lens identification

[dave bulmer]

My poor old father shrugged off his mortal coil a couple of years ago and having finally got around to clearing out his boxes in the attic I have found an old l ens in a very nice brown leather case. It's made by R and J Beck, 7.2 in isostig mar 1:5.8 no15366. it has the appearance of (I'm guessing by the focal length,)a n lf enlarger lens perhaps, but as my dad only dabbled in 35mm it's origin is a mystery. Any clues if it could be usable? I hate to think of old equipment throw n into a box just because it's no longer fashionable, so if I can produce an ima ge from it, I will, just in case the old man's got his eye on me. Input apprecia ted as always...

[Art_1662]

Dave:

R & J Beck is an old optical company. They were one of the early companies making microscopes [19 th century]. I don't know about your lens but you can read an intro to the company here

R & J Beck (http://library.utmb.edu/scopes/beck.htm)

I'm sure you can find more with a google.com search.

Art

[Samuel Tang]

Hi Dave,

Sorry for coming in late. The Isostigmar was an original Beck design with five air-spaced elements. It might still be satisfactory on 4"X5" if properly cleaned but the image contrast would be low, due to its ten air-to-glass surfaces and the lack of coating.