THC, no, not that kind. Taylor-Hobson-Cooke

rfaspen said:
I highly recommend getting the version with the Italian made mount. Historical and very likely proper calibration. Plus, LTM gives you more flexibility.
The first one is mounted in an Industsr 26/61. I have one of those.....by far the cheapest lens I own, and I'm not talking about purchase price. That one looks a bit beat up and then attached to a cheap mount..... maybe if the price was much lower I'd consider it. The last is mounted in an LTM summicron mount. Probably fine, but not historical or flexible as the Italian mount. Plus, it's from kevincameras, which isn't a bad thing, but he/they are typically much higher priced than market. However, I have never bought from them, maybe worth the much (sometimes way much) higher cost?

Anyway, I like the Italian mount. I'm thinking I would like one too ;)
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The M mount one from Hong Kong on * Epray looks to be mounted on a collapsible 5cm Summicron in M mount body, with a shiny machined and knurled mid section of the right size.
 
I've shot with Dexdog's on my M Monochrom-

Wide-Open, used a red filter on it.

L1004985.jpg


L1004978.jpg


L1004972.jpg


At F4,

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Very resistant to flare.

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This is a good lens, too bad there are not more of them. It's smaller than the Canon 50/1.8. Performance wise: A Canon 50/1.8 with clean glass is one of the best lenses you can find, similar 1-2-2-1 formula. It is bigger, and uses 40mm filters. BUT- the Canon is less than 1/5th the price. My Canon was 1/20th the price of what people are asking for the Amotal on Ebay these days.
 
As Brian says, the lens is indeed very resistant of flare. The Amotal is from the late forties, but it is a better lens than the Leitz Summitar. As I said before, I would prefer it in LTM to use it on the LTM Leicas. This is shot wide open through a very dirty window against the light, but what an atmosphere it creates. No flare at all, the flare you see is the dirt on the window of the restaurant. See the black frame on the right.

gelatin silver print (cooke amotal 50mm f2) leica mp

Erik.

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How’s the 6 frames per second feature work ? Ohhhhh that’s right, you don’t have a Foton. How’s that amazing 4” Cooke? Ohhhh thafs right, you don’t have a Foton, Hows that incredible 8” Cooke telephoto? Ohhhh that’s right, you don’t have a Foton.
 
Ambro51 said:
How’s the 6 frames per second feature work ? Ohhhhh that’s right, you don’t have a Foton. How’s that amazing 4” Cooke? Ohhhh thafs right, you don’t have a Foton, Hows that incredible 8” Cooke telephoto? Ohhhh that’s right, you don’t have a Foton.
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As I live in Europe, I've never seen a Foton in the flesh! I never tried one. I've never seen pictures made by it. Please show us some pictures you've made with the Foton, six per second or one in an hour.

Erik.
 
It's nice to own rare cameras and lenses. The rarity and uncommon features appeal to collectors. I've spent more on a Nikkor-SC 5cm F1.5 in LTM than a Foton would cost me, but would rather have the Nikkor as I can use it on a modern camera. My amazing RF-coupled Komura 8" (200mm) lens was $50. I can use it on the M9 and M Monochrom. 6FPS- no appeal to me at all. I've never let loose with that on my F36 with Remopak and Mirror-up (Questar-modified, how did I get 3 of these?) Nikon F's.

Rare and uncommon, unusual features- not as appealing to someone wanting to make photographs. There are better cameras and lenses available at lower cost.
 
The Foton uses a spring drive. It took 33 years before the Nikon F3 could match this speed, per the Camera Quest website. Foton's were very expensive, very well made and big. If you didn't need high frame rates, you probably wouldn't buy one. We don't know if Bell & Howell met their sales goals or not, so it is hard to say if it was successful. They are very nice cameras.
 
My second camera was a Kodak Instamatic 150 with a Spring Drive. I was 8, it was a lot of fun. Still works. Same with The Kodak Motormatic 35- fun camera with the spring advance.

Bell & Howell of course had big business making spring-wound movie cameras. Most certainly leveraged that technology. I had a Kodak spring wound Magazine-8 (K460) that had a blazing 48FPS. Nothing compared to a Fastax, but for a 14 year old, pretty cool.

6FPS would go through a roll of film pretty fast, 6seconds for a roll of 36.I've not tried to see how fast the Spring Wound Robot 50 can run, have a pair- but never used them. The Robot Royal 24 can run 8FPS. The latter, combined VF/RF and interchangeable lenses- sold many more than the Foton. And who can forget the Leningrad Spring Wound camera, combined VF/RF and interchangeable lenses.
 
I have a Leningrad, like new, but I've never used it. Somehow I do not like motordrives, although I like the SCNOO (but not the Leicavit). To each his own.

Erik.
 
We should start a separate thread on Cameras with integrated Motor Drives: Spring Wound, Electric, CO2, and any others in collections.

Helium Turbine. Almost Forgot. 2MFPS. Had one at work, bought in 1960. Cost $100K then.
 
View Range said:
The Foton uses a spring drive. It took 33 years before the Nikon F3 could match this speed, per the Camera Quest website. Foton's were very expensive, very well made and big. If you didn't need high frame rates, you probably wouldn't buy one. We don't know if Bell & Howell met their sales goals or not, so it is hard to say if it was successful. They are very nice cameras.
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I have a Sony A7M III that has a way faster FPS number and can do it for as long as the battery lasts. With an Amotal LTM I can mount the lens on that camera, if I want. High FPS is nice but not high priority for me. And that Sony is a pretty good camera but I do really like the M9.
 
Sonnar Brian said:
My second camera was a Kodak Instamatic 150 with a Spring Drive. I was 8, it was a lot of fun. Still works. Same with The Kodak Motormatic 35- fun camera with the spring advance.

Bell & Howell of course had big business making spring-wound movie cameras. Most certainly leveraged that technology. I had a Kodak spring wound Magazine-8 (K460) that had a blazing 48FPS. Nothing compared to a Fastax, but for a 14 year old, pretty cool.

6FPS would go through a roll of film pretty fast, 6seconds for a roll of 36.I've not tried to see how fast the Spring Wound Robot 50 can run, have a pair- but never used them. The Robot Royal 24 can run 8FPS. The latter, combined VF/RF and interchangeable lenses- sold many more than the Foton. And who can forget the Leningrad Spring Wound camera, combined VF/RF and interchangeable lenses.
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Robot?! You've got two?! I remember them in the magazine ads from the 50's as a terror news camera. IIRC they were 24 x 24 mm negatives. I'd hazard an opinion that you are some serious camera bug. Woohoo! ;o)
 
jmanivelle said:
Shot on a 1949 2 inch f2 Cooke Amotal LTM - M3 DS and Ektachrome 100:


Au Palais Royal by JM__, on Flickr


Au Jardin du Palais Royal by JM__, on Flickr


Au Palais Royal by JM__, on Flickr


Best, JM
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Unfair. I am an unabashed and admitted over-the-top Francophile so you have an unfair advantage with these photos. And you are presenting film images which are different from digital, usually more muted. And I maybe suffering from excessive self-delusion but I think there is some color and light magic in those photos, This is where I get stuck, Jeffo has a ream of photos taken with old cine lenses that, pardon the descriptions, a glow rather than a pop. To my eyes the images are as radiant as a bride. There is no side by side comparison to a known, more common lens and it may just be Jeffo's light and color skill and maybe he took a zillion photos to get what he has here and on Flickr, but those cine lenses, and the Amotal, seem special to me.

I see the Amotal as having a richness of image without being glaringly supersaturated. Granted this is just my pin-headed observation. OTOH I am searching and shopping for me so that impression counts a lot. Yes, Kevin does have higher than median prices. He also has a large stock of Amotals with front objectives not in need of a Zamboni. I may surrender to the Amotal. I believe that it would mate well to the M9 and also the M8.2 and probably quite well to the M240. But I am going to be slow and cautious. This is despite now being in our "January Thaw" which is when we get a week or two of warmer weather mid-winter followed by another three months of gray and rainy, Around here winter color is fleeting. I'll wander over to Jeffo on Flickr for a bit to check out his images.
 
boojum said:
Robot?! You've got two?! I remember them in the magazine ads from the 50's as a terror news camera. IIRC they were 24 x 24 mm negatives. I'd hazard an opinion that you are some serious camera bug. Woohoo! ;o)
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I have a Tessina with an Electric advance, and another with the normal spring-wound advance. I'll have to get some pictures up.
 
I just now returned from eBay. It seems most if not all Amotals have some front objective damage and most have some amount of oil on the tip part of the iris blade which describes the f-stop opening. And there are the dust particles. What seems to determine the price more than anything is the exterior metal condition, i. e., is the metal dirty or shiny? Do I just accept that there will be front objective damage and try to choose the least amount? And how serious are the light scratches? I have lucked out buying Jupiters in good condition from the Eastern bloc sellers. It seems odd that the Western bloc is making me nervous. There is the price factor, of course, about 10x.

I've a birthday in a few weeks to rationalize all this foolishness.
 
Sonnar Brian said:
I have a Tessina with an Electric advance, and another with the normal spring-wound advance. I'll have to get some pictures up.
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Brian, you are a closet camera fiend. "One more won't hurt." LMAO You insurer must be jittery. How long have you been collecting?

Later: I just checked out the Tessina. Yes. They were pricey little gems. Rare.
 
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