TAYLOR - HOBSON COOKE Portrait Anastigmat 4,5 / 15 inch

[David Hedley]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5194307679_2da23d9f9c.jpg

A German auction house has this lense in its current catalogue, and I'd like to know more about it. When was it made (approximately), and what format was it designed for? (I'm guessing 5x7 or 8x10). Any other information would be appreciated. Has anyone ever successfully put one of these into a shutter?

[Emil Schildt]

http://www.antiquecameras.net/softfocuslenses2.html

[Louis Pacilla]

Hi David

This is the Cooke IIE. As I can tell this was one of the last in the long English made Cooke Portrait lenses. I only own one Cooke the lens 15" series IIE this is the lens your asking about.It's a great lens but if your really looking for a soft focus or should I say Diffused focus lens . I believe you will be disappointed. If your loking for a special creamy look with smooth transitions then you will love the Cooke IIE.

The one nice thing about the IIE is more element displacement. 1-5 versus 1-3 on the older models. I do believe that some series IVs had 1-6.

As far as putting in a shutter I'm pretty sure NO shutter was ever made that would or will fit aside from a Packard in the rear or possibly a studio shutter .For scale the IIE in the photo is mounted on a 9x9" lens board. This lens is very heavy & made for solid front cameras like Century Studio cameras & alike.

[David Hedley]

gandolfi - that link is very helpful, thanks.

Louis - I threw in a bid just before I read your very useful information. I was hoping to find a diffused focus lense for a relatively small outlay, but 'a creamy look with soft transitions' also sounds interesting. I'm a bit concerned that it might not fit on a Sinar 6x6 board.

[Jim Galli]

1957 - ish. I have 2 from the E series. They are works of art in themselves. Your soul would perish if you disturbed it for a shutter.

[David Hedley]

It ended up being sold for Euro 670 - rather more than my maximum bid. I wonder if anyone from this forum was the successful bidder? I'm going to look out for other copies of this interesting lense.

[Songyun]

Which auction house?

[David Hedley]

This one;
http://www.photographica-auctionen.de/eng/