Anyone know what this is

John_Brewer · Aug 31, 2007

I picked this up at a boot sale for 50p but have no idea what it is. I don't think its for holding lenses of various sizes because the aperture blades are too flimsy.

Thanks

John

junqbox · Aug 31, 2007

hi John,
I have seen something very similar before and believe it's from a spotlight used in theatres.

Cheers,
Brett

dslater · Aug 31, 2007

Now you just need to find yourself some lens elements and spacer tubes and you can build your own DIY lens

Kino · Aug 31, 2007

It probably is a dissolving iris for a lantern slide projector.

The binaural type had one projector stacked on top of another and the iris on each projector linked with a rod so that as you opened the one, the other closed at the same rate, causing a very smooth dissolve. The 'dark' projector's slide could then be changed and the process continued.

PHOTOTONE · Aug 31, 2007

It could also be an attachment for an early movie camera. In the silent film era, an iris was used rather extensively as a sort of "cropping" tool to center attention on a small part of the frame. One often finds "iris-in" or "iris-out" type of transitions in silent films. Having a rather large handle on the iris, such as yours does allows one to smoothly iris-in or iris-out as the film is being exposed. This type of device would be mounted in front of the film taking lens.

Bandicoot · Aug 31, 2007

All the suggestions you've had are valid answers to 'what is this iris thing I've found?' questions - but I happen to have seen this particular type before, so I know that in this case the correct answer is the theatrical spotlight one. Not that that stops you using it for any of the other functions, it's just that the use this specific one was originally made for was in a profile or PC type spot light.

Peter

Anyone know what this is

John_Brewer

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