Bausch & Lomb 11" / 15" convertible?

[keithwms]

Calling all ye brass lens experts....

I have in my possession a lovely 8x10 "telephoto poco C" field camera that I am restoring. It has a mystery lens on it that I wish to identify. The lens is marked Bausch & Lomb, and it has aperture markings to f/8. But focal length isn't indicated. And actually the name Bausch and Lomb is only found on the shutter, as well as "Unicum." No markings on the barrels.

So... I measured the pupil diameter, it is about 35mm. I also measured the bellows length at 1:1 and from that I estimate that the (unconverted) FL is ~280mm, or ~11". This agrees with 280/35=8 as expected by the f/8 marking. With the front element off, the FL is then ~380mm, or 15". (I guess the wide open aperture will be f/11, though there are no extra markings to that effect)

From my measurements I conclude that I have an 11" / 15" convertible... but who's heard of such a thing?! :confused: I searched around and found no such lens. So either it is rare or I mismeasured somewhere along the way.

Anybody else have one or know of this particular lens? Or does anybody have some more info on the telephoto poco c? I have another poco, a 5x7 field, and that one is dated 1902; by appearance I assume this one is of similar age.

 

[keithwms]

P.S. Oh okay at www.lensandrepro.com I see there is an "11" B&L Zeiss Convertible Anastigmat in barrel"... so perhaps that is what I lucked into.

 

[removed account4]

hi keith

i can't tell you anything about your lens
but here is some info found in a vintage book
that might be entertaining and helpful ..

http://chestofbooks.com/arts/photography/Practical-Photography-2/Bausch-Lomb-Lenses-Part-3.html

it sounds like it is pretty nice!

great find!
john

 

[keithwms]

Thanks for the link John, that is interesting. It's a very sweet little lens, unfortunately the aperture blades were all effed up, so I removed them and am making price-waterhouse stops. Hence my interest in confirming the FLs as exactly as possible.