No discussion of the history of wide angle lenses is complete until the Retrofocus wide angle lens is mentioned-discussed.
This optical design happened due to the need for a wide angle lens with a back focal length greater than the lens focal length. This became a requirement for the cinema film folks needing to put a beam splitter between the lens and film for technicolor film production. It was Taylor-Hobson in the 1930's that introduced this design for Technicolor. Eventually Angénieux further developed this concept and introduced the first production Retrofocus wide angle as their R1 in the 1950's to meet the wide angle lens need of the Exakta SLR. Since then nearly every wide angle lens for SLR camera, cinema camera, video camera and... have typically used a Retrofocus wide angle lens.
This is a tribute to the French and British lens designers ability to solve a very real optical problem and need. This is also another example of how the German's are not the only ones who does optical designs and production excellence.
https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknF...etrofocus.html
Bernice
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