Only after having 25 years experience collecting and repairing Graflex and Graphic cameras, I have a question on lens identification numbers! In old catalogs and the Paine Review of Graflex, many lenses are identified as #1/#2/#3..17a/thru #27 and higher! I have never found what these numbers represent in inches/cm's/mm's????
Have any of you fellas ever found or made a list of these lens callouts, and what they represent in more definate terms, and were these only F&S designations, or were other manufactures using these no's as well in the early days?
Have a nice day........Bert

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On 2006-08-02 09:25, bertsaunders wrote: Only after having 25 years experience collecting and repairing Graflex and Graphic cameras, I have a question on lens identification numbers! In old catalogs and the Paine Review of Graflex, many lenses are identified as #1/#2/#3..17a/thru #27 and higher! I have never found what these numbers represent in inches/cm's/mm's???? Have any of you fellas ever found or made a list of these lens callouts, and what they represent in more definate terms, and were these only F&S designations, or were other manufactures using these no's as well in the early days? Have a nice day........Bert

Bert, the numbers were assigned by the manufacturers and there was no uniformity at all. Take a hike over to http://www.cameraeccentric.com and look at, for example, the B&L and Wollensak catalogs. What drives me bats is that the EKCo #s for B&L-made Zeiss Kodak Anastigmats don't match B&L's numbers for the same lenses.

Sorry,

Dan

Am I confusing your inquiry with lens TYPE numbers, for example on some military/aerial lenses, there may be a label Type I, II, III, whatever (I may have arbitrary and contradictory examples above).

There is a chart in...uh, I think MIL-STD-150A with 'Lens Type' numbers up into the 'teens by their function.

I ran across a copy cleaning the garage the other day, but I don't know how easy it would be to find again.

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On 2006-08-08 22:54, Murray@uptowngallery.org wrote: Am I confusing your inquiry with lens TYPE numbers, for example on some military/aerial lenses, there may be a label Type I, II, III, whatever (I may have arbitrary and contradictory examples above). There is a chart in...uh, I think MIL-STD-150A with 'Lens Type' numbers up into the 'teens by their function. I ran across a copy cleaning the garage the other day, but I don't know how easy it would be to find again.

Yes, Murray, you're confusing. Go to the link I gave Bert and look at, e.g., the B&L and Wollensak catalogs. Reading them makes me want to go soak my head.

Cheers,

Dan