Brass Lens Information Needed

[michelle_adams1]

<p>My parents have, what I believe is a brass lens. The side of the lens says DA (and those are overlayed) Paris Se 11. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated. I am unable to attach pictures here but would be willing to email. Thank you all in advance.</p>

<p>Michelle</p><div></div>

[michaelging]

<p>I believe that is a cine lens for a very early movie camera. I have one very much like it. </p>

[dan_fromm2]

<p>Probably not a cine lens, magic lantern lens is more likely. Taking lenses like this were pretty much out of production by the time motion pictures were invented.</p>

<p>Ask on the LF forum http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/ , a few specialists in these old blunderbusses hang out there.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>I agree with Dan - probably not an early cine lens. For one thing it looks too big though the size is not easy to assess from the photo. Early cine was on 35mm film so a big lens was not needed. As Dan says most likely it was used on a magic lantern though it could also have been fitted to a wooden large format studio camera. Many magic lantern lenses had a flap at the front of the lens to allow the picture to be faded to black. But some did not, so nothing definite there. Does the lens have an iris to reduce the light going through it? Magic lantern lenses tended not to have them while camera lenses did.<br /> I would guess a date in the second half of the 19th century which is also pretty vague. No idea about the DA name mark. Value is probably not huge but brass lenses will always sell. See ebay completed listings for brass lenses for a ballpark figure.</p>

[jose_angel]

<p>I`m not an expert, but maybe I can help a bit. I enjoy some vintage lenses and photography. I also think it is a magic lantern, 19th century lens.<br /> I`d say the overlayed "DA" (actually A.D.) stands for "Alphonse Darlot", so it`s a Darlot lens, or a Darlot copy (fake), a very well known (amongst large format shooters) lens maker.</p>

<p>Agree with Dan about the use of these lenses; magic lantern (without waterhouse stops) and portraiture or landscape (with a waterhouse slot for central stops). I cannot see the slot in the pic, so probably it`s a "magic lantern" sample.</p>

<p>About the "Se 11", I`d say actually it`s "Se II" (roman numeral), which I`d say stand for a "series II" lens. If I`m not wrong, it refers to the lens type into the manufacturer`s catalog (portrait, landscape, magic lantern, etc.).</p>

<p>Also agree with Colin about the age and value, probably from the second half of the 19th century, with a lower value due to the lack of stops... but it will depend also on the shape and the size of the sample. Yours looks to be in good barrel shape, don`t know about the lenses; look for balsam separation, fungus, scratches, cleaning marks and/or other issues.</p>

<p>As Dan says, follow the link to find experienced people in this topic. Jim Galli is one of them.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>'Darlot' occurred to me too but his lenses tended to be signed in full :<br>

http://www.oldphotographiclenses.com/darlot.html<br>

But it is possible this one is the exception. I agree with 'Series II' as the meaning of 'Se II' i.e. 'série II' If the maker can be identified and is collected, of course the value goes up. :-)<br /></p>

[jose_angel]

<p>As far as I know, there are different signatures in the Darlot lenses; I have also seen "AD" in several of them.<br /> But I have read somewhere that Darlot vintage fakes were common, so it could be another possibility. I have no clue on this, but I agree with you that -only- the initials and "Paris" seem odd... I`d expect at least the full "Darlot" name on it, but again, I`m not an expert.<br /> Also, the "series" specification engraving makes me wonder, don`t know if it is typical from Darlot, I tend to think that it`s not. In fact, the samples in your linked site does`t show this mark. But I have not find clear info about it.</p>

[Dustin McAmera]

<p>Here's a series III, which has both the D-A logo and 'Darlot' as such, engraved on the wheel:<br>

<a href="

<br /> In his caption, the owner speculates, as above, that this could be for a magic lantern. However, I would expect a lantern to have a much bigger lens than a camera. Some lenses are for 'washer stops'; a set of discs with different sized holes, fitted in the front, so wouldn't have a slot for Waterhouse stops:<br>

<br /> <a href="

[colin carron]

<p>Nice spot, Pete, looks conclusive to me. Should increase the value a bit too.</p>

[frankz]

<p>Just offering an opinion, as I haven't any suspicion what this particular lens might be.<br>

We, as photogs, went out of our way for many years to increase the detail of our photographs but eventually noticed that these sharp lenses we demanded tore the hell out of people. This required a bunch of retouching and in some cases apologies for one's equipment/technique/whatever. We, as a group, began to gravitate back to stuff like the Imagon series by Rodenstock, buying the set of Softars for our Hassyblads, and using stuff like the soft-focus 150 sillymeter lens Mamiya made for their RB series cameras.<br>

My approach was a bit different. Retired now (but 40 years as a Tool & Die Maker - I'm basically my own S. K. Grimes), I dabbled with cameras also and prefer large format due to the twists one can introduce and the ease of mounting them on the boxes. I've bought demo lenses from Edmund and mounted them in a brass barrel I machined and ended up with a lens with sufficient warts to hide whatever needed hiding on the subject - usually, a dear wimmin that wanted a nice photo of herself.<br>

I say all this because these lenses are from a time where even the best of the lot were screwed up as a football bat by today's standards and have a rather high value for those who are interested in recreating the photographs of years past and the attendant whimsical appearance of the pics. I'll continue to "roll my own" but these old wonders are the next best thing for those who don't.</p>