Help! Mystery lens

I just won a "5x7 rapid convertible" lens in a Wollensak shutter that I want to use on an old Folmer and Schwing Wooden Graphic. The lens is labeled "O. H. Peck, Co. Minneapolis." It is a bit worn but I think that part is pretty clear. i can't find any O.H. Peck anywhere in webland. Any help here? I have to make a new lens board for the Graphic, as the last one was modified in the '20s when the camera went into storage. All else appears brand new, however, so I'm excited to get the lens on there and try it.

As you can probably guess, I'm a new boy in the world of LF.

Whitey Morange

"When on thin ice, dance."

hi whitey - -

i don 't really have many answers for you ...
there is another apugger that has a rapid convertable lens similar to the one you have, maybe ole will see this post and chime in ...

anyhow there is a thread on the the large format site that might answer some of your questions ( ole posted it )

http://largeformatphotography.info/lfforum/topic/499530.html#525710

good luck!

john

Only Peck I found in my reference manual was a C.J. Peck, had one listing for a brass barrel lens for a 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch format. Called it an extreme wide angle. No other info, not even a focal length.

Thanks, Guys.

The mystery lens has no info on it about focal length at all. Each element is quite simple (single, uncoated lenses, I believe - no grouping) and are interchangable front to back. The only O.H. Peck in Minneapolis I have come across on Google is a publisher, listed on one website for postcards, and on another as a publisher of a small booklet having nothing to do with photography at all.

Funny, I have a million things to do that have deadlines and this silly lens has me mesmerized. Such is the nature of obsession...

Now if someone would pay me to ask these questions.

Whitey

FWIW - There is no listing for O.H. Peck in "A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum"...

My version of the mystery Rapid Convertible is clearly different from yours - mine is clearly marked "Wollensak Rochester" on the barrel of the front element.
It also says 6½ x 8½, which must be the plate size it's intended for.

"Rapid" of that age often means it's an Aplanat (two cemented elements in each half), but mine has a reflection too many for that. The max. aperture of about f:8 isn't very "Rapid", so it may be the fact that it's mounted in a shutter that makes it "suited for rapid work". While the maker of mine is well known, there's no mention of this lens anywhere...

Now if only these had been German, I should have been able to discover something about them!

I have a Rochester Century 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 plate camera. wonder if our two items would work together? Your lens Ole, and my camera?

Aggie said:

I have a Rochester Century 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 plate camera. wonder if our two items would work together? Your lens Ole, and my camera?

Click to expand...

Bring it over, and we'll see

It looks great on my 18x24cm German "Reisekamera", and has enough coverage for my purposes. The camera even has enough bellows to focus the 23½" element alone - not only at infinity!

but how quickly we digress...

Thanks to all for your input here. It is truly wonderful to have an entire community of people willing to converse about such arcane and interesting stuff at the drop of the proverbial hat. I think I've decided that the owner of the camera must have been O.H.Peck Co., who printed their name on the lens barrel. Unlikely, I suppose, but I can't come up with any other explanation - especially after I found the images from postcards published by O.H.Peck in Minneapolis. I haven't measured it, but the printing of that name may actually be a little crooked on the lens barrel. It has deteriorated more quickly that the "5x7 Rapid Convertible" text printed above it.

When I finally get the lens mounted I'll post an image taken with it. Right now my other reality (work) keeps getting in the way.

Thanks again.
Whitey

"Strange travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
-Kurt Vonnegut

Whiteymorange said:

Right now my other reality (work) keeps getting in the way.

Click to expand...

You mean the reality that allows you to partake in the wonderful world of photography.

peck

I have recently acquired a matching OH PECK Company's 3A portrait lens.
It weighs in well above all of my other barrel lenses and is much larger. I too will be custom mounting it as there is no way to fit it into a universal lens
holder. It is however clearly marked as a 8 x 10 lens. I look forward to using it but I also am curious about its origin. It can be read that the lens is engraved as the property of "Peck" and we both have found some of their stock... or it was distribution of someone else's designs?

FWIW I'd start by taking a gander at the Minneapolis Directory, picking a year by guess.

Aggie said:

I have a Rochester Century 6 1/2 x 8 1/2 plate camera. wonder if our two items would work together? Your lens Ole, and my camera?

Click to expand...

Hey, its good to hear from you! It's been a while.

drew

Drew, Aggies post was from 2004


jan

That Peck name on the lens is probably a camera and supplies dealer. This is a very common procedure to order enough lenses to have your very own brand name engraved on them. It is probably made by one of the big manufacturers of the time period.