Reygondaud camera Lens

[pgk]

The lens which came with this camera https://www.largeformatphotography.i...66#post1498266 is unmarked. Focal length is something in the region of perhaps 15~18 inches (no ground glass to check better). Both front at real elements are about 3" in diameter and it has a rack and pinion focus but no aperture control. The shrapnel damage and separation (should align but I don't want to force the slightly distorted thread) are visible. It appears to be two groups and as far as I can tell both are doublets (I can't extract the rear group as yet to fully check). There is no aperture control, no slot and all I can think is that this was fixed on the front although the damaged section has no thread. Any information or suggestions welcome.

[Steven Tribe]

Must be a Petzval.

It doesn't really match up with the camera, unless there are reducing stages in the plate holder. I think the maximum focal length you should expect is around 12/13 inches. When aplanats/RRs were introduced, the Waterhouse stop revolution was already in place and the lens would have been equiped with them.

Apart from a few makers who had internal central stops, most controled aperture by having a system on the lens hood. Your lens hood has gone, but I think I can see the remains of the silver solder. Some had a pill box form - others a cup formed brass insert which brought the aperture closer to the front achromat.

I can see balsam breakdown on this front achromat and it will probably be quite easy to get the glass out of the front cell once this is unscrewed from the barrel. I can see that the barrel/front cell is slightly damaged at just one position. I wouldn't take the shrapnel story too seriously, though! The front cell may or may not be able to unscrew. I have had a similar damage on both sides of the barrel and I could only get the cell to move a few mms back and forth.

[pgk]

Not sure its a Petzval but once I get it open I'll post the parts here. No reducing stages but the lens may just be 12ish inches. There is no sign that the lens is a later addition but it may have had a smaller lens on the lens board and this may be a replacement easily enough. I'll search for front stop systems on similar cameras and see what I can come up with.

I'm not so sure about the shrapnel either - the hood has certainly had an impressive impact and the auctioneers are standing by the (good) story so who knows. I'm assuming that the camera is somewhere pre-1914 so its possible anyway.