"Hyatt's" lens, brass and very old

[Gary L. Quay]

I just bought a brass barrell lens. It's very old, possibly from the late 1800's. I can't find any info on it on anywhere on the Internet. I did find a photo shop in St. Louis that manufactured it's own cameras until somewhere in the 1930's, owned by someone named Hyatt. The name is a Hyatt's Rapid lens, and it has no focal length on it, but it says 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 on the front. Does anyone know anything about these lenses?

Thanks!
--Gary

[Toyon]

It would be useful if you could post a picture. Hyatt's was a large photographic distributor in St. Louis back when it was an important American city.

As dealers, they sold lenses bearing their house name, that they did not manufacture them, much like Sears sells tires they do not make. Among lensmakers who rebadged lenses, the most prominent are Bausch and Lomb, Wollensak and the French firms, Clement and Gilmer and Laverne. Usually one can guess by looking at the lens design.

[Jim Galli]

Toyon is spot on. Need pictures. Rapid is lingo usually associated with Rapid Rectilinear designs which weren't really very rapid compared to the petzval's they replaced.

[Toyon]

As Jim notes, rectilinear's are not so fast, but they are great for portraits, and good for landscapes - provided they were designed for a larger format than you are using - that way you get the sharp, sweet spot in the center portion of the lens. Stopping down can do much the same thing.

[wfwhitaker]

I have a Hyatt Rapid 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 lens which is marked f/5. I suspect that it is a rebranded Wollensak Vesta. Does yours have any aperture markings?

[Ole Tjugen]

... Rapid is lingo usually associated with Rapid Rectilinear designs which weren't really very rapid compared to the petzval's they replaced.

Rapid Rectilinears didn't replace Petzvals. They replaced Rectilinears - AKA Periskops. Periskops are no faster than f:11, so the RR's are "Rapid" compared to those.

[Gary L. Quay]

I just noticed that it does, in fact, say "H.A. Hyatt Supply Co., St. Louis" just in front of the aperture ring. I didn't have the lens with me when I asked the question. So, that answers one question. Here's a picture.

[Jim Galli]

That is a 12" Petzval f5 made by Wollensak and identical to their Series A.

[Jan Pedersen]

Very nice lenses, i have it's small and it's larger brothers, 10" and 14" although the 10" is dressed as a Conley.
Have fun.

[Gary L. Quay]

Interesting. I'd like to thanks everyone for the info. Now, maybe I can find a retaining ring for it. I'm really anxious to use it.

--Gary L. Quay

[Gary L. Quay]

By the way... I saw a portfolio in View Camera Magazine where older lenses were used for portraits. One of them was a Petzval type lens, and the short focal plane was very sharp, but everything else was very soft. If that is what this lens is, I like it. I still haven't found a retaining ring, however. It measures 85.38mm, which seems to be about the same as an Ilex #5. Does anyone have one to sell me?

Thanks!
--Gary

[Toyon]

The center 20 degrees of the image will be sharp, the rest progressively softer due to the concave field of focus and potential limits of the lens' area of sharp focus. Theoretically, if the lens has enough coverage, you could photograph a shallow bowl wide open and everything would be in sharp focus. A lot of people claim that Petzval's are "soft focus" but they really are not.

[Gary L. Quay]

New info. A helpful person at Citizen's Photo here in Portland, OR identified the lens as a B&L Rapid Rectilinear, as an earlier reply mentioned. The serial number is 1024, and it is likely from the late 1800's. It should be interesting. I still haven't managed to get it onto a lensboard, but I'll post a photo from it as soon as I have one.

--Gary

[Gene McCluney]

Just use a wooden lensboard, and cut the hole tight enough for an inteference fit, where the threads of the lens will slightly "cut" into the wood when screwed in. You don't need a flange. This method works fine, and does not hurt the threads. They are metal.

[Gary L. Quay]

I'll give it a shot.

[Jay Decker]

Found conflicting information on the "Hyatt's Rapid" lens on the internet. The photographs below are of the lens that I have. Does anyone know if the lens that I have is a Rapid Rectilinear or Petzval design? Is the ad for the "Hyatt Special Portrait Lens" at the bottom of this post is for a different lens than the lens I have? Is this lens that I have a rebranded B&L Rapid Rectilinear, and if so, which B&L model?

Thanks,

Jay


http://monkeytumble.com/tmp/hyatt's_1.jpg


http://monkeytumble.com/tmp/hyatt's_2.jpg


http://monkeytumble.com/tmp/hyatt's_3.jpg


http://monkeytumble.com/tmp/hyatt's_0.jpg

[Jim Galli]

HI Jay. Here is an excellent proof of what I was arguing back in the other thread about 'which pinkham lens is this?' (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=61052&highlight=Pinkham) What you have is a Wollensak Series A f5 Petzval lens that is re-branded as Hyatt, which was a big photo supply house in St. Louis. The one in the advertisement shown is also Hyatt and made by Bausch and Lomb. This is also exactly what I've seen with the Pinkham & Smith Petzval lenses that predate the soft focus lenses. They can be either B&L or Wolly. You'll find your lens in this catalog (http://www.cameraeccentric.com/html/info/wollensak_10.html).

[Jay Decker]

What you have is a Wollensak Series A f5 Petzval lens that is re-branded as Hyatt, which was a big photo supply house in St. Louis.

Crap... another Petzval. Oh well, need another doorstop in the chicken coop and this'll do just fine. Was hopin' it might be another one of those Rapid Rectilinears like that silly little Eidoscope that I seem to be shooting more with.

Thanks Jim!

[benrains]

http://monkeytumble.com/tmp/hyatt's_1.jpg


I'll 2nd (or 3rd?) that being a Wollensak Vesta (previously Portrait Series A) lens. The engraving on the front of the lens is characteristic of the rebranded Wollensaks I've seen (like my battered Seroco version of the same lens.) They're really nice "modern" Petzvals, IMHO. And Edward Weston used a Wollensak Series A for some of his work when he was still in his pictorialist phase.

I would note: In 2 of the 3 examples of this lens I've acquired, the rear group was assembled incorrectly (presumably by someone who'd cleaned the lenses in their past lives and then failed to put them back together properly.) The resulting effect was that a much smaller area was in clear focus than should've been. Assembling the rear group correctly resolves the problem (although if you wanted something a bit more wild looking, I suppose you could deliberately mis-order the rear lens group.)

[Jim Galli]

Crap... another Petzval. Oh well, need another doorstop in the chicken coop and this'll do just fine. Was hopin' it might be another one of those Rapid Rectilinears like that silly little Eidoscope that I seem to be shooting more with.

Thanks Jim!

Yep, another crappy petzval. I know how disappointing that can be. Here's an idea, put a bracket on it and some LED's inside and make a porch light or something out of it. Must be good for somethin' !

I'd offer this nice old 15X12 Series D Bausch & Lomb 18" f6 RR in trade,


http://tonopahpictures.0catch.com/01032008/BL15X12_1.jpg

but you'd find it nearly identical to your #5 Euryscop.

[Jay Decker]

I'd offer this nice old 15X12 Series D Bausch & Lomb 18" f6 RR in trade, but you'd find it nearly identical to your #5 Euryscop.


Hmmm... the Euryscop. Have the first images taken with the Euryscop ready to be processed and I'm excited to see how they turnout... the images on the GG were beautiful.

I might part with this Hyatt pretty soon, since I accidentally end up with such a number of nice Petzval lenses.