Alexander McKay - Whiskey Bottle Telephoto Lenses!

holmburgers · Jan 26, 2010

Hi,

So I was reading the wikipedia page for 'telephoto lens' and came across mention of this man, Alexander McKay. Here is what it says....

"in New Zealand, Alexander McKay was taking photographs of exceptional quality using home-made telephoto lenses, ground from the bottoms of whisky bottles, probably as early as 1883 or 1884."

Now, if that doesn't peak the interest of an analog photographer, I don't know what will.

I've googled to no avail to find some examples of his photographs. All I can find is mention of his geology & passing commentary on his photography.

If anyone knows where to find any pictures taken with these lenses, please let me know. Or if you know of a good book (besides the ones reference in the wiki), I'd love to hear about it. It sounds pretty awesome IMO.

Thanks!

Holmburgers

mdm · Jan 26, 2010

Hav'nt found any pictures but did come across this link.
http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_23/rsnz_23_00_005460.html

Regards
David

holmburgers said:
Hi,

So I was reading the wikipedia page for 'telephoto lens' and came across mention of this man, Alexander McKay. Here is what it says....

"in New Zealand, Alexander McKay was taking photographs of exceptional quality using home-made telephoto lenses, ground from the bottoms of whisky bottles, probably as early as 1883 or 1884."

Now, if that doesn't peak the interest of an analog photographer, I don't know what will.

I've googled to no avail to find some examples of his photographs. All I can find is mention of his geology & passing commentary on his photography.

If anyone knows where to find any pictures taken with these lenses, please let me know. Or if you know of a good book (besides the ones reference in the wiki), I'd love to hear about it. It sounds pretty awesome IMO.

Thanks!

Holmburgers

holmburgers · Jan 26, 2010

Yeah, I came across that too. Interesting, but I really want to see some pictures.

Thanks though

Ross Chambers · Jan 27, 2010

By the look of these he probably used a conventional lens of the time. The available images are small, but it's the best I could do.

http://find.natlib.govt.nz/primo_li...xander mckay photographs&fn=search&mode=Basic

Regards - Ross

sun of sand · Jan 27, 2010

Dead Link Removed

Looking up awatere fault

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/geo/papers/staff/Grapes_et_al98.pdf

sun of sand · Jan 27, 2010

Dead Link Removed

sun of sand · Jan 27, 2010

In the late 1880s McKay took up a new enthusiasm - photography. He experimented with designs of cameras and telescopes and with telephotography and microphotography, even grinding his own lenses from bottle ends, and achieved good quality photo-micrographs of thin sections of rocks. He retired from the public service in 1904.

vdonovan · Jan 27, 2010

This is a very Kiwi thing to do. New Zealanders take great pride in doing a lot with very little. "All you need is a bit of number 8 wire." is an expression you hear every day down there.

The movie "The World's Fastest Indian", starring Anthony Hopkins, captures this Kiwi spirit very well.

sun of sand · Jan 27, 2010

http://www.archive.org/stream/rocksofcapecolvi01sollrich#page/30/mode/2up

No idea if his photography or not
or if his homemade lenses or not

If you look at contents it seems he and others may have taken em
or perhaps

Anyway
im tired

sun of sand · Jan 27, 2010

find.natlib ones are clickable "GO"
you have to scroll around the image in maximized form
i think

Joe Lipka · Jan 27, 2010

I am very disappointed with the level of comments so far. Nine posts and no one has yet pondered on the type of whiskey bottle used in the tests.

So sad.

holmburgers · Jan 27, 2010

hey, great replies. thanks so much.

yes, the "world's fastest indian" did spring to mind!

WolfTales · Jan 27, 2010

Sounds similar to building a Dobsonian!!

Ross Chambers · Jan 28, 2010

vdonovan said:
This is a very Kiwi thing to do. New Zealanders take great pride in doing a lot with very little. "All you need is a bit of number 8 wire." is an expression you hear every day down there.

The movie "The World's Fastest Indian", starring Anthony Hopkins, captures this Kiwi spirit very well.

And, of course, Richard Pearse was well ahead of the Wright Brothers.

If you can find a copy of the Peter Jackson produced and Costa Botes directed doco "Forgotten Silver" we (I was post production supervisor) prove the case, with a little CGI help.

This site gives the basics:

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/pearse1.html

Regards - Ross

Alexander McKay - Whiskey Bottle Telephoto Lenses!

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