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I suppose those of us with an interest in such things have been watching it for a while...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWN:IT&ih=019
Well, after a 70-hour week and a couple of strong India Pale Ales when I got home, I broke down and did the deed...
Sooooo... has anyone ever even heard of one of these?
Burke and James commissioned a series of lenses manufactured for them by Boyer. Among these were the last Petzvals ever commissioned as well as f8 lenses. They were almost always fitted with Wollensak shutters and known as Rembrandt lenses. They were made in 10" and 14" in length, and sometimes the name Royal was associated with them. However, the particular lens you bought is unknown to me. Petzvals are not anastigmats. It is possible that the Royal portrait lens was a special portrait lens commissioned by Burke and James and probably based on one of Boyer's anastigmatic designs or possibly was B&J's reuse of some new old stock lens elements that they had on hand. Hope you get interesting results with it.
Mark, Two Indian Pale Ales is all it takes?
Looks gorgeus though but you need to show us something now.
Get that sceleton out of the closet please. Or perhaps something from the Scottish Highlands. Congrats on your purchase. :)
I was watching this too and searched for what I could find which was only this. Maybe this will help the real experts help you
Regards
Bill
http://historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/li...ogin=wollensak
in 1905, The Wollensak Optical Company purchased the Rochester Lens Company which manufactured the popular 'Royal' anastigmat lens.
Thanks for the info so far, everyone! I don't know whether this is related to the original Royal Anastigmat or not, as that one was a 1905 era lens, and this one must be post WWII, as it's coated. Possibly something B&J produced, but there's no reference to it in their 1947 B&J catalog, which lists quite a few pictorial/portrait lenses. I don't think it could be much later than '47, being in a Betax shutter...
The little gold star on the front rim, which I presume is an indicator of it's being coated (like Wollensak's circled W, Kodak's circled L, and all the various colored dots) seems familiar, but I can't place it...
We'll see what it does when it gets here. Actually, it might be a while, as I'm struggling to keep up in my teaching job, and the building permits for my studio addition to the house just came through, and construction should start in March...
But summer will be here soon...
Burke & James had an operation going for many years called the "Burke & James Lens Bank". This was an outgrowth of the "war spoils" of WW 2, where a ton of lenses were acquired from the defeated countries in the War.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sawyer
Burke & James would take lens elements and complete lenses, finish them, coat the elements and then offered them for sale. I have a Wollensak Rapid Rectilinear from the early part of the century that is nicely coated that I acquired from their close-out sales sheets published in Shutterbug Ads in the 1970's. So, don't assume that just because a lens is coated, it is post WW 2.
That one has had me curious for a long time. Mostly because with all of my pictorial lenses the show is over by f8. That makes this one even more tantalizing. How did they get a pictorial effect at that aperture? What is the lens formula? Now I don't have to spend a lot of money to find out. Thanks Mark!! :D:D
Why do you believe that B&J bought lenses from Boyer? Wouldn't a US maker be a more likely supplier for them?Quote:
Originally Posted by Toyon
I'm leaning towards agreeing that this is a B&J, but we may never know for sure. But I'm thinking that this lens was at least assembled after WWII, as the front ring is engraved specifically for this lens, and that little gold star indicates the coating (I presume). I doubt they would re-engrave or create a whole new front ring or mount for an old lens. But just guessing...Quote:
Originally Posted by Gene McCluney
Wish I had been around for that lens bank close out. Looking through the lens section in their 1947 catalog had me daydreaming about time-travel... Hypergons for $37.50, all sorts of portrait lenses, petzvals, rapid rectilinears...
I'll keep you informed! Yes, the f/8 is the darkest production soft focus lens (if that's what it is) I've heard of. And I have no idea what formula it is, maybe a Tessar? It could be the greatest pictorial lens ever made... :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Galli
Or it could just be left-over mis-matched elements that didn't work out, so they called it a "Royal Pictorial", and sold it to whatever sucker was dumb enough to fall for it... and it still suckered me royally fifty years later! :eek:
We'll see...