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 becoming Ross Ltd. We have not resisted the temptation to coincide the step change of serial numbers with these events when proposing the timeline of Ross’ 20th Century serials.

Main Sequence Serial Numbers

Ross pre-war serial numbers are presented here broadly as they appear in d’Agostini & Rose, with minor additions and revisions.

Year	Serial #	Year	Serial #	Year	Serial #
1840	100	1865	10,500	1890	39,750
1841	130	1866	11,000	1891	45,300
1842	160	1867	11,500	1892	51,000
1843	200	1868	12,086	1893	52,656
1844	240	1869	13,000	1894	53,756
1845	290	1870	13,550	1895	54,900
1846	340	1871	14,639	1896	56,000
1847	400	1872	15,550	1897	57,100
1848	470	1873	16,750	1898	58,200
1849	550	1874	18,136	1899	59,315
1850	640	1875	19,950	1900	61,520
1851	790	1876	19,100	1901	61,520
1852	990	1877	19,800	1902	62,625
1853	1,390	1878	20,050	1903	63,727
1854	1,890	1879	20,401	1904	64,830
1855	2,590	1880	21,000	1905	65,933
1856	3,390	1881	21,750	1906	67,035
1857	4,290	1882	22,000	1907	68,139
1858	5,190	1883	22,750	1908	69,240
1859	7,000	1884	23,000	1909	70,435
1860	7,500	1885	23,750	1910	71,450
1861	8,000	1886	24,500	1911	72,555
1862	7,700	1887	26,750	1912	73,910
1863	9,200	1888	28,000	1913	74,500
1864	9,800	1889	29,000	1914	76,500

As with Dallmeyer, collectors’ interest tends to focus on the early – and rather more glorious – period of Ross’ history. The gloomy slide from zenith of Empire to a global industrial ‘also-ran’ makes the local story seem less worth telling, but anyone interested in using Ross lenses to capture images is more likely to find better mileage in seeking out its post-War, 20th Century product range. This period contains no world-beating innovation from Ross, but nonetheless an incremental refinement that favours later lenses. Being able to date them to a reasonable degree of accuracy seems not to have previously been a priority. We have therefore fleshed out the backbone of the Early Photography lens list to arrive at the most complete guide to Ross post-war serial numbers thus far compiled.

First, it’s necessary to understand that Ross assigned local ranges to different product types: for instance, almost all the projector lenses are four- and five-digit serials in their own sequence. This is summarised separately. It seems that certain Resolux enlarger lenses were also given their own serial range – perhaps these were sold bundled with enlargers – starting at around 50,000 in 1946 and ending at around 99,000 in c.1965. Other Resoluxes of this period – perhaps those sold individually – have serials belonging to the main sequence. Items such as monocular gun-sights and field binoculars from WWI have been observed with serials in the 44,xxx range. Items such as aircraft gunsights advertised as WWII have been observed with serials in the 118,202.

Focusing on the main sequence, Ross’ primary business in the first half of the 20th Century was cameras, lenses and binoculars. As we move into the second half of the 20th Century, from around the mid-1950s, Ross’ photographic division was in steep and irreversible decline, and production of binoculars dominated the company’s output in at least the last decade. Here, Terence Wayland’s compilation of binocular serials is useful to compare and contrast.

At some point – for reasons outlined above, and because it fits the available chronology, we’re proposing the year 1956 – Ross appears to have reset the main serial sequence. Post-1956 serials (of individually-sold enlarger lenses and binoculars) therefore rise from c.100 and reached c.99,500.

Year	Serial #	Year	Serial #	Year	Serial #
1915	78,500	1940
1916	79,500
1917	80,000
1918	83,996
1919	85,000-95,000
1920	95,000-99,500
1921	100,000-102,000
1922	102,000-103,400
1923	103,500-105,000			1965	42039
1924	105,000-106,000
1925	106,000-108,500
1926	108,500-110,000
1927	110,000-112,000			c.1968	72539
1928	112,000-114,500
1929	114,500-116,000
1930	116,000-120,000
1931	120,000-122,000
1932	122,000-126,500
1933	126,500-128,000
1934	128,000-130,000	1956	269,378 – 100
1935	130,000-133,000	1957	15,000
1936	133,000-137,500	1958	28,735	1972	c.99,500
1937	137,500-140,000	1959
1938-39	140,000-142,000	1960	32,967

Ross at War

Crimean War

World War I

Ross Airo

World War II

Though not as large a production facility as Dallmeyer or Taylor-Hobson, Ross nonethless had a proportional input to the British war effort, and is said to have co-ordinated Air Ministry contracts. The most common lenses deriving from this period were supplied under contract to the Air Ministry, flagged by the AM 14A marking, followed by a Ministry contract number. Ross was ascribed a VV prefix to lenses it supplied. However, many Air Ministry lenses have no suffixes, or markings other than the contract number and focal length, and it is possible that Ross supplied a number of these ‘anonymous’ optics, too. Somewhat less famously than Dallmeyer and Taylor-Hobson, Ross also manufactured the five-element Pentac aero recon optics initially mounted on the Spitfire, and subsequently on the Mosquito – though they contributed no maker’s mark to these lenses. The company’s excellent Xpres lenses were also in heavy demand.

Observation of surviving samples gives us a glimpse of production in the period, with serial numbers usefully (mainly) appearing to remain in sequence:

AIR MINISTRY LENSES	Serial #	AM Contract
[Pentac Air Reconnaisance] 8-inch f2.9	No. VV 176,395 – VV 183,835	14A/3385
5-in Wide Angle Xpres f4-11	No. 146,123	14A/843
5-in f4-f11 [Xpres]	No. VV 178,093 – VV 178,565	14A/843
5-in Wide Angle Xpres f4-11	No. 146,725	14A/1101
5-in f4-f11 [Xpres]	No. 155,947 – 170781	14A/1101
6-in Wide Angle Xpres f4	No. 127,451	14A/748
20-in f6.3	No. VV 195,374	14A/2320
20-in f6.3 Telephoto	VV 60,580-60,661	14A/3262
20-in f6.3 Telephoto	VV 9,500-9,770	14A/3262
24-in f/6.3 E.M.I Xpres	No. 48,827	–
6-in Wide Angle Survey Lens	No. 234,909	–

E.M.I marked on the chunky post-WWII mapping lenses stands for ‘Extra Marginal Illumination’. A number of ‘War Department’ lenses marked with the ‘W↑D’ logo were also made by Ross during this period, with a similar numbering system.

Enlarger Lenses

The Resolux range of enlarging lenses appeared shortly after the end of World War II, perhaps even being released in late 1945 – certainly no later than March 1946. They were typical of ‘next-generation’ products: leveraged by newly-muscled wartime production facilities now at risk of falling idle. All surfaces were coated – a fact proudly engraved on early (c.1946-1950) samples. The Tessar formula of the Resolux range gave excellent results: they were (at least) comparable to the best German enlarger lenses of the period.

Ross enlarger lenses performed strongly in the marketplace, too, and appear to have been in demand throughout the 1950s and 1960s. In the UK photo press of 1957, Ross promoted the launch of a new, inexpensive range of enlarger lenses at Photo Fair Olympia that year. Visitors to the show were given the first look at a radical depature from the sturdy cylinders of the vintage Resoluxes: the two-tone black and cream plastic barreled Rosstars.

Rosstar wasn’t a new brand name for Ross: the entry level option for Clubman and Selfix 16-20 Mark II cameras of the early 1950s was a Rosstar 75mm f4.5 triplet. And there’s something very ‘entry-level’ about the haptics of the Rosstars versus the Resoluxes, which by comparison feel hewn from ingots. Offered as a cut-priced alternative to Resolux, the audacious-looking Rosstars matched their elder siblings for focal lengths, but the 5cm and 11cm Rosstars slipped to f4.5. The narrow range of serial numbers and scarcity on the used market suggests that these unpopular models were quickly canned, while Resolux models were still in catalogues in the mid-1960s.

The gamut of Ross enlarger lenses needs little space to summarise:

Name	Elements	Production	Serial #
Resolux 5cm f3.5 [V1] (for 35mm)		1946-c.1950	198,355-232,839 (pre-1950) 20,861 60,053-69,568
Resolux 5cm f3.5 [V2] (for 35mm)		c.1950-1965	70,858-92,700 (pre-1956) 15,133-19,162 (late logo)
Resolux 9cm f4 (for 6×6 and 645)		1946-c.1965	224,711-227,168 (pre-1956) 15,519-23,691 (late logo) 93,868 (late logo)
Resolux 11cm f4 (for 6×9)		1946-c.1965	216,882-233,610 (pre-1956) 94,161-94,179
Rosstar 5cm f4.5 (for 35mm)		1957-c.1959
Rosstar 9cm f4 (for 6×6 and 645)		1957-c.1959	12,481-13,285
Rosstar 11cm f4.5 (for 6×9)		1957-c.1959	11,302-13,749

Projection Lenses

The original range of Ross 35mm cine projection lenses was launched prior to 1921 in focal lengths from 115-152mm, available in 42.6mm and 52.6mm diameter barrels, giving them maximum aperture-ratings from f2.5 to f4.14. At some point during the 1930s, these lenses became fully coated, improving their transmissivity. The innovation was prominently flagged on the barrel as ‘Bloomed’ – old-speak for ‘coated’.

Post-war, Ross cine projector lenses were advertised as ‘Rosskote’. In 1945 we also see Ross banging the drum about its exciting new f1.9 range – Rosslyte – which later spawned Type B, C and D variants, all specified with the same aperture. Some of these were five-element designs. Subsequently, by the early 1960s, at least, Rosskote lenses had morphed into ‘Super’ Rosskote offerings with improved f2.2-f2.3 ratings.

Lens Designation	f number	Elements / Groups	Produced	Notes
PRE-WAR SERIES			Prior to 1921	Larger f-number 52.6mm barrel; Smaller f-number: 42.6mm barrel
Projection 115mm	f2.5 / f3.1			Serials:
Projection 127mm	f2.8 / f3.45
Projection 130mm	f2.87 / f3.54
Projection 133mm	f2.9 / f3.62
Projection 140mm	f3.1 / f3.8
Projection 145mm	f3.2 / f3.9
Projection 152mm	f3.36 / f4.14
‘BLOOMED’ SERIES			1945-c.1955	Marked on silver 2-inch diameter barrel. Black nose.
Rosskote 3¾ in
Rosskote 4½ in				Serial 206527
Rosskote 4¾ in				Serial 202215
Rosskote 5½ in				Serial 240941
ROSSLYTE			1945-c.1960
Rosslyte Type C 2¼ in (57mm)	f1.9			Serial 3268. Silver barrel / short black nose
Rosslyte Type C 2½ in (63mm)	f1.9			Serial 3292. Silver barrel (no black nose)
Rosslyte Type C 2¾ in (70mm)	f1.9			Serial 4489. Silver barrel / short black nose
Rosslyte Type C 3¼ in (83mm)	f1.9
Rosslyte Type C 3½ in	f1.9
Rosslyte 3¾ in	f1.9
Rosslyte Type D 3 in (76mm)	f1.9			Serial 232133. Silver barrel / short black nose
Rosslyte Type D 3½ in (89mm)	f1.9			Serial 229584. Markings on sloping fascia of black nose. 70mm? silver barrel.
Rosslyte Type B 4¼ in (108mm)	f1.9	5 / 3?		Serials 1317 / 2845 / 2860. 70mm barrel.
Rosslyte Type B 4¾ in (121mm)	f1.9			Serial 2823. Silver mid-barrel / black nose and body.
Rosslyte 5 in	f1.9	5 / 3		Serial 228632
Rosslyte 7 in	f1.9
EXPANDASCOPE			c.1950	For widescreen Cinemascope projection of 16mm film
SUPER ROSSKOTE			c.1955-1960	Silver barrel. Markings on sloping fascia of black nose.
Super Rosskote 3¾ in	f2.2	6
Super Rosskote 4 in	f2.2			Serial:
Super Rosskote 4¼ in (108mm)	f2.2			Serial 1628 / 5807
Super Rosskote 4½ in (114mm)	f2.2	4 / 2		Serial 247854 / 2564
Super Rosskote 4¾ in (121mm)	f2.2			Serial 1342 / 4878 / 247867 (1400g) 50mm barrel
Super Rosskote 5¼ in (133mm)	f2.25			Serial 1800
Super Rosskote 7½ in	f2.3