Cooke Telepanchro 152mm f/2.8 T/3.2

Peter Jonkman · August 28, 2008

I'm a photographer and recently acquired an old 35mm Cine lens, namely the Taylor, Taylor & Hobson 152mm f/2.8 (T3.2) Cooke Telepanchro. There's not much to find about this lens, but maybe you know more. The most important questions for me are 1) How old is this lens and 2) What is the mount (it has a tab hole inside)?

Thanks in advance for the replies :)

Stephen Williams · August 28, 2008

Hi,

The lens is in Arri Standard mount. I am not sure the exact dates of manufacture but probably from about 1960 to the late 1980's. Th later lenses wrer marked Rank Taylor Hobson. It's a very good lens some were rehoused by Van Diemen / Century up to about 5 years ago at huge cost of around $8000.

Stephen

I'm a photographer and recently acquired an old 35mm Cine lens, namely the Taylor, Taylor & Hobson 152mm f/2.8 (T3.2) Cooke Telepanchro. There's not much to find about this lens, but maybe you know more. The most important questions for me are 1) How old is this lens and 2) What is the mount (it has a tab hole inside)?

Thanks in advance for the replies :)

Ira Ratner · August 28, 2008

Crap--this is expensive stuff.

Check out this zoom from them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=200248017862

Stephen Williams · August 28, 2008

Crap--this is expensive stuff.

Check out this zoom from them:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=200248017862

Hi,

Probably around 30 years old & still usable today, I own one. The newer 18-100 would sell used in the $14-18,000 range.

Stephen

Paul Bruening · August 29, 2008

Hello Peter,

Looks pristine. Well done.

Peter Jonkman · August 29, 2008

Thanks for the useful replies everyone! Looks like a good buy. Don't laugh, but I'm thinking about using this lens on my DSLR. If it was good enough for 35mm movies, then surely it's good enough for stills? I should add that I like using old lenses on new cameras. Does anyone know if there are adapters for Arri Standard mount lenses on M42 or K mount cameras? I know there are adapters for the other way around (M42 lenses on 35mm movie cameras).

Peter Jonkman · August 29, 2008

Oh, and what would be the current value of this lens? Just curious.

Stephen Williams · August 29, 2008

Oh, and what would be the current value of this lens? Just curious.

Hi,

Thats almost an impossible question as very few were made, yours looks in very good condition & just needs a PL adapter to be useful today. Due to the shortage of good 35mm glass prices are generally inflated today, I would expect a dealer would ask $5,000,

Stephen

Hal Smith · August 30, 2008

I have a set of six Cooke Speed Panchro II/III's in Arri standard mount. On them the "finger" is because the focus mechanism is internal, the finger is necessary to hold the internal mechanism from rotating while focusing. I would be pretty certain the 152mm Telepanchro Arri std. mount lens works the same.

The prices being mentioned seem a bit high to me. The Van Dieman conversions were expensive not only for the necessary precision machining involved but also because they made each lens out of the best elements from several lenses.

The correct Arri manufacture PL adapters are quite expensive, I've seen them on eBay in the $1300 range. There don't seem to be any adapters from Arri std. to common still lens mounts. I've been looking around for a 35mm DOF adapter in Arri std. to use my Cookes with my Canon HV20 and can't find one. I'd have to buy the DOF adapter in PL mount plus buy one of the internal focusing Arri std. to PL adapters, making it a VERY expensive project.

Stephen Williams · August 30, 2008

The prices being mentioned seem a bit high to me. The Van Dieman conversions were expensive not only for the necessary precision machining involved but also because they made each lens out of the best elements from several lenses.

Hi Hal,

I have seen people pay rather more for a Zeiss Standards, which is how I got that figure. The lens looks a gerat deal cleaner than the usual cheap ones on Ebay.

Stephen