Taylor Hobson Cooke 15inch Portrait Series II 4.5 knuckled

[carverlux]

....Stability, ease of use and "relative" portability are my priorities....

Lee,

Here's my 15" Cooke IIE 8x10 fitted to the Sinar p2. It dominates the p2 front standard and I designed a reinforced mount/adapter system to add rigidity that is actually necessary. Without the reinforced lens board, turning the knuckler could lead to other unintended consequences. You may have a free-moving knuckler but none of mine move that easily. In fact, this one had to be lapped so it would. Front standards on field cameras that are usually less robust would be even more problematic. I can also confirm as suggested by others that the same lens mounted on a Deardorff P8 studio camera with an 8x8 lens boards is a breeze to control and use.



carver

[LeeSimmons]

Thank you Carver,

The information on this thread has been insane. Thank you everyone!! Saved me from diving into a bunch of different mostly ineffective rabbit holes.

What you have there Carver is exactly what I had originally envisioned only better with the sinar shutter.

A couple of questions if you will.

Do you have a website to check out some images? I'd love to see some work.

The primary advantage to this setup in my mind is the shutter and relative portability vs deardorf. Putting it in bags in a cart I image you could drag it around on location. Delta 100 @ 50 is usable with this setup in most light. In that form the lens is imminently usable even in a working situation. Which I wasn't really considering for this lens.

Was the original flange cut or was the flange replaced with a modified squared version?

Did your source the lens modification with a local machine shop or use an industry pro sk grimes etc?

Once you have this set up I guess your good to go with any vintage barrel lenses. I imagine you have a few. What subjects draw you to pull out the Cooke?

Super fun. Thanks for sharing.

Regards Lee

[Emil Schildt]

I dont have the knuckler, but an older 3.5 version and I love it to bits...

you wanted some samples so here's some... all full aperture on 5x7

[LeeSimmons]

Hi Gandolfi,

Thanks for taking the time.

And there is the other shoe. Getting past the the physical beauty of the lens itself to see what it can do makes it all worthwhile.

Beautiful classic portraits. Wow.

Very pleasing transitions of focus. The sharper images look quite sharp. I bet the prints are spectacular. The second image using the softer setting is neat to see the very subtle bleed of the lighter chest skin to the dark fabric. My imagon would render that quite differently. I prefer this look.

Thank you for providing this reference.

Regards Lee

[Jim Galli]

I abuse my old Kodak 2D 8X10 with heavier than design intent lenses. Cooke produced the Series II f4.5 and the Series VI f5.6 knuckler's side by side. The f5.6 lens can squeek into the field on the Kodak. That's where I draw the line though. Series II is just too big to go out and about. It's a Studio queen. The 12 3/4" Series II and the 15" Series VI share the same flange.

[Tim Meisburger]

I'm with Jim. I think you should just bite the bullet and get a nice, old studio 8x10 for that lens. That is were it will really shine (do google George Hurrell). You will then have arguably the best portrait set-up ever devised by man (I personally would go for the Universal Heliar, but many would go for the Cooke, and its hard to argue with George).

For outdoor stuff on a 4x5, look for a smaller Cooke, or something similar. Try a Heliar, and you might fall in love...

[carverlux]

...Was the original flange cut or was the flange replaced with a modified squared version?

Did your source the lens modification with a local machine shop or use an industry pro sk grimes etc?

Once you have this set up I guess your good to go with any vintage barrel lenses. I imagine you have a few. What subjects draw you to pull out the Cooke?...

Lee,

I do not have or use a website for photos and as you can see, there are many members with superb work like Mr. Gandolfi and Mr. Galli who handily add to the allure of the Cooke.

To answer your other questions, the original lens flange was not modified, new flanges were made to be used with adapters. Each adapter is fitted to a specific lens on one side, with the standardized flange thread on the other side. I designed the system and SK Grimes built it. The system accommodates my needs for using lenses with different cameras and it has worked out pretty well. I can use small lenses in an iris holder, and larger lenses are mounted through different lens boards adapters. Below is a physically skinnier but longer lens, the 375mm Eidoscope No. 1, mounted to a Deardorff P8 that uses a 8x8 lens board. The thread on this brass adapter is the same as the one on the Sinar adapter, and therefore allows the lenses to go on either camera.



It's safe to say that the same lens behaves differently in the hands of different photographers. The Cooke's for me, especially the impressive, shiny knuckler versions like the Series IIE, fetches more money when used with wealthy patrons. Much more so than a Verito or worse, a Veritar. They are all fine lenses but one conjures up nostalgia and the others just looks outdated. Cameras are the same way, patrons respond well to Deardorff's mahogany and brushed nameplates much better than the cold, black industrial look of the Sinar p2.

My personal people lens is the first version Heliar, in either 42cm or 48cm. There is a magic brilliance on the highlights and the out-of-focus background holds together better than most Cooke Portraits I've used, for the pictures I like to take. But it is a black pipe like a Verito so I am selective about using it - I reach for the Cooke (or the Eidoscope) when I know the patron will respond positively to it.



Hope this helps.

carver

[LeeSimmons]

Thanks Jim, Tim and Carver, That's really been useful information that frames the options very well. Wonderfully educated, thoughtful and innovative responses. I look forward to putting this together and in the meantime sharing on other threads. What a wonderful introduction to the LF community. Many thanks.
Regards Lee