The Optical Story
An overview of Optical, a small manufacturer of projection lenses from Spain, as well as images taken with some of their lenses, adapted onto digital cameras.
The Projection Optics Story
An historical overview of Projection Optics, a small US-based manufacturer of projection lenses as well as images taken with some of their lenses, adapted onto digital cameras.
The Aldis Story
Famously the only good thing to come out of Sparkhill, Birmingham (a long way from Alabama), the Aldis brothers were to set their family name on a handful of British icons. In the grand scheme of things, Aldis can be considered as spawning from Dallmeyer in 1901. The company quickly established itself with a range …
The Waterworth Story
The bent of young Waterworth was perhaps revealed by his acquisition of membership to the Royal Society of Tasmania at the age of 17 – at whose meetings and lectures were discussed such wide-ranging and improving topics as horticulture, practical and adapted science, history, philosophy and psychology. His 1990 obituary cited gardening as his primary private …
The Dallmeyer Story
Another seminal maker lost to the purview of recent generations, J.H. Dallmeyer was destined for entanglement in the fate of its internecine rival, A. Ross. John Henry Dallmeyer was the son-in-law of Andrew Ross, and was employed initially in the company’s workshop, then as a scientific advisor. Following the death of Andrew Ross in 1858, …
F. Faliez (Paris)
Relegated to an obscurity unilluminated by the usual sources, the French manufacturer F. Faliez was active from approximately 1912 until at least the late 1940s, with factories and offices based in the village of Aufreville-Brasseuil in Mantes, fifty kilometres west of Paris in the Seine-et-Oise district – it’s distinctive ‘Ft PARIS’ branding a somewhat elastic …
The Ross Story
Company history Dating Clues: Premises and Branding Advertisements and catalogues show the domed square of the traditional Ross London and Ross Ensign logo giving way to a sleeker bowed cartouche with ‘Ross London’ in a double-decker arrangement during 1956. Restructuring and relocation of the company between 1955-1957 resulted in Ross the public limited company simply …
The Rank Family
Founded by its namesake in 1937, the J. Arthur Rank Organisation rapidly grew to dominate the British film and photographic landscape. ‘Rank’ products encompassed projection screens, lenses, cameras, darkroom equipment, technical instruments and a diverse range of accessories previously designed and made by a roster of independent makers. By 1968 Rank had completed a program …
The Tomioka Story
Tomioka has acquired a peculiar mystique among collectors, artificially inflating the value of some otherwise unremarkable lenses. The making of often-spurious connections with Carl Zeiss has at times felt like a conspiracy to overheat the market. The Tomioka brand has become a talisman, indiscriminately conferring desirability on a wide range of optics. However, some of …
The Isco Story
NB: This is a draft article with a number of omissions and content to be added. If you have any in-depth information, or original manufacturer manuals, catalogues or period advertisements that might be relevant, please email Mark here. Peer review and contributors welcome, and will be credited. Similarly, if you have any memorable images shot …