Old Cooke Deep Field Panchro

[Alex Wuijts]

Hey guys, I've got a 100mm Cooke Panchro in front of me and I'm curious about the history of it. The lens barrel says Cooke Deep Field Panchro, 100mm, 4inch, f2.5. It's got black and dark green paint and it says 'War Finish' on the side.

 

Can anyone tell me more about this lens and when it was made? Serial# is 280807.

 

Thanks!

[Stephen Williams]

Hey guys, I've got a 100mm Cooke Panchro in front of me and I'm curious about the history of it. The lens barrel says Cooke Deep Field Panchro, 100mm, 4inch, f2.5. It's got black and dark green paint and it says 'War Finish' on the side.

 

Can anyone tell me more about this lens and when it was made? Serial# is 280807.

 

Thanks!

 

The lens was released in the 1960's

http://www.cookeoptics.com/cooke.nsf/history/1960s.html

[John Sprung]

There was also a 100 mm Deep Field Panchro, f/2.5, in 1946:

 

http://www.cookeoptics.com/cooke.nsf/history/1940s.html

 

They were made for the Eyemo, B&H sold the cameras with Cooke glass.

 

The term "War Finish" and dark green paint points to it having been made for the U.S. Army. There was a lot of extra stuff manufactured for WWII, because the war ended so quickly and unexpectedly.

 

Does it have an Eyemo mount?

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Alex Wuijts]

Thanks Stephen and John..

 

John, I've no idea about the Eyemo lens mount, so maybe you can judge by these pictures below. Left is the lens hood, the middle part holds the aperture ring and the lens elements, the right part holds the focusing ring, with distances in meters. Forgive me for the poor quality of my phone camera.

 

 

Hope that works.

Edited March 10, 2010 by Alex Wuijts

[John Sprung]

That looks like it could be either an Eyemo or an Arri mount. The sizes are slightly different. You could try it on either camera, and if it doesn't fit, you'd know it was for the other. (Arri wisely designed their camera *not* to use Eyemo lenses, because there's no guarantee that they'd clear the then-new mirror shutter.)

 

 

 

 

-- J.S.

[Leo Anthony Vale]

The lens was released in the 1960's

http://www.cookeoptics.com/cooke.nsf/history/1960s.html

 

The history section of www.cookeoptics.com is not always accurate.

 

The page that John Sprung referred to states:

 

1940s : Bell & Howell

 

1940s

The Series II Cooke Speed Panchros for cinematography were distributed exclusively through Bell & Howell in London and Chicago. The Series II lenses were developed for higher definition in wide screen presentations and to cover standard format 0.723 x 0.980 inches. By 1945 they came in focal lengths: 18, 25, 32, 40, 50 and 75mm. The 100mm, f/2.5 Deep Field Panchro was released in 1946.

Series II Speed Panchros in the 40s?

An 18mm lens?

Wide screen?

 

I think they hired a writer unfamiliar with the field and gave him a cabinet full of undated brochures to go through.