Dear List:
I wonder if one of the more learned and erudite members of this knowledgeable list could identify an Ilex No. 4 ACME shutter, with a Kodak Ektar 7.5 inch focal length, with a maximum aperture of f:4.5, and a minimum aperture of f:32 ? Facetiousness aside, the serial numbers are listed below:
Lens serial number : EI 512
Shutter serial number: S22-55
There is another number on the Ilex, in much tinier lettering, which I assume is a patent number,.
However: 2,249,548; there are also some faded numbers which might be a patent number, but I can't read them.
I use the lens in my 10x8 Folmer Graflex Century Universal, serial number 16174; would any one no its approximate age?
There are two other lenses I generally use, both stunning: A Rodenstock Sironar f:6.8 360mm, and a Schneider Symmar, f5.6 360mm. These have given me my best results so far with 10x8 Ziatypes.
Thanks,
Peter McDonald
Canberra, Australia.
Beginning about 1940 Kodak used a two-letter prefix as a date code on their lenses. The key word is:
C A M E R O S I T Y for the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, ... So, EI is 1948. The shutter is the original.
Ilex shutters used by Kodak are not quite the same as standard Ilex's. They have different threads and some other differences. For more on Ilex seen Steve Grimes site at http://www.skgrimes.com You will have to poke around to find the Ilex stuff. The number is a patent number.
Acme's are decent shutters despite looking like cheap alarm clocks inside. Ilex made them to run dry although I find that a very little fine oil on the speed regulator escapement makes them run more smoothly and more uniformly. I am away from home at the moment so I can't check this lens but all of the Ektar series were highly corrected for color, especially lateral color. Kodak wanted to sell color film and made well corrected lenses available to promote its use.
Lenses of this age tend to get hazy inside the cells. The front of this lens probably has a back cap making it easy to open and clean. Shine a flashlight through it to check its condition. If hazy unscrew the back cap and lift out the rear element of the cell with sticky tape. Clean the surfaces with lens cleaner or "streak-free' type window cleaner, the haze will come right off. Don't be afraid of decentering the elements, you can't do it. Centering is part of the process of manufacturing the element itself, once made its automatically centered in the lens mount by being fixed between two thin rings, one on each surface. Be careful replacing the element, the clearances are very small. Even slight haze can destroy the contrast, if there is any at all you will see a big difference after cleaning.
The Kodak Ektar series are exceptionally good lenses, quite equal to modern glass.
I can't help much with the Century Universal other than to ask exactly what the lablel says. Kodak changed the name of the division about three times between aquiring Folmer & Schwing and selling it again. Century was formed in 1900 as the name implys. It was bought by Kodak about a year later. Kodak continued to make cameras using the Century name until they quite making view and studio cameras around 1960.
I will get dates from McKeown's when I get home and post them here. I sounds like this camera was made for Kodak by F&S after it became independant again, but I don't remember the date. My guess is that the camera dates from the early 1930's. These are excellent view cameras, Edward Weston used one. The famous Kodak 8x10 Master is eseentialy a metal version of this camera.
Both the Symmar and Sirronar are well known for their excellence.