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Math
22-Aug-2010, 09:20
Today I managed to get a lens for pretty cheap, mostly due to the fungus that was in it, but it cleaned up quite nicely.
It's marked:
8 in f/4.5 COOKE ANASTIGMAT LENS T.T.&H LTD No 6340
Stops down to f32. Considering the focal length and aperture I'd guess it's a Series II? Alas it is not marked as one, does anyone have any information or experience with this lens? It's very useful for me as the flance is near the front element, so I could mount it on my Mentor Reflex and get infinity focus.

Jim Galli
22-Aug-2010, 10:02
Today I managed to get a lens for pretty cheap, mostly due to the fungus that was in it, but it cleaned up quite nicely.
It's marked:
8 in f/4.5 COOKE ANASTIGMAT LENS T.T.&H LTD No 6340
Stops down to f32. Considering the focal length and aperture I'd guess it's a Series II? Alas it is not marked as one, does anyone have any information or experience with this lens? It's very useful for me as the flance is near the front element, so I could mount it on my Mentor Reflex and get infinity focus.

I don't know any more about it than you. I agree, if it's f4.5 it's a Series II. Sunken mount, it was probably special for a Mentor Reflex or some such. Gorgeous lenses all.

Math
22-Aug-2010, 10:04
Also, each lens seperately is engraved with xlvi.

Math
22-Aug-2010, 10:07
I don't know any more about it than you. I agree, if it's f4.5 it's a Series II. Sunken mount, it was probably special for a Mentor Reflex or some such. Gorgeous lenses all.
Thanks! I can't wait to use it, I hope the previous presence of fungus won't affect the quality too much, it's still ever so lightly hazy.

(Pardon the double post)

Jim Galli
22-Aug-2010, 10:12
Thanks! I can't wait to use it, I hope the previous presence of fungus won't affect the quality too much, it's still ever so lightly hazy.

(Pardon the double post)

IF the fungus hasn't etched the glass it really does no harm. I have a big Series VI 15" Knuckler this way. If you tilt the light right you can see where the fungus was at one time but certainly it performs as new.

I have an old Kodak Dialyt process lens that I've never bothered to take apart. It's a literal jungle inside and the photographs done with it are a marvel to see. I think the function of fungus is mostly on value when sold, not on images made.

Math
22-Aug-2010, 10:14
IF the fungus hasn't etched the glass it really does no harm. I have a big Series VI 15" Knuckler this way. If you tilt the light right you can see where the fungus was at one time but certainly it performs as new.

I have an old Kodak Dialyt process lens that I've never bothered to take apart. It's a literal jungle inside and the photographs done with it are a marvel to see. I think the function of fungus is mostly on value when sold, not on images made.
Thanks, I'm happy to hear that. It's as you described, at a certain angle you can see where the fungus once was, but the glass is very smooth nonetheless. Time to make some test shots! :)

Steven Tribe
22-Aug-2010, 11:24
Unmarked Cooke lenses are nearly always series II sold to makers of UK cameras - especialy, as JG says, reflex cameras. Must have been on a smaller makers camera as the bigger maker usually had their initials on the rim like T-P and APIM. But not found on Mentors, though, except perhaps those marketed outside Germany!

Fotoguy20d
30-Aug-2010, 13:24
I just picked up a TT&H Cooke Kodak Anastigmat f6.3 in B&L Compound shutter. No other marking but seems to be around 6-7" focal length. Any idea what this is? Could they have stuck any more names onto it?

Thanks,
Dan

Dan Fromm
30-Aug-2010, 15:30
Dan, it could have come from a Folding Pocket Kodak. I have one such that came from an FPK #3 Model H. No indication of focal length on the lens, just like yours.

I've been interested in extracting f/6.3 Tessars from FPKs, have compiled a list of f/6.3 Tessar focal lengths by camera size. #1, 4 3/8" - 4 1/2"; #1A, 5" - 5 3/8"; #2C, no f/6.3 Tessars offered, the format is 2 7/8" x 4 7/8"; #3, 5" - 5 3/8"; #3A, 6 3/4" - 7 1/4"; #4, 6 3/4" - 6 7/8"; #4A, 8.25". I expect that other lenses fitted to these cameras -- many types were used, from all of the leading lens makers -- would have roughly similar focal lengths.

Don't take this list as gospel, especially since I haven't updated it to reflect a 100/6.3 CZJ Tessar seen on a very late UK-made #1 Autographic Folding Kodak. Also note that these cameras were also offered with f/4.5 Tessars and, at least in the smaller sizes, the f/4.5s were shorter than the f/6.3s. Seems odd since the f/6.3s have more coverage. The old hands on www.graflex.org insist that there were no rules in Rochester; I think FPKs confirm their belief.

If you want to go blind looking at old Kodak catalogs, there's a nice collection at http://mgroleau.com/catalogues_kodak/

Cheers,

Dan

Steven Tribe
30-Aug-2010, 15:34
Series IIIb (168mm) ? Has the confusing name aviarica. This is the only TT&H which seems to match.

Dan Fromm
30-Aug-2010, 16:35
Steven, mine is a triplet, not a dialyte. The VM says that TTH supplied f/6.5 Ser. III triplet lenses to EKCo. Just checked, mine says f/6.3. s/n 45476. The latest patent date on the #3 FPK from which I extracted it is 1910. I b'lieve, could be mistaken, that it is pre-WWI.

Occam's razor cuts off y'r Ser. IIIb.

Cheers,

Dan

Fotoguy20d
30-Aug-2010, 18:30
Mine is also a triplet, with a serial number of 46950.

Dan

Steven Tribe
31-Aug-2010, 10:40
I agree completely! I can see that the serial numbers alone exclude the IIIb. A big customer must have been able to decide the F value wanted in place of the usual F6.5

Lens Boards
21-Sep-2010, 10:15
I also have a f/6.3 Cooke Kodak Anastigmat in a Compound thats marked AutoTime and has an exposure chart engraved on the shutter dial and f/stop plate. The ISO speed would have been 25. Dan, does yours also look like a tessar with a single thin almost plane front element with a huge curved rear element? I know it's a triplet, but mine sure looks like a tessar with the front elements in the back. I was given mine at MPEX on 05/28/1999 ( of course I also bought several items as well that day). It sure makes some sharp images. My serial number is 41269. No idea what camera it came off, it was in their junk drawer. It is cosmetically mint and the shutter works fine.

Dan Fromm
21-Sep-2010, 12:26
LB, there are two Dans in this discussion. Which one did you address?

I took mine out, looked at it. Mine's rear element has a smaller outside radius, i.e., is more deeply curved, than the front and has a slightly larger diameter but I wouldn't call it huge and it doesn't make me think "Tessar."