Info please : Talyor Hobson T-P Cooke Anastigmat 6 7/8" f/4.5

I couldn't resist buying this today while I was rummaging around in a box at a car boot sale.

The gunk on the front appears to be mud, by the way

I think the rear cell actually comes from another lens, as it won't screw more than about ¾ of a turn on, although the finish and the colour look identical to the rest of the lens. The thread doesn't look damaged to me, but then I'm no engineer. With the rear cell on, or indeed off, I can't get an image to form.

So that's a tenner wasted, unless I can find an appropriate rear cell, which seems about as likely as my winning the lottery.

All the elements seem to have some sort of damage, but the barrel has a very smooth working 12-bladed iris, though.

I should have bought the Kodak 203mm f/7.7 (in a jammed Compur) that I found in the same box, really, but I didn't have enough cash on me. Sigh. Bad decision.

Anyway, just for LOLs as they say, can anyone (Dan? Ian?) tell me anything about this thing? Is it actually a process lens?

It is too fast to be a process lens.

The 6 7/8 is a triplet from a Thorton-Pickard press or reflex camera from around 1910. Post a picture of the second from the ends of the lens please. It is possibly a similar type lens.
Reference A Lens Collectors Vade Mecum.

Not quite sure what you meant by "second from the ends of the lens ", but here's another couple of shots.

I can easily do more if these aren't helpful, as I'm set up for photographing lenses today

Not quite sure what you meant by "second from the ends of the lens

Click to expand...

post 1 picture 2, turn the barrel 90° so the lens ends are facing the camera (2 pictures) and rotate picture 1 180° (1 picture).
Check all threaded sections for damage or burs. Measure the threads, different thread pitch suggest there was a mount ring in the camera that the sections attached to.
Lens diagrams associated with this lens.

From the Vade Mecum: TTH must have supplied a very large number of f4.5 triplet type lenses on cameras by Thornton-Pickard (such
as the f4.5/5.75in seen at No58,685 and 82,39x, the latter on a Victory reflex for 6x9cm), and Houghton-
Butcher etc. and it is common to find these as f4.5 lenses marked with these makers names as well as TTH
such as a "7in f4.5 TTH/T-P Cooke No148,89x", "5in f4.5 Cooke Apem No91,53x", Cooke Luxor f4.5, "Cooke-
Butcher 5in f6.8 No 88,41x"- a slower lens in a shutter. Normally these were Press and Reflex camera lenses,
and will not be listed as extensively as they tend merely to reflect the camera makers buying the normal TTH
product.

I have 3 of the same lens, 2 fitted to Quarter plate T-P Ruby reflex cameras, plus an 8" on a 5x4 Marion &Co Soho Reflex,. I still need to try them

Ian

This Taylor-Cooke may also have been supplied as an option on the earlier 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 in. (quarter plate) Graflex SLR cameras (focal plane shutter) or the earlier quarter-plate Speed Graphic cameras (also FP shutter). The 6-7/8 in. lens would probably not cover 4x5.

tessar said:

This Taylor-Cooke may also have been supplied as an option on the earlier 3-1/4 x 4-1/4 in. (quarter plate) Graflex SLR cameras (focal plane shutter) or the earlier quarter-plate Speed Graphic cameras (also FP shutter). The 6-7/8 in. lens would probably not cover 4x5.

Click to expand...

The lens in question was off a Thornton Pickard hence the T-P marking, but Kodak Ltd only used British lenses after WWI or Tessars and sold the same lens marked differently as a TTH Kodaka Anastigmat for the quarter plate Graflex SLR in the UK, it's also sold as a Luxor. The lenses for the Speed Graphics weren't in sunken mounts as they'd hit the shutter curtain when the camera was closed with the lens fitted.

The lens does cover 5x4 it's designed for up to 3½"x5½", the 5½" lens covers 5x4 according to Cooke, but will be slightly softer at the corners/edges compared to quarter plate. You also have to remember that SLR's of this size need to use slightly longer than normal FL lenses as the mirrors are quite large. There's a lot of glass in these lenses compared to similar FL triplets from other manufacturers.

Now I have my new darkroom up and running I'll try my Cooke Triplets when I get some time and a couple of modern Multi-coated triplet as well, I have 150mm & 210mm Geronars.

Ian