Okay, first, a little background... Pinkham and Smith lenses were the prized lens of the photo-impressionist and photo-secession days. It was the lens of choice for F. Holland Day, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Alfred Stieglitz, Gertrude Kasebier, Clarence White, and a few other "big names" in early-twentieth-century art photography. One of the Pinkham and Smith lenses was the inspiration for Cookes modern PS945 soft focus lens (at about $3800 new, and more than that used, since they just ceased production). Today, the original Pinkham and Smith lenses are very rare and very expensive. Aint no way Im ever getting one on a school teachers salary...
Funny thing is, in its day, the main business of the Pinkham and Smith Optical Company was making cheap binoculars and eyeglasses. So when I ran across an old, beat-up set of Pinkham and Smith binoculars for $30, I figured, hmmmm...
Bought em, took em home, unscrewed one of the front elements... Aha! A cemented doublet, 5 3/4 inches focal length, f/3.8, just about right for a 4x5. The element even fit into an old series filter holder, so I glued that to a Speed Graphic lensboard and loaded up a couple of film holders...
The spider plant is one my neighbors thought was dead and threw in the oleander hedge between our houses as compost. I saw it a few days later and it still had a touch of green at the center, and I just figured "awww, lets give the little guy a chance" That was a few years ago, and hes a happy little guy these days, keeping the primrose jasmine company on my back doorstep.
