Selecting A Vintage Camera II: Kodak Cameras.

Few individuals have had more impact on photography, not to mention on society itself, than George Eastman.  In 1878, Eastman, then a young bookkeeper in the Rochester Savings Bank, read about Charles Bennett’s improvements to the gelatin dry plate process and began to produce his own plates.  By July 1879, he had patented a machine for coating glass photographic plates.  Combining income from the sale of  licenses for the process with $1000 from local buggy-whip manufacturer Thomas A. Strong, he founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company in 1881.  In 1889, the company introduced celluloid roll film, and in 1892, changed its name to the final form, the Eastman Kodak Company.  The origin of “Kodak” has always been something of a mystery; the most accepted explanation is that Eastman, always fond of the letter “K”, composed the name on an anagram set with the help of his mother.

The first cameras were simple wooden boxes, with the shutter cocked by a string dangling out of the body.  Nevertheless, the original model  was a landmark achievement, being

No. 1 Brownie, circa 1901

small, lightweight, and having the simplicity of roll film rather than glass plates.  Eastman was greatly aided in his camera development by Frank Brownell, a cabinet maker who turned to the manufacture of cameras in the early 1880s.  Brownell designed most of the early Kodak cameras, and was responsible for the design of the famous Brownie cameras, which for the first time brought snapshot photography within reach of the masses.

Once Kodak was firmly established in the consumer mass market, Brownell was instrumental in helping Eastman develop folding roll film cameras that appealed to the more serious photographer. These early folding “satchel” Kodaks displayed a square body

No. 5 Cartridge Kodak, 1898-1907

with a drop front forming the bed and focusing rail, while the top opened. to reveal the roll film holder.  While large and bulky, they established a style of camera that, starting around the turn of the century, was to evolve into the small folding camera that was to dominate photography for the next forty years.  Film came in various  sizes, ranging from the relatively small 120 negative to the mammoth 7″ rolls of 115, designed for 7×5 in. vertical images with the No. 5 Cartridge Kodak.  Beautiful videos of these early folding cameras are available on Jos Erdkamp’s web site at http://www.kodaksefke.nl/.

While the box cameras were simplistic and cheap, and the large folding cameras filled the needs of the professional and sophisticated amateur, what was needed was a compact camera with more features than the simple box.  The first camera to fill this gap – and, incidentally, to set the template for the next century of roll film camera production – was another of Frank Brownell’s creations, the Folding Pocket Kodak of 1897.  This

Folding Pocket Kodak, 1897 (Courtesy George Eastman House Collection)

unassuming little camera, with its single speed shutter and simple f/11 Achromatic lens, displayed three groundbreaking features: it used a bellows to collapse into a compact form that truly fit a pocket or small bag, it could be quickly loaded with readily-available roll film, and it introduced the 2 1/4 X 3 1/4 (6×9 cm) image that is still the standard for medium format today.Subsequent evolution was rapid.  By 1900, the drop front and focusing rail had replaced the struts of the original Folding Kodak (see Folding Kodak ad), and by 1902-3, models of the Folding Kodak were available with variable speed shutters and apertures, as well as

No. 4A Folding Kodak, 1906 (Courtesy George Eastman House collection). Note pull-out front standard, pneumatic shutter and aperture f-stop scale.

rising fronts for architectural work.  This simple and functional design had a long life, with cameras of this type being manufactured well into the 1930s by both Kodak and many other manufacturers worldwide.  Unfortunately, most of these beautiful old machines use film sizes that are no longer available and thus are strictly decorative.

Kodak Corporation had such a profound impact on the art and science of photography that it is easy to overlook George Eastman as a historical figure. A unique, caring and talented individual, he cared deeply about his many employees, frequently dispensing large portions of his considerable personal fortune to provide bonuses for his workers.  His social  philosophy, years ahead of his time, led him to institute a program of dividends and profit-sharing at Kodak. He was an extraordinarily generous philanthropist as well as an art collector.  An extraordinarily creative inventor and innovator, he was one of the first American industrialists to employ a full-time research scientist.  Plagued by serious ill health in his later years, he gradually gave away most of his fortune, wrote a note to his friends, and made the decision to take his own life on March 14, 1932 at the age of 77.

Given the millions of cameras produced by Kodak, with the multitude of models  and the many lens and shutter combinations, the job of describing the best Kodak 120 roll film cameras for fine art work should be overwhelming – but it isn’t.  Remember Kodak’s great experiment in the 1930s and 1940s (the heyday of roll film camera production) with 616 and 620 film?  This axed Kodak’s contribution to today’s menu of usable roll film cameras.  A list of Kodak’s models using 120 film is available on Mischa Konig’s excellent web site “Kodak Classics” (http://kodak.3106.net/index.php?p=206).  It is shockingly short, and many of the models noted are simple box cameras, which makes Kodak’s contribution to the list of folding vintage cameras using medium format film and suitable for fine art photography very short indeed.  Mr. Konig comments: “Kodak ceased production of 120 roll film cameras in the mid 1930’s, with the introduction of the 620 size, which is the same film on a slimmer spindle, and the only subsequent 120-film cameras from Kodak were manufactured in the UK in the 1950’s and ’60’s. The last 120-roll film camera from Kodak was probably the UK-made Brownie Cresta 3.”

Nevertheless, there are a few folding vintage Kodaks that use 120 film and take extremely high quality images; these all date from 1914 to the late 1920s.  Much of the best work on this site has been produced with two such cameras costing a total of $40.00.  For me, the greatest appeal of working with cameras of this vintage is the satisfaction proving that such neglected old relics can produce work that is of gallery quality in an era of multi-megapixel digital imaging.

Kodak’s designation of its constellation of roll film folding cameras is confusing, and different names were not uncommonly applied to the same model during the course of the production run.  It is also important to remember that the numerical designation of  many Kodak cameras in the 1920s referred not to the order of production but to the film size.  An excellent source of well-organized information on early Kodak cameras and their complex nomenclature is Brian Coe’s Kodak Cameras: The First Hundred Years.  An excellent description of Kodak lenses, unfortunately including only those from the 1930s on, can be found on Camerapedia at http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Kodak_lenses.

The most important consideration in deciding to purchase one of the many early classic Kodak camera is the lens.  Many old Kodaks had only simple single-element meniscus

Meniscus Lens in Ball Bearing Shutter - Note Absent Front Lens Element and Bowl-Shaped Shroud

lenses.  Meniscus lenses are identifiable by the presence of a metal front cover on the lens housing with a bowl-shaped depression surrounding a central opening and the absence of a visible front glass element.  These lenses will not produce sharp images and should be avoided.  The most common useful lens found on folding cameras of the 1914-1920 vintage is the Rapid Rectilinear, which, if used at apertures of  f/16 or smaller, can yield stunning results.  With cameras produced in the 1920s, look for an f/6.3 or f/7.7 Anastigmat.  Less common lenses include the Tessars (either Bausch and Lomb or Zeiss), or, in the case of Kodaks manufactured in the U.K., the Ross Homocentric, Ross Xpres, Cooke Aviar (f/4.8 or f/6.3) or Cooke Series III.

Mention needs to be made of the Autographic feature, the 1920s equivalent of the modern databack.  Found on many Kodak cameras until 1932, the Autographic feature consisted

Autographic Door, Pre-1916 Version on No.1 Kodak Junior

of an elongated door that opened in the back of the camera, exposing the backing paper of the film.  Kodak Autographic Film permitted a message to be written on the film between frames. The spool was wound with a layer of carbon paper between the film and thin red backing paper. After taking a photograph, the user would open up the small door on the back of the camera and, using the provided stylus, inscribe a brief note. Pressure of the stylus on the backing paper transferred the carbon to the backing paper. The user then held the camera back to the light for a moment and light passing through would image the message on the film (http://www.clickondavid.com/no1a.htm).  Different door styles were used through the years, and can be used to date Kodak cameras of this vintage; the image shown here is the earliest (pre-1916) version.  For a full description of the Autographic feature, see Mischa Konig’s article on his Kodak Classics web site at http://kodak.3106.net/index.php?p=511.

Kodak Ad for Autographic Back (From the Photographic Times v. 47 (1915), courtesy Wikipedia)

Not only is the Autographic feature an important characteristic of early Kodak cameras, its story is fascinating in itself.  During the early part of the twentieth century, Kodak absorbed a number of camera companies, gaining many important features and subsidiaries.  These have been described in Rudolf Kingslake’s “A History of the Rochester, NY Camera and Lens Companies.”  Kodak’s story intersected that of Henry Jacques Gaisman in 1914.  Gaisman, the son of French immigrants, was too poor to attend college, but proved to be a capable inventor and canny businessman. After inventing the glass-enclosed bulletin board at age 16, he patented the design for the safety razor in 1904.  This was eventually adopted by the Gillette Razor Corporation, and Gaisman became the head of the company after Mr. Gillette’s death.  In  1914, Gaisman invented the autographic camera back, and immediately sold it to Kodak for the considerable sum of $300,000.  George Eastman wasted no time incorporating this feature into his cameras, with the first autographic backs appearing by December of 1914.  A further note on this fascinating man is that, after living into old age as a confirmed bachelor, at the age of 82 Gaisman married Kitty Vance, a 33 year old nurse.  They lived happily together until his death at the age of 104 in White Plains, New York.

One important note in purchasing an early Kodak Camera:  A No. 1 camera and a No. 1-A camera are not the same!  The two designations, though sounding similar, refer to completely different film sizes.   Kodak cameras designated as “No. 1”, except for the earliest models, use 120 film, while cameras designated as “No. 1A” take the discontinued 116 film, which was one of the most popular sizes during the 1920s.  The dimensions of 120 are 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 in or 6×9 cm, while 116 is a much larger and longer negative at 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.  The two models can be distinguished by the much longer body of the 1A camera.

1915 No. 1 Kodak Advertisement, Duke University Collection

One of the earliest roll film cameras capable of doing fine art work is the No. 1 Kodak Junior, used to produce  a number of the images on this site.  First manufactured in April

No. 1 Kodak Junior

of 1914, the non-autographic version was discontinued in December 1914 after a production run of 33,000 in favor of the version with the autographic back, the No. 1 Autographic Kodak Junior.  The latter was made until 1927, with a total production of well over 800,000.

The No. 1 Kodak Juniors were typically equipped with a meniscus lens or a Bausch and Lomb Rapid Rectilinear, the latter being most common.  The above 1915 advertisement mentions the option of an f/7.7 Anastigmat lens; the number of cameras produced with this option must have been small, as they almost never appear on eBay.  Many of the older models have the f/ scale calibrated in the old “U.S.” system in which the maximum aperture is designated as f/4, which translates to approximately f/8 in the modern system (see “The US f-Stop System” posting, which is in preparation).  The shutter is a Kodak Ball Bearing Shutter with four speeds: 1/25, 1/50, T and B.  The Kodak Ball Bearing Shutter is simple, unsophisticated, unlubricated (hence no oils to gum up) and virtually indestructible.

The camera is easily loaded by removing the J-shaped back.  The small

Placing More Filtering in the Film Counter Window

plastic film counter window typically contains colored plastic of an orange tint.  While this was adequate with the slow emulsions of the 1920s or the heavy paper backing of autographic film, it is too light for modern fast emulsions, and light leaks can occur.  The easiest solution is to use a pair of tweezers to slide two layers of thin red plastic between the flat spring film flattening plate and the inside surface of the orange plastic window, and then glue the plastic pieces down over the window with a small amount of silicone rubber sealant.  If the plastic is missing or broken, gently lift the outer leather covering around the opening on the back of the camera, and slide the red plastic between the leather and the aluminum back plate of the camera.  The leather can be re-glued with white tacky craft glue, thus re-securing the backing and holding the plastic in place.

Once the front is pulled down to form the base plate, the front standard can be pulled out to extend the bellows.  Focusing is by three small click stops at the base of the front standard.  There is, unfortunately, no eye level finder.  If the camera is in good condition, the only real problem that one not infrequently encounters with cameras of this vintage is deterioration of the silvering of the viewfinder mirror.  One solution to this problem is to buy one or two extra No. 1 Juniors to use for parts (they are cheap, after all, with some going for $10-15 on eBay) and mounting the best mirror on the camera chosen for use.  The viewfinder readily screws off by removing the chromed threaded ring holding it to the frame.

No. 1 Kodak Series III

The No. 1 Kodak Series III is an excellent choice for a low-cost camera capable of making excellent images.  My No. 1 Kodak is fitted with the 105 mm f/6.3 Anastigmat in a Kodex shutter with speeds of 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, T and B.  Focusing is accomplished by pulling the front standard out to the stop, then using the thumb screw at the lower left of the standard for fine focusing.  As with the No. 1 Kodak Junior, there is only a waist level viewfinder mounted on the front standard.  One interesting and decorative feature of this model is the rotating exposure calculator built into the aperture lever.  For each f-stop, the engraved scale matches “DULL”, “GRAY”, “CLEAR”, AND “BRILLIANT” with the appropriate shutter speed.  Calculating backward using the Sunny f/16 Rule (discussed elsewhere in this blog) indicates that the film intended for this camera in the late 1920s had an ISO rating of approximately 25.

Other, less common models to consider among early Kodak roll film  cameras are the No. 1 Pocket Kodak, the No. 1 Pocket Kodak Junior, and the No. 1 Pocket Kodak Series II, some of which came equipped with the f/6.3 or f/7.7 Anastigmat.  These were manufactured from the 1920s until 1932.  A somewhat earlier model to consider is the No. 1 Autographic Kodak Special Model A, produced from 1915 to 1920.  Only 18,000 of these cameras were produced, so they are encountered only occasionally.  These were equipped with a variety of lenses including the Zeiss Tessar or a variety of Anastigmats made by Bausch and Lomb, Zeiss, or Cooke.  UK variations may be found with a Cooke Aviar, Ross Xpres or Homocentric, or even a Lacour-Berthiot Olor Anastigmat.

Brownie Camera Ad, Duke University Collection

If one wishes the challenge of using a very early Kodak roll film camera, one might consider the No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie.  The Brownie series, inspired by George Eastman’s brilliant designer Frank Brownell, represents a separate and enormously successful branch on the evolutionary tree of Kodak cameras.  It is unclear whether the Brownies were named after Brownell or Palmer Cox’s enormously successful cartoons and books about Scottish fairies, but Kodak borrowed extensively from Cox’s engaging cartoons in their advertising.

Advertisement for the Original Brownie

Designed as a simple box camera suitable for use by children, the first Brownie was made of cardboard and retailed for $1.00.  From this early model (whose patent can be viewed at http://www.google.com/patents?vid=725034), the Brownie line expanded to a line of box and folding cameras produced into the 1980s that truly brought photography within reach of the masses.

No. 2 Folding Autographic Brownie

The No. 2 Folding  Autographic Brownies are very simple cameras, many of which were equipped only with a meniscus lens, but those provided with a Rapid Rectilinear lens should be capable of producing quality pictures.  Note that a 120 film camera is “No. 1” in the regular line of Kodak cameras, and “No. 2” in the Brownie line.  Unlike later roll film cameras, the Brownie is opened by releasing a sliding front catch and lifting off the entire front assembly bearing the baseplate, bellows, and front standard.  The Kodak Ball Bearing Shutter has speeds of 1/25 and 1/50 sec in addition to T and B.  focusing is by click stops at the front of the focusing rail.  Many of these old folding Brownies will use the US f-stop system (see my posting on this topic).  Dating the camera can be done by the presence or absence of the autographic feature (introduced in Feb 1916), a rounded case configuration (changed from square ended in Jan 1917), and the shape of the support foot (changed from S to C shape in Oct 1919).

NOTE:  If you should wish to use a classic Kodak camera that takes 620 film, it is possible to respool 120 film onto 620 spindles.  This is an inconvenience, particularly if one wishes to do any significant amount of photography.  Alternatively, 620 film could at one time be purchased from Film for Classics in Rochester, New York.  Their site is www.filmforclassics.com

References:

Baker, Chuck.  “The Brownie Camera Page.” http://www.brownie-camera.com.

Bellis, Mary.  “History of Kodak and Rolled Photographic Film.  http://inventors.about.com/od/estartinventors/ss/George_Eastman.htm.

Camerapedia and Wikipedia articles on Eastman Kodak, Kodak Lenses, Henry Jacques Gaisman, Frank Brownell, and Palmer Cox.

Coe, Brian.  Kodak Cameras: The First Hundred Years.  Hove Collectors Books, West Sussex, 2003.

Cox, Palmer.  “The Origin of the Brownies.”  Ladie’s Home Journal, 1892.  Cited in “The Brownie Camera Page”, http://www.brownie-camera.com/articles/origin/origin.shtm.

George Eastman House Online Collection. http://www.geh.org/technology.htm.

Kingslake, Rudolf.  A History of the Rochester, NY Camera and Lens Companies, Online Posting, http://www.nwmangum.com/Kodak/Rochester.html.

Kodak Corporation web site.  “George Eastman”, http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/historyOfKodak/eastmanTheMan.jhtml?pq-path=2217/2687/2689.

Konig, Mischa.  “Kodak Classics.”  http://kodak.3106.net/index.php.  An excellent source for information on classic Kodak cameras.

Living Image Vintage Camera Museum. “Autographic Kodaks.” Online Posting.  http://licm.org.uk/livingImage/Kodak-Autographic.htm.

Mc Keown, Jim, and McKeown, Joan.  Collectors Guide to Kodak Cameras.  Centennial Photo Service, Grantsburg, WI, 1981.

The Pond In December

The Pond in December

One cold December day, I found this partially frozen pond on the grounds of the Colorado Mining Museum just north of Colorado Springs.  Struck by the contrast of the dark water with the pale ice and the stark overhanging tree branches, I was able to obtain this image with my 1914 Kodak just before the light faded.  I think that it aptly conveys the mood of this bleak day.

Selecting a Vintage Camera I: Roll Film Cameras

A number of cameras manufactured between 1910 and 1950 are eminently suitable for high-quality fine art photography, while many more are, for one reason or other, best left as bookshelf decorations. Photography lovers are fascinated by classic cameras and how they used to function, in fact, there are blog posts such as https://www.hooliganrocknroll.com/a-snapshot-of-3-cameras-from-the-past/ that can provide a quick overview of what they started out as to what we have now.

The first consideration is film size. Over the last 100 years, Kodak has produced roll film in a multiplicity of formats from the tiny disc and 110 sizes through 35mm up to 7×5 inch “Postcard” widths (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_format). Over the years, the majority of these formats have been eliminated, and roll film is presently available primarily in 35mm and 120 sizes, together with 4×5, 5×7, and 8×10 sheet film. Consequently, many cameras from 1910-1930 are unusable without modification because film is no longer available. Fortunately, 120 film was in use as early as 1901, and many fine cameras are available that use this film size. Although 35mm is also a common format in the vintage camera market, I have elected to work exclusively with medium format cameras using 120 film because of the higher image quality inherent in the larger negative. Despite the superb images possible with large format (4×5 and larger), I have avoided formats larger than 120 because of the difficulty and expense inherent in getting large format sheet film developed, scanned and printed. Consequently, all of my vintage photography is done with cameras using 120 roll film.

One thing you should be aware of: Kodak’s ill-fated (to my mind) experiment with 620 film. 620 is basically 120 film spooled onto a narrower spindle with smaller end flanges. Consequently, today’s 120 rolls are too big to fit into a camera designed for 620 film. Since a large proportion of Kodak’s cameras from 1932, when 620 was introduced, through the 1940s used 620 film, there are vast numbers of Kodak roll film cameras that cannot be used with off-the-shelf film. There are a number of ways in which 120 can be used in a 620 camera, including rerolling 120 film onto 620 spindles in total darkness, or trimming off the edges of the flanges on the 120 rolls (see Camerapedia’s entry on these workarounds at www.camerapedia.org/wiki/620_film), but to my mind, the nuisance factor is just too great, and my 620 Kodak cameras are gracing the ends of my bookshelves. Fortunately, European camera manufacturers never bought into the 620 concept, and all of the European medium format roll film cameras employed 120 film.

620 (Left) and 120 (Rilght) Film Spools

620, 120 Metal, 120 Plastic, and 120 Wood Film Spools

The second consideration is the lens type. A camera is a box with a lens on one end and film on the other. If either of the two is suboptimal, it’s not worth snapping the shutter. Many vintage lenses are of superb quality, and some, such as the Heliars and Ektars, are legendary. Others, such as the single-element meniscus lenses, are best avoided. Lenses will be discussed below and elsewhere in this blog.

My primary source for vintage cameras is eBay. A few dealers sell vintage cameras on line, but their prices are typically high. There are risks to buying vintage equipment on eBay, and one should be prepared to do some degree of cleaning and restorative work on most purchases. Restoration techniques will be discussed later. The buyer is strongly advised to peruse the seller’s pictures and descriptions carefully for signs of rust, worn bellows, and defective shutters. Do not be afraid to ask questions of the seller, and do not hesitate to send back a camera that is not as described. With luck, one may acquire a half-century old treasure that looks as if it was just taken off the shelf. However, even under the best of circumstances, one should be prepared to acquire a few cameras that are destined to spend their lives as bookends.

There are a number of excellent references on classic cameras. Many of these are listed in Camerapedia’s list of photographic references at http://www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Sources:_English_language#British_cameras. Naturally, the bible of classic camera aficionados is James and Joan Mc Keown’s wonderful tome McKeown’s Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras. This huge volume is much more than a price guide, being the one source where information on cameras of the last 150 years is summarized in one place.

The following is a summary of my thoughts regarding a number of models of vintage medium format cameras suitable for fine art work. The list is by no means all-inclusive, and there are a number of fine cameras with which I have only limited familiarity. The reader may find it useful to consult David Silver’s excellent article on classic roll film folding cameras on the International Photographic Historical Society’s web site at http://www.photographyhistory.com/cc2.html.

AGFA/ANSCO:

Agfa, founded in Berlin in 1867 as a manufacturer of photographic chemicals, most prominently the film developer Rodinal, produced cameras under its own name in Germany from 1925 until 1983. Folding 120 roll film

The Agfa Isolette

The Agfa Isolette

cameras included the 6×6 cm Isolette series, produced from 1938 until 1960. Agfa’s 6×9 cm cameras were the Billy Record series, introduced in 1927; these varied from very basic, entry-level cameras to some very respectable units with rangefinders and Compur shutters. Isolette and Billy cameras came equipped with one of three lenses: The basic Agnar , the Apotar (a triplet), and the Solinar (a four-element Tessar design). Even the midrange Apotar lens has been described as producing images of excellent quality. See Darryl Young and Jurgen Kreckel’s informative web sites for a more in depth discussion of Agfa cameras and some examples of the image quality obtainable with Agfa lenses at http://www.cleanimages.com/Article-MediumFormatInYourPocket.asp and http://www.certo6.com/index.html.

Agfa Billy Record III

Agfa Billy Record III

E. & H. T. Anthony & Co., begun in 1842, was the oldest American manufacturer of cameras and photographic supplies. Scovill Manufacturing Company, likewise founded in the 1800s and the second largest photographic supply company in the U.S., purchased American Optical Company in 1871, and in 1889 was renamed Scovill and Adams. In 1902, these two photographic giants merged to form Anthony and Scovill. In 1907, the name was shortened to Ansco and the company was moved to Binghamton, New York. In 1928, Ansco merged with Agfa’s US subsidiary to form Agfa-Ansco.

Ansco and Agfa-Ansco produced large numbers of cameras, many of which were inexpensive, consumer-grade “snapshot” cameras, while some were of good quality. Many of the early cameras manufactured by the parent Ansco company used larger film sizes that are now unavailable, and should be considered strictly as display cameras. However, many more, such as the Ansco Isolette and Speedex cameras, were produced by Agfa, and the company also rebranded many cameras made by Chinon, Ricoh, and Minolta. The Ansco Speedexes are identical to the Agfa Isolettes.

Ansco Speedex Special R

Ansco Speedex Special R.

As candidates for fine art cameras using 120 roll film, Agfa-Ansco’s contenders out of its many products are the Isolettes (and their Ansco versions) in 6×6 cm and the higher-end Record cameras in 6×9 cm. Note that the cheaper models lacked slow shutter speeds, and should be avoided. Some later models had rangefinders and light meters; these are desirable options if in working condition.

BALDA:

Founded in 1908 by Max Baldeweg, Balda-Werk was one of the many successful camera companies in Dresden in the early 1900s. It made considerable numbers of folding cameras, some of which were sold to other companies. Balda cameras were fitted with a very wide range of lenses, from the low cost self-branded triplets through Meyers and

Prewar Baldax 6x4.5 cm

Prewar Baldax 6x4.5 cm

Ludwigs, to the high end Schneider Xenars and Xenons, and Zeiss Tessars and Biotars.

After WW II, Balda, like other Dresden companies, was nationalized under Russian control, and its founder fled to West Germany to start anew. Max Baldeweg set up a new company, also called Balda (Balda Kamera-Werk), this time based in Bünde, West Germany. This company produced a series of 35mm and medium-format rollfilm cameras, some of them being sold by Porst under the Hapo brand. The name of the East German company was changed to Belca-Werk in 1951 after considerable litigation; it continued to produce folding cameras, and was absorbed into the east German photo manufacturing conglomerate VEB Kamera-Werke Niedersiedlitz in 1956.

The original factory of Balda-Werk Dresden’s 120 roll film cameras included the Balda and Baldaxette in 6×4.5 and 6×6 cm, and the Baldafix, Juwella, Pontina (also sold as the Hapo 10 and

Balda Super Pontura

Balda Super Pontura

Hapo 45) and Super Pontura in 6×9 cm. The East German Belca plant manufactured the Belfoca in 6×9 cm format, and Balda Bunde produced the Baldi 29, Baldix, Mess-Baldix (Hapo 66e), Balda, and Super Baldax. All of the latter were 6×6 cm format.

The various Baldax cameras were well constructed and fitted with quality lenses and shutters. As such, they were extremely popular in pre- and post-war Europe. The only inexpensive cameras in the Balda line were the Juwellas, simple 6×9 cm self-erecting cameras with metal frame viewfinders and lenses of modest quality; they are not suitable for high definition work.

The prewar Baldax was made throughout the 1930s in three main variants: a 6×4.5 cm small model for #00 shutter size, a 6×4.5 cm large model for #0 shutter size and a 6×6 cm model (#0 size). All the Baldax cameras had solidly built diagonal struts, with a typical shape, larger at the base. Some had a folding optical finder and others had a tubular optical finder. The Super Baldax cameras were higher-grade versions of the parent cameras with coupled rangefinders.

The Baldix was similar to the 6×6 cm Baldax but lacked the frame counter. The Mess-Baldix was an improved variant of the 6×6 cm Baldix. Its optical viewfinder included an uncoupled rangefinder. It was available with an f/3.5 Enna Ennagon, f/2.9 Isco Westar or f/4.5 Balda Baltar.

The Pontina cameras, first produced in 1936-37, were rollfilm cameras with provision for both 6×4.5 and 6×9 cm exposures. They were available with a variety of quality lenses and optical viewfinders.

The Super Pontura is now rare, but was the top of Balda’s line of folding cameras designed for the demanding photographer. It featured a coupled rangefinder with parallax correction and a variety of lenses, including a 105mm Zeiss Tessar in a Compur-Rapid shutter.

ENSIGN:

With the exception of photo historians and camera collectors, Ensign cameras are almost unknown in the United States and Canada. I must admit, however, that I have a soft spot in my heart for these delightful little machines, and would heartily endorse several models for fine art work.

In 1834, George Houghton and Antoine Claudet partnered to found a glass company in London, under the name Claudet & Houghton, becoming George Houghton & Sons in 1892. The company’s headquarters were called Ensign House in 1901, and the company began producing roll film under the Ensign

The Ensign Logo

The Ensign Logo

brand in 1903. In 1904, the company absorbed Holmes (the maker of the famed cameras), and three other companies (including A. C. Jackson, manufacturer of the Ilex cameras) to form Houghtons Ltd., continuing production of the Sanderson cameras until 1939. By 1908, the factory in Walthamstow was the largest camera factory in Britain.

In 1915, Houghtons Ltd. came into a partnership with W. Butcher & Sons Ltd, founding the joint venture Houghton-Butcher Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to share the manufacturing facilities. The two trading companies finally merged on January 1st, 1926 to form Houghton-Butcher (Great-Britain) Ltd., which was renamed Ensign Ltd. in 1930.

Ensign Catalog Page 1939

Ensign Catalog Page 1939

The headquarters of the trading company, Ensign Ltd., were destroyed by an air raid on the night of September 24, 1940. In 1945, the manufacturing company, Houghton-Butcher Manufacturing Co., joined with Elliott & Sons Ltd. (maker of the film brand “Barnet”) to become Barnet Ensign Ltd. In 1948 Ross and Barnet Ensign were merged to Barnet Ensign Ross Ltd., which was finally renamed Ross-Ensign Ltd. in 1954.

The company was remarkable for two reasons: First, for producing “… high-quality cameras … which can be considered to be superior in finish, and at least equal in performance, to the finest similar equipment produced in Germany up to that time… (S. Marriott, http://www.marriottworld.com/pieces/pieces29.htm). And secondly, for having the bone-headed stupidity to completely ignore the oncoming tidal wave of 35mm, and never even attempt to produce a viable 35mm camera! Consequently, like the passenger pigeon and the Siberian wolf, by the late 1950s this fine company had quietly faded away, with its assets auctioned off at bargain-basement prices.

As the waters have receded, however, some fine pieces of photographic equipment have been left behind on the shore. Of the many Houghton cameras, I would suggest that the reader give serious consideration to the Ensign Selfix series. These have been aptly described by Stephanie Marriott in the reference cited above; some of her comments are summarized below.

The Ensign Selfix 820 was described in a contemporary catalogue as “…Probably the finest roll-film camera, designed successfully to beat all the German competition both in optical and mechanical performance…” The camera body is die-cast metal covered in black morocco leather. The top of

Ensign Selfix 820

Ensign Selfix 820

the body is finished in satin chrome, and the folding Albada viewfinder is located in the center of the top plate. A 105 mm.f/3.8 Ross Xpres lens is mounted in an Epsilon eight speed shutter. The cable-release socket is standard, but the flash sync socket is unique to the Ensign line, and the special Ensign connectors are virtually unobtainable. The Selfix 8/20 takes either 8 or 12 exposures on 120 roll film. Folding masks in the back of the camera allow either format to be selected and the viewfinder has markings for both. Given the propensity for drop-in masks to be lost during the forty-some years since roll film cameras were manufactured, this is a highly desirable feature.

The Ensign Selfix 820 Special is an 820 with a different top-plate assembly, which includes an uncoupled rangefinder and a nonfolding optical viewfinder. The viewfinder has a sliding mask for 6×6 cm. format. An accessory shoe is located on the top of the rangefinder. The Epsilon shutter fitted to the 820 Special usually has a standard 3 mm coaxial connection for flash.

The Ensign Selfix 16-20 (later called the Model II), yielding 16 pictures in 6×4.5 cm format on 120 film, was probably the closest Ensign ever got to producing a “miniature” camera in the post-war period. The design of the 16/20 follows the principles of the 8/20, but the top plate and the Albada viewfinder are combined in a streamlined shape. The Epsilon shutter is

Ensign Selfix 16-20

Ensign Selfix 16-20

smaller and has a top speed of 1/300 sec. The lens is a Ross Xpres f/3.5 75 mm. One interesting feature is that the body release incorporates a blunt pin that presses into the user’s finger if one attempts to take a picture without advancing the film.

The Ensign Selfix 12-20 takes 12 6×6 cm images on 120 film. The design is similar to the 16-20, and the 12-20 uses the same lens and shutter as the 16/20. The shutter release and the camera front release are two chromium plated, tear-drop shaped buttons at the front of the top plate.

Some models of the Selfix cameras were equipped with the Ensar f/6.3 75mm lens. This is an extremely respectable lens and produces very sharp images. However, be aware that some of the cheaper models lacked slow shutter speeds and should be avoided.

FRANKA:

In 1909, Franz Vyskocil and his wife moved their small camera shop and factory from Stuttgart to Bayreuth in Bavaria. After several transitions, the factory received its final name, Franka-Kamerawerk. The company produced plate cameras until 1930, when roll film camera production began. In 1960, the company was purchased by Wirgin. Franka produced many models of 120 format folding roll film cameras, as well as still cameras in 16mm and 35mm format, until production ceased in 1966. Models to consider are the many Franka Solida models produced in 6×4.5 and 6×6 cm, some of which had rangefinders, and the 6×9 cm Rolfix models.

Rolfix camera production started in the early 1930s and continued into the

Rolfix II with f/4.5 Radionar

mid 1950s. The prewar models had flip-up optical viewfinders, while postwar models had enclosed viewfinders, and, in the case of the Rolfix IIE, an uncoupled rangefinder. Lenses were commonly an f/3.5 105 mm Rodenstock Trinar or f/4.5 105 mm Schneider Radionar in a Prontor or Compur-Rapid Shutter. Later models had provision for 4.5×6 and 6×6 cm formats with drop-in masks.

The Trinars and Radionars are both three element lenses (triplets) and have differing comments on their optical quality. Many photographers assume that a four element lens such as a Tessar is automatically sharper than a triplet and, as I have mentioned above, in actual practice this is not always true. Comments on photography discussion boards (photo.net is very useful in this area) suggest that prewar versions of these lenses can be soft at the edges at large apertures unless stopped down to f/11-f/22. Other comments suggest that “…triplets are fine lens, especially post war types which are coated and have the new Lanthanium glass…” and “…the Trinar is a very good lens. It is the only three element I continue to use in 105mm focal length 6x9mm format. I have a coated f2.9 version that seems every bit as sharp as my uncoated Xenar…” Both the Trinar and Radionar were fitted to these cameras in an f/2.9 version, and the availablility of these faster lenses may be a factor in favour of choosing a Franka camera.

The Solida family tree, oddly enough, had two branches: the Vertical Solidas, manufactured from the mid 1930s until the early 1960s, primarily for 6×6 cm with a few early 4.5×6 cm models, and the Horizontal Solidas,

Horizontal Franka Solida II with f/3.5 80mm Xenar

Isolette-style folders for 6×6 cm format with a few models having provision for the bizarre format of 4×4 cm. The Horizontal Solidas were produced from1953 through the early 1960s. After the war, the horizontal models became the Solida I, II, Junior and Record, while the vertical models became the Solida III series. In the horizontal series, the Solida IIs are preferable, as they are more sophisticated than the Solida I models, and the Junior and Record Solida cameras are basic models which should be avoided. A manual for the Franka Solida cameras can be downloaded at Mike Butkus’ web site at http://www.butkus.org/chinon/solida/solida_6x6_i_ii.htm

The vertical model Solida cameras came with Radionar or Trinar f/2.9 80mm

Verical Franka Solida IIIE with f/2.9 Radionar

lenses in one of the several models of Prontor or Compur shutters; occasional models can be found with Xenar lenses. Frankar, Westar, or Cassar lenses were less expensive, and probably lower quality, options. All had body shutter releases, and some models had engraved top depth of field scales. The III E models had an uncoupled rangefinder. Later Solida III L models were equipped with selenium light meters; the III EL cameras had both. The meter may or may not be an asset, depending on whether it is working and accurate. Overall, when in good condition, these are compact and very functional 6×6 cm cameras. Jurgen Krenkel comments of the Solida IIIE “…I’ve always found these to be excellent cameras and excellent optics…”

The horizontal model Solida II cameras came with similar Radionar/Trinar lens and shutter combinations. As with the vertical models, there were some additional lens types used, including the f/3.5 Isconar, Ennagon, and Westar lenses and f/4.5 and f/3.5 Frankar lenses. Franka purchased its lower-end lenses from a variety of manufacturers. Isco, founded in Gottingen in 1936, is still in existence today and specializes in cinema projection lenses. It has made lenses for a variety of camera manufacturers, and produced for Franka the Isconar and Westar lenses. Frankar lenses were made by Steiner-Optik GmbH of Bayreuth, a well-known manufacturer of binoculars; Steiner also manufactured camera lenses which were of reasonable quality. In accordance with the nomenclature of the vertical series, cameras designated E had rangefinders and those designated L had selenium light meters.

KODAK:

Kodak cameras will be discussed under their own heading.

VOIGTLANDER:

Founded by Johann Christoph Voigtländer in Vienna in 1756 , Voigtlander was the first factory for optical instruments and precision mechanics in

The Petzval Portrait Lens

The Petzval Portrait Lens

Austria. In 1840, after the invention of the photographic process by Fox Talbot and Louis Daguerre, Voigtlander produced the first camera lens designed according to mathematical principles. The Petzval portrait lens, created by Jozef Petzval, was, despite its distinct peripheral aberrations, one of the great lenses of the late 1800s, and has enjoyed a resurgence among present-day portrait photographers who strive for a “classic” look.

After a long history of producing quality cameras and lenses, Voigtlander became a part of Zeiss in 1965. In 1972 Zeiss/Voigtländer stopped producing cameras, and a year later Zeiss sold Voigtländer to Rollei. On the collapse of Rollei in 1982, the Voigtlander company was purchased by Plusfoto GmbH & Company, a buying cooperative of German photo dealers. Plusfoto sold Voigtlander in 1997 to Ringfoto GmbH & Company, a similar cooperative, who relaunched the company. In the late 1990s, Cosina licensed the rights to use the Voigtländer name and the names of Voigtländer lenses for its own products, introducing the Bessa series of 35mm rangefinder cameras. McKeown reports that the Cosina-produced Heliar lenses are of excellent quality.

Over the years when it was an independent manufacturer of cameras and lenses, Voigtlander has produced many fine cameras, as well as some that were cheaper and aimed strictly at the consumer market. In the category of quality folding cameras taking 120 film, the two series to consider are the Bessa 6×9 cm cameras and the 6×6 cm Perkeos.

There were many Bessas, starting in the 1920s and extending through the 1950s. One excellent model is the Bessa I, with the option of taking eight 6×9

Rear of Bessa I with Mask

Rear of Bessa I with Mask

cm exposures or 16 6×4.5 cm exposures with a removable mask that drops into the focal plane. Unfortunately, like most removable pieces on old cameras, it is usually missing. The viewfinder is integrated into the top housing and has parallax correction by a series of rotating masks. The lens is either a three element f/4.5 105mm Vaskar or a four element, Tessar-type f/3.5 105mm Color-Skopar. Although simple, the Vaskar is reported to produce excellent images. The shutters are Prontors or Compur-Rapids with speeds from 1 to 1/250 second. The Bessa I cameras retail at $35-100.

The Bessa II is of top quality and has excellent optics, being fitted with either

Bessa  II with Heliar Lens

Bessa II with Heliar Lens

a Colour-Skopar, a five-element f/3.5 105mm Colour-Heliar, or, very rarely, a six element Apo-Lanthar. Focusing is unusual, being accomplished with a knurled wheel on the top left of the body that moves the entire front lens/shutter combination in and out. The viewfinder and rangefinder are combined in the top housing. The shutter is a Compur-Rapid or Synchro-Compur with a top speed or 1/400 or 1/500 second, respectively.

The main disadvantage of the Bessa II is that it is very expensive: prices for a Bessa II with a Colour-Skopar range from $300 to $500; with a Colour-Heliar, from $500 to $800; and with the Apo-Lanthar, from $2400 to $2800. My philosophy when faced with prices of this sort is that one should buy a lens that gives one the best possible images; this may or may not be an expensive lens. Past this point, spending large quantities of money is overkill. Superb work can be done readily with cameras costing under $100, and many of the images in this blog were done with Kodak cameras costing under $25.

The 6×6 cm Perkeo, a well made but fairly basic camera, came in three

Perkeo II with Colour Skopar

Perkeo II with Colour Skopar

models: I, II and IIIe, all with a viewfinder enclosed in the top housing. The Perkeo I indicates whether the shutter has been cocked and has double exposure prevention, while the II adds a frame counter. The IIIe, which was produced only in small numbers, possesses an uncoupled rangefinder but lacks the frame counter. Lenses are either the Vaskar or a 80mm f/3.5 Colour-Skopar, mounted in Prontor or Compur shutters.

Frank Mechelhoff’s site has some excellent comments and complete diagrams of a large series of historical Voigtlander lenses.

WELTA:

Welta, founded in 1914 as Weeka-Kamera-Werk, was one of the many camera manufacturing companies in the Dresden area in the early twentieth century. Initially producing plate cameras, the company changed its name to Welta-Kamera-Werk and introduced roll film cameras circa 1920. 35mm cameras were introduced in 1935. The company became state run after World War II, and was finally absorbed into VEB Pentacon in 1964.

Welta produced two roll film cameras that should be considered: the Weltur,

Welta Weltur 6x9 cm

Welta Weltur 6x9 cm

available in 6×9, 6×6, and 6×4.5 cm formats, and the Weltax, produced in 6×6 and 6×4.5 cm. The Weltur, produced from 1935 to 1940, had a rangefinder coupled to a focusing system that moved the whole front lens assembly. Earlier models had shutter-mounted releases, while later editions had releases mounted on the body. The Welturs came equipped with a variety of lenses, including a Cassar, Trinar, Radionar, Tessar, Trioplan or Xenar, mounted in Compur or Compur-Rapid shutter. A manual for the Weltur (in German) is available at http://www.scribd.com/doc/17619947/Manual-for-the-Weltax-camera.

The Weltax cameras were basically Welturs with body releases but without

Welta Weltax

Welta Weltax

the rangefinder. A top viewfinder had parallax correction. Like the Weltur, format was changed by means of drop-in masks which are often missing. Both the Weltur and the Weltax are extremely well made, and it is reported that images made even with the simpler Triotar lens can be enlarged to 24×36 in. The Weltax was produced both before and after World War II; there are some reports that claim that the postwar units were of lesser quality.

ZEISS:

A giant and major innovator among optical companies, the original Zeiss

Market Square, Jena

Market Square, Jena

company, Carl Zeiss Jena, was founded in 1846 in the university city of Jena, in the province of Thuringia in eastern Germany. Originally a manufacturer of microscopes and scientific instruments, the company founded the Schlott Glass Works to develop specialized optical glasses for microscopes. Recognizing the potential of these new glasses for photographic lenses, the company hired Dr. Paul Rudolph, who designed the famous Anastigmat, Planar, and Tessar lenses. Zeiss entered the camera manufacturing business in 1902 with the acquisition of the Palmos A.G. Company.

In 1909, Palmos was transferred to the ICA group, and the Jena company returned to lens manufacture. In 1926, four camera manufacturers, ICA, Contessa-Nettel, Ernemann, and Goerz, merged to form Zeiss Ikon, which became one of the major photographic manufacturers in Dresden, with plants in Stuttgart and Berlin. After World War II and the partition of Germany, both Jena and Dresden became part of the Soviet-run eastern bloc. Zeiss Jena was assisted by the US army to relocate to the Contessa manufacturing facility in Stuttgart, where the new headquarters were set up. Camera and lens production continued through the merger with Voigtlander (see above) until camera production ceased in1972.

The East German component, VEB Zeiss Ikon Dresden, restarted production in 1945, but was forced to interrupt when the Russian Army took most of the existing Zeiss factory equipment, tooling and remaining personnel back to the Soviet Union to form the Kiev camera works as reparation for the destruction of Russian camera factories. Camera production resumed with manufacture of the famed Contax line. As a result of trademark disputes with Zeiss Ikon AG, the company was renamed VEB Kinowerke Dresden in 1958, and later formed a major part of the photographic conglomerate Pentacon.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in 1990 had vastly different implications for the Eastern and Western divisions of Zeiss. The West German corporation was efficient and technologically advanced; its East German counterpart was nearly bankrupt, grossly inefficient, technically backward, and had a bloated staff of approximately 70,000. Sadly, only a portion of the staff and facilities were acquired by Carl Zeiss of West Germany. The history of post-reunification Zeiss is complex (for example, cameras named “Contax” had been produced on both sides of the Iron Curtain) and has been well documented on Company Seven’s web site at http://www.company7.com/zeiss/history.html.

Zeiss produced a number of important 120 roll film cameras suitable for fine art work; models that should be considered include the entry-level Nettar cameras, together with the Ikontas and rangefinder-equipped Super Ikontas.

The Nettars, designed as a low cost alternative to the more expensive Ikonta

Zeiss Nettar 517 6x6 cm

Zeiss Nettar 517 6x6 cm

series, were one of the most commercially successful of all Zeiss Ikon cameras. Although simple and somewhat more lightly built than the Ikontas, they are worthy of consideration. Nettar cameras were available in 6×9, 6×6, and 6×4.5 cm formats, and were equipped with either Tessar, Nettar, or Novar lenses. The Tessar is preferred, although the Nettar and Novar lenses, both of which are three element lenses, have been reported to produce respectable results. There are some reports that suggest that both of these triplets are best when used stopped down. Prontor or Compur shutters are preferred; some models came with the cheaper Vario, Klio or Derval shutters. Viewfinders are of simple metal frame design except for those models with a viewfinder incorporated into the top plate assembly.

The Ikontas and Super Ikontas (equipped with coupled rangefinders) were

Zeiss Super Ikonta Model 531 6x9 cm

Zeiss Super Ikonta Model 531 6x9 cm

Zeiss Ikon’s top line of roll film cameras. Starting in the 1930s, a bewildering variety of Ikonta-series cameras were produced, with an equally bewildering system of nomenclature. A well organized and lucid account of the evolution of the Ikonta line and its model numbers can be found on Pacific Rim Camera’s Zeiss page (see below). The majority came equipped with Tessar lenses (or less frequently, a Schneider Xenar) in Prontor or Compur shutters, with a Novar lens in a Derval shutter, or a Triotar in a Klio shutter as a lower cost alternative. Prewar lenses were typically uncoated, while units produced after the war more commonly had coated lenses. Some later Super Ikontas were fitted with selenium-cell light meters. There have been some questions raised about the Zeiss Opton Tessar lenses, which should be of excellent quality. However, there have been claims on photography blogs that some of the postwar Optons were assembled by relatively unskilled staff and that the lens elements may not retain their position.

Many of the Ikontas came with simple metal frame viewfinders, while the

Zeiss Super Ikonta B Model 532 6X6 cm

Zeiss Super Ikonta B Model 532 6X6 cm

Super Ikontas had Albada-type optical viewfinders. Later Super Ikontas models had the viewfinder and rangefinder base assembly incorporated into the top plate assembly. With the exception of the Super Ikonta III and IV, the last of the Ikonta line, the Super Ikontas’ typical appearance resulted from their rotating wedge rangefinder, which had the wedge located on an arm attached to the lens standard. All rangefinders were coupled except for the 6×6 cm “Mess-Ikonta” Model 524 6×6 cm, which had an uncoupled rangefinder incorporated into the top plate.

The Ikontas and Super Ikontas are of excellent quality, but it should be noted that they are rather expensive, falling in the range of $150-500. If the shutter needs to be cleaned, the overall cost will be approximately $100 higher. However, for this price, one gains excellent Zeiss optics, a large, high resolution negative, and precise rangefinder focusing.

A useful collection of technical notes and images of a number of classic roll film cameras can be found on A. MacPherson’s “Classic Cameras” web site. Some useful thoughts on lenses can be found on Beedham’s UK eBay Guide. Beedham has some interesting conclusions regarding the value of some simpler lenses versus more established names.

References:

Beedhams. “Choosing Medium Format Lenses – What’s in a Name?” eBay UK Guide. http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Choosing-medium-format-lenses-what-apos-s-in-a-name_W0QQugidZ10000000000892177

Camerapedia and Wikipedia articles on Agfa, Ansco, Balda, Ensign, Voigtlander, Welta, and Zeiss.

Cohen, Martin C., “Carl Zeiss- A History of a Most Respected Name in Optics”, Online Posting, Company 7 web site, http://www.company7.com/zeiss/history.html.

“Ikonta”, Pacific Rim Camera, http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/zeiss/ikonta/ikonta.htm.

Krenkel, J., “Vintage Folding Cameras”, http://www.certo6.com.

MacPherson, A. “Classic Cameras.” www.amdmacpherson.com/classiccameras.

Mechelhof, Frank. “VOIGTLANDER – Historial Lenses.” http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Bessa_RF_histo.html

“Super Ikonta”, Pacific Rim Camera, http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/zeiss/sikonta/sikonta.htm.

Young, D., “Medium Format in Your Pocket”, Planet Nikon website, http://www.cleanimages.com/Article-MediumFormatInYourPocket.asp.

Profound thanks to Stephanie Marriott for use of the information on the Marriott web site, and to Darrell Young, Jurgen Krenkel, and the Living Image Camera Museum for the use of images.

The Anastigmat Lens

One of the most fascinating stories in photographic history stems from the search for a faster and better corrected successor to the Rapid Rectilinear lens.  This quest culminated in the creation in the late 1800s and early 1900s of some of the most famous lenses of the twentieth century, many of which are in use today in only slightly modified form.

During the heyday of the Rapid rectilinear lens, only two kinds of optical glass, crown and flint, were available.  Of the several kinds of aberrations that plagued lenses of this era, the most difficult to correct for was astigmatism.  A result of the inability of the marginal portions of lenses made from ordinary crown or flint glass to bring to a focus in the same plane the images of lines radial to the lens and tangential to it, astigmatism was the most recalcitrant of the aberrations.  The search for a true “Anastigmat” lens became the Holy Grail of lens designers for many years.

Mathematical analysis indicated that astigmatism could be eliminated by using glass of appropriate optical characteristics.  In 1884 Dr. Ernst Abbe,

Dr. Ernst Abbe

Dr. Ernst Abbe

then scientific director and partner of Carl Zeiss, joined hands with the German chemist Otto Schott and founded the famous glassworks at Jena.  With financial aid from the Prussian government, their collaboration produced not only the dense barium crown glass of high refractive index required for the first anastigmat lenses, but also a long series of new types of glass of varied optical properties.   As an added benefit, lenses made with the new glasses and corrected for astigmatism were also extremely well corrected for chromatic and spherical aberration as well as having extremely flat fields of focus.

The early anastigmat lenses built on the basic concept used in the Rapid Rectilinear lens, i.e., having two symmetrical or nearly symmetrical lenses on either side of an iris diaphragm, each composed of two or more elements cemented together.  As in the case of the Rapid Rectilinear, many of the aberrations of the two lenses canceled each other out.  In the case of the anastigmat lens, one of the pairs contained elements of barium crown glass of high refractive index; pairing this with a similar lens of conventional crown and flint glass elements allows correction of astigmatism as well.

The first true anastigmatic lens, the Protar, was developed in 1890 by Dr. Paul Rudolph, who was largely responsible for Zeiss’ domination of photographic lens design in this period.  The front group was a standard

The Protar Lens

The Protar Lens

achromatic combination of low-refractive-index crown glass and high-refractive-index flint glass, but the rear group was an innovative achromatic doublet using Jena glass. The front and rear elements were located on either side of the diaphragm, effectively suppressing chromatic aberration.

Following closely on the heels of the Protar, the next famous lens was designed in 1892 by Emil von Hoegh.  A more highly corrected optic employing in each pair a third cemented element intermediate in refractive index between the two external elements, it failed to catch the interest of Carl Zeiss.  Fortunately for von Hoegh, the chief lens

The Dagor Lens

The Dagor Lens

designer of the Goerz corporation had just died, and he won the position.  Marketed as the Dagor (Doppel-Anastigmat GOeRz), it became one of the most successful anastigmats ever produced.  Manufactured by the hundreds of thousands, it is still available on the used markets today.

Another good quality vintage lens derived from the Dagor is the Goerz Dogmar, a further step in the evolution of the anastigmat lens.  In a lens of the Dagor type, the efficiency of refraction depends on the difference in the refractive indices of the elements on either side of the cemented surfaces.  The greater the difference in the refractive index, the shallower the curvature required and the more easily the lens is corrected.  von Hoegh replaced one

The Celor/Dogmar Lens

The Celor/Dogmar Lens

of the cemented surfaces of each pair with an air space, raising the difference in the refractive indices across the glass-to-air interface and resulting in a simple lens of high efficiency. This lens was first introduced as the Celor in 1899, and after its design had been recalculated by W.  Zschokke in a mildly asymmetrical form, as the Dogmar in 1916.

At Zeiss, introduction of an air space into the Protar design was to result in

The Tessar Lens

The Tessar Lens

the development of one of the most successful lenses ever produced- the Tessar.  In 1899, Rudolph replaced the cemented surfaces of the Protar with air spaces.  The result was the Unar, issued in 1899, which had improved correction of aberrations and a larger aperture.  In an effort to further improve corrections, Rudolph combined the two concepts- an air-spaced element and a cemented element- in the Tessar, which was first issued in 1902.  The front component of the Tessar consisted of two lenses separated by

A Cutaway View of the Tessar Lens

A Cutaway View of a Tessar Lens

an air space having a dispersive  effect and resembling the corresponding element of the Unar.  The rear component consisted of two cemented elements having a collective effect, the entire component closely resembling the rear element of the Protar.  The name “Tessar” was derived from the Greek word tessera (four), indicating a four-element design.  It has been claimed that the Tessar is a descendent of the Cooke Triplet (see below),  but it is clear that this famous lens is a logical development of the Protar with replacement of one cemented surface by an air space.

The Tessar design was licensed by Zeiss to other lens makers of the period. After the patents expired, it was copied by almost every major optical manufacturer (a partial listing is available in the Camerapedia entry at www.camerapedia.org/wiki/Tessar).  The Kodak Anastigmats, the most popular lenses on good roll film cameras of the 1920s, are Tessars, as are their legendary offspring, the Kodak Ektars.  A number of other excellent lenses represent modifications of the Tessar design, most notably the excellent Ross Xpres, the premier lens of the English Ensign roll film cameras; this is a Tessar design with the rear component consisting of three cemented elements instead of a doublet.  The Xpres was introduced in 1913 based on a design by by J. Stuart and J. W. Hasselkus.  The rear triplet served two functions: it to some extent reduced zonal spherical aberration, and it allowed the designers to bypass Zeiss’ patents!

While Carl Zeiss and C.P Goerz were developing lenses based on the concept of the symmetrical doublet in Germany, a new family of lenses was being born at the famous English telescope manufacturer Cooke.  In 1893, H. Dennis Taylor, scientific director of Cooke, invented a lens consisting of three single elements separated by air spaces.  The Cooke triplet, as it was to become known, consists of a central negative biconcave flint glass element with a positive crown glass element on either side. In this design, the

The Cooke Triplet

The Cooke Triplet

negative lens can be as strong as the outer two combined, so that the sum of the powers (diopters) of the elements can be zero, yet the lens will converge light. Since the curvature of the field is related to the sum of the diopters, the field can be very flat. At the time, the Cooke triplet represented a major advance in photographic lens design, being very highly corrected and having the additional advantage of being very light and compact.  After the patents expired, this design was copied by multiple optical manufacturers.  Many of the later Cooke lenses are still considered desirable acquisitions for large format work.  Cooke is still a well known manufacturer of lenses for cinematography (see http://www.cookeoptics.com/cooke.nsf/pages/index.html).

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Cooke triplet, however, was that it was the progenitor of one of the most famous lenses ever produced.  In 1902, Harting calculated for the German firm Voigtlander a five-element system consisting of two cemented doublets with a singe biconcave negative lens between them.  It is thus a true triplet, with the external lenses consisting of two cemented doublets instead of the single elements of the Cooke lens.  These changes helped address the Triplet’s shortcomings of longitudinal aberration while still allowing for a fast aperture. The lens had a speed of  f/4.5 and covered 50 degrees. Its large aperture made it suitable for portraiture and work at fast shutter speeds. Issued by Voigtlander as the Heliar, it is still one of the most highly regarded lenses ever manufactured, and the classic Heliars, produced for a variety of film formats, command respectable prices to this day.  The Heliar went through numerous modifications, including one incarnation marketed as the Dynar, up into the 1960s; these have been carefully documented in the Antique and Classic Cameras web site (http://www.antiquecameras.net/heliarlenses.html).  For the kind of 6x9cm (2 1/4 x 3 1/4 in) medium format work discussed here, the Heliar lenses are most commonly found on the Voigtlander Bessa roll film cameras and the famous Bergheil plate cameras.

The Dusty Country Store

The Dusty Country Store

Coming back from a photographic camping trip to the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse  region of  southeastern Washington, I found myself driving through miles of the much less lovely drylands country of the south central part of Coming back from a photographic camping trip to the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse  region of  southeastern Washington, I found myself driving through miles of the much less lovely drylands country of the south central part of the state.  After miles of bedraggled little towns and tumbleweeds, I came to the aptly-named community of Dusty, where I found this quaint store inhabiting an old Quonset hut.  I could not resist a shot with my 1928 No. 1 Kodak; this was taken at f/22 on Kodak XP-2.  Once again, the Anastigmat lens demonstrates its sharpness and ability to reproduce delicate tonal nuances.

Note:  “The Dustry Country Store” is now featured on the Palouse Scenic Byway web site; see http://www.palousescenicbyway.com/default.asp?PageID=17.