Bausch & Lomb Protar VII need information

I was given some camera equipment to sell for my mother in law. (Father in Law

was big into cameras and has recently passed. Now cameras have to be sold to

finance her retirement)

 

I was given this lens, and have no idea about it other than the Make and

model. It is a B&L Protar VII. I have taken a few pics and they can be seen

attached.

 

If you can give me some information about this, it would sure help me to sell

it. (If you can give me an approximate value or range, I'd be more than

extatic!)

 

THanks!

I clicked too quick. There are some anomolies with this lens which I clearly do not understand. First of course is the type of camera this is for. Second is the way it's put together. ON the outside part of the lens, it says that The Serial number is 3228255, but on the inside part it says the Serial Number is 3228218.

 

On what i take to be the 'outside' part of the lens, it says "Focus 18 7/8 in", but on the inside it says "Focus 16 3/16 in." Both sides are approximately 2? inches across. The plate it is attached to is 5 7/8 in square.

 

Thanks for your help!

"First of course is the type of camera this is for"

 

Large format, 8x10 or perhaps larger...

 

This is a convertible lens, meaning you can shoot with both lenses in place and get the shortest focal length, use the rear only and get the focal length engraved on that half of the lens, or the front only but in the rear of the shutter and get the larger focal length engraved on that half.

 

There are three aperture scales on the shutters; each should be marked for the focal length that it corresponds to. You choose which to refer to based on the lens configuration. Read up on using convertible lenses, there is something called focus shift that comes into play that you need to compensate for. There's no reason for me to type a big entry on it since there is quite a lot written already, but you need to be aware of it before using this lens 'converted'.

 

- Randy

Thank you Randy. I don't plan to use it, I plan to sell it. Any and all information which may help is greatly appreciated. I notice now that the big ring on the outside (the thing with all the settings which the outer lens is screwed into) also has it's own 'number'. Is ita separate item from the other two?

The lens is as listed and previously stated but I wonder if the difference in serial numbers between the front and rear elements suggest that they may have been swaped out at some point in time as most lens have the same serial numbers on the front and rear.

The lens is mounted in a Dial Set shutter, I cannot tell the brand from your picture but compound and compur were common. The shutter is mounted to the lens board via a mount ring which is attached to the lens board with screws. If selling the lens without the lens board include this ring with the lens.<br>

A listing should be on the order of.. Bausch-Lomb convertable Protar VII in (brand name) Dial Set Shutter. List the focal lengths that the lens can be used as, describe the condition of the glass making mention of any cleaning marks, scratches, or nicks that may be appearant. Air bubbles in the glass are not defects. List the f stop range or make sure they are readable in the picture. List whether the shutter works properly or not and if the aperture works smoothly or not.<a href=http://www.skgrimes.com/compound/index.htm> SK Grimes/Compound Shutters </a> should tell you what you need to know about the shutter.

Since these Protar VII lens cells could (can) be used individually, they were also offered separately, in addition to casket sets or Double-Protars. This is a least the case with the Zeiss original Protar VII ("Protarlinse"), and B&L was a licensee of this design.

The serial numbers are close enough that one might as well consider that they were produced as part of the same "run". I don't have data as to when they might have been manufactured, but they were in production starting in the late 1800s and continued well into the 1900s. They were immensely popular, very high-quality lenses -- as they still are when found in good condition!

 

These lenses, as noted in a posting above, were made to have their front and rear elements swapped around. The two elements you have are perfectly compatible.

 

That is a "Compound" shutter the elements are mounted on, and might very well be original equipment. If it does not work well, don't be concerned because they are easy to tune up. But the chances are that if the lens was well cared for (it looks to have been) the shutter probably works just fine.

 

This lens-shutter combination will probably fetch quite a good price. They go for fairly high prices on eBay.

 

By the way, they were made for normal to wide-angle work. I'd buy yours if I could afford it!

 

Hope this helps.

Bausch and Lomb was the American licensee for Zeiss lenses. They were licensed to build lenses of Zeiss design and use the names. Your lens is a triple convertible. IOW you can get 3 different focal lengths from the same lens with different combinations. Serial no's on B&L Protar VII's were always different as they considered each group a seperate lens. With the 2 combined as you have photographed them, the combination gives a focal length of 10" or 250mm. That is a fairly wide angle lens for an 8X10 camera. My old catalog says it would cover up to 10X12 format. That means if you had a camera with a 10X12 inch piece of film in it, this lens would focus and cover the corners sharply. To use the other focal lengths you use them individually at the rear of the shutter. If you unscrew the front, you would have a 16 1/8" 425mm lens. If you remove that from the back and install the 18 7/8" lens at the back you have that focal length. All of the different possibilities are available on the aperture plate. I see a fourth row and that indicates this lens might have been part of a "C set" which would have included yet a 3rd lens to make up other combinations with. If you unscrewed that plate and turned it over there might be even more possibilities. Value on Ebay just now may be in the $300 - $400 range. List it and you'll find out in 7 days exactly what it's worth. These are well thought of lenses and will most likely be bought by someone who has an 8X10 camera and plans to actually put it to use.