Voigtlander & Sohn Braunschweig lens

[mpo]

Hi,

I have an old lens made by Voigtlander & Sohn Braunschweig. It is No 31097 so I think that puts it from around 1885. Can anyone tell me the exact year and anything else about it? It seems to be about a 6" focal length and has a rotating disc with aperture holes. Is this called waterstops? What does that mean? It looks like it could cover 2 1/4 maybe.

Thanks,

Mike

[David A. Goldfarb]

That sort of aperture mechanism is usually called "wheel stops." Waterhouse stops are usually thin metal sheets, each with one aperture, that slide into a slot in the lens barrel.

[Diane Maher]

Where did you find the information correlating the number on the lens to a year of manufacture? I am curious as I have a lens made by Voigtlander & Sohn too, but it is huge and has the Waterhouse stops.

[Ole Tjugen]

Hartmut Thiele has a list of serial numbers in "Deutsche Photooptik von A-Z".

no 27,450 to 39,465 were made in the years between 1884 and 1890...

BTW, wheel stops were usually used on wide angle lenses.

[mpo]

Where did you find the information correlating the number on the lens to a year of manufacture? I am curious as I have a lens made by Voigtlander & Sohn too, but it is huge and has the Waterhouse stops.

Hi,
I did some searching and found someone (I think on this site) that had one # 33xxx and the said it was 1887, and I found on another site one 38xxx I think that was 1889 so I just guessed. Also someone made a reference to a book you can buy on Ebay.

Is there any way to find out exactly the focal length etc of this lens?

Thanks,

Mike

[Ole Tjugen]

With that age and a wheel stop, it's very likely to be a Weitwinkel-Euryskop. The possible focal lengths (around 150mm) are 130mm, 160mm and 190mm. All of them will cover 5x7" at the smallest aperture; the 190 will cover 8x10" at the smallest aperture, the 130mm needs to be stopped down to cover 5x7".

BUT: Voigtländer at that time also made another series of WW-Euryskops with different focal lengths, as well as a wide angle Landscape lens - both with wheel stops. So if the focal length is around 6" and it has glass in both ends of the barrel, then it will cover 5x7". If there's glass only in one end, it's a Landscape lens, and it will cover 4x5".

[Diane Maher]

Cool, my lens is number 28872.

[mpo]

Hi Ole,

I focussed on something far away and measured to the mounting flange. This was 145mm. The barrel of this lens is 39mm outside diameter and the physical length of this lens is also 39mm. It has glass in both ends. The glass diameter visible in both ends is 15mm. So does this all mean I have the 150mm?

Thanks,

Mike

PS: Do you get to see Tina Nordstrom on TV in Norway? She is so beautiful!! But we don't get to see her much over here. I am in love...

[David A. Goldfarb]

Ole, if you have that reference handy, could you check my Petzval--14220? Thanks!

[venchka]

That makes my Collinear II No 108228 a youngster!