Som Berthiot 300mm Apographe & Cooke 13"

[Pete Watkins]

I've just obtained a couple of lenses. The first is a (single) coated Som Berthiot 1:10 F=300 Apographe lens. I've looked in The Vade Macum and the Apographe is not mentioned. I know that it's a process lens as it has a slot in the barrel for Waterhouse stops. It has a working diaphram as well. I assume that it's post WW2 but it is mainly brass and looks older. Will this lens be sharp and is it worth bothering with?
The second lens is a TT&H Cooke 13" / 330mm Series VB, not Vb, process anastigmat lens no.285133. The Vb is mentioned in The Vade Mecum but not the VB, are they the same lens? There is no slot in the barrel am I correct to assume that this lens was adapted for normal use by TT&H? I have a couple of Cooke lenses so I know that it will be sharp, no problems there.
Thanks for any advice you can offer,
Pete.

[Dan Fromm]

Pete, one of my friends bought a Apographe, 140/10, IIRC, some time ago. Snatched it from in front of me, actually. Anyway, he's delighted with it. Yours is certainly worth a try.

IIRC, P-H Pont gives a Berthiot chronology in his book Les Chiffres Cles. My copy is in the office and I'm on vacation. Please post your new treasure's serial number and on Wednesday when I'm back at work I'll let you know what Pont thinks it was made.

[Pete Watkins]

Thanks Dan, the serial number is 1122117. You've made me feel better about it. I'm now going to clean it up as far as possible.
Thanks again,
Pete.

[Dan Fromm]

Pete, if Pont is right 1122117 probably means 1951.

For your reading pleasure, here's his complete Berthiot chronology:

Berthiot Chronology, from P-H Pont’s book Les Chiffres Clès, 3d edition:

Old numbering scheme:

25000 1900
40000 1905
60000 1910
90000 1915
120000 1920
150000 1925
190000 1930
240000 1935
350000 1940
600000 1945
1000000 1950
1180000 1952

New numbering scheme:

A, B 1952
B, C, D 1953
D, E, F 1954
F, G, H 1955
H, J, K 1956
K, L, M, N 1957
N, O, P 1958
P, Q 1959
Q, R 1960
R, S 1961
S 1962/65
S, T 1965
T 1965/82
T, U 1982
U 1982/85

Accuracy not guaranteed by the author.

[Pete Watkins]

Thanks again Dan. I'm going to try it on a camera at the weekend to check the coverage and generally play around with it.
Pete.