Ernest Purdum]

Zeiss Kodak Anastigmats were original equipment on better quality Kodaks, particularly Folding Pocket Kodaks, for many years. They came on a variety of shutters.

"Zeiss" refers to the basic design which is the famous Tessar.

The problem in having the cells remounted to your Seiko is that you need to know the spacing between the cells. Determining the spacing without having the original shutter would be very difficult and expensive.

[Dan Fromm]

Andrey, I have a #4 f/6.3 ZKA in barrel. It is, according to my little dial calipers, 30.00 mm from front of front cell to rear of front cell. The measurement was taken from the edge of the front cell's barrel to the rear of the rear cell's barrel.

After poring over the catalog pages at http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/bauschcatb/bauschcatb.html, I decided that my lens' focal length is probably 5 3/8". Note, however, that this page http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/bauschcat/coveraged.html , published a year later, says that the B&L #4 is 5 1/4".

Unless you can get the machining for free (or for beer), you'd be better off looking for the f/6.3 Tessar you want in a shutter. I've extracted two, both in Compound, from $25 Kodak folders. The first link will give you strong hints about which Kodak folders to look for. Be aware that EKCo bought lenses from nearly every manufacturer so it isn't safe to look just for the right model folder, one has to find one that has the desired lens.

Good luck, have fun,

Dan

[Dan Fromm]

Not mine, and so far, so cheap: http://cgi.ebay.com/Kodak-No-3A-Special-folding-camera-4-repair-or-parts_W0QQitemZ110178535945QQihZ001QQcategoryZ11717QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Andrey Donchev]

Thank you very much for your directions! I'm starting to figure it out. I knew that this is a tessar, but your suggestion Dan, to buy the same lens again, is definitely better, then spend around $300 for mount it.