[LargeFormat] Re: Aero-Ektars

[Clive Warren]

At 9:12 pm -0600 26/1/02, Michael Briggs wrote:
snip
>I have posted some information on my webpage:
>http://home.earthlink.net/~michaelbriggs/aeroektar/aeroektar.html
>I update this about monthly as I have time or new information.
>
>Could you (and anyone else on the list) send me the rim data (esp. the serial
>number) from your Aero-Ektars?   I suggest sending rim data privately by email
>so as not to bore the other list members.   I am trying to determine what
>versions were made and an estimate of the production dates and volumes.
>
>The photos of the Clive's lens in the Alphax shutter show a yellow dot on the
>rim.  This is only the second yellow dot marking that I have seen.   As yet, I
>don't know what it means.
snip

Yes, delighted to help out. Will send you the info. on the 7" lenses 
sitting here. One doesn't have a rim but luckily the serial number is 
scratched onto the top lens casing. By my reckoning, all the lenses 
(I have three) were made in 1944 and two of them have the yellow dot! 
The third may have had a dot when it originally had a rim (the rim is 
held on by a fine screw thread).

Your web page is excellent and look forward to reading more about the 
history of the lenses. I have seen them mounted in various aerial 
cameras and was surprised to find one in an alphax shutter that has 
clearly been made for the lens with an appropriate aperture scale.

If you can find out more about the people who actually used the 
cameras that would be interesting. I guess they were seen as just 
another tool at the time - some period photos taken with the cameras 
would be great also. I bet that most of the photos have been 
destroyed over the years, however some must still exist in musty 
archives somewhere...... You are probably in a very good position to 
gain access to any such photos that still exist in the US.

Cheers,
        Clive