A History of the Photographic Lens by Rudolf Kingslake - 9780124086401 - Compare Discount Book Prices & Save up to 90%

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		A History of the Photographic Lens by Rudolf Kingslake ISBN-10: 9780124086401 ISBN-10: 0-12-408640-3 ISBN-13: 9780124086401 ISBN-13: 978-0-12-408640-1 Hardcover 1989-10-28 Academic Press Find Lowest Price
Editorials

Product Description The lens is generally the most expensive and least understood part of any camera. In this book, Rudolf Kingslake traces the historical development of the various types of lenses from Daguerre's invention of photography in 1839 through lenses commonly used today. From an early lens still being manufactured for use in low-cost cameras to designs made possible through such innovations as lens coating, rare-earth glasses, and computer aided lens design and testing, the author details each major advance in design and fabrication. The book explains how and why each new lens type was developed, and why most of them have since been abandoned. This authoritative history of lens technology also includes brief biographies of several outstanding lens designers and manufacturers of the past.
Reviews

Good historical overview from someone who knew. Rudolf Kingslake was educated in optics in England then made his way from England to the USA and became in 1937 the head of the Kodak lens design department. This was a time when the strong hand of a leader was allowed to create excellence. Kodak made the famous Ektar Large Format lenses during his leadership. These lenses still compete with modern day lenses (at least those of the 1980's) even though today's modern glasses were not available to him and they do lack the modern flare reducing coatings. So this man is an authority on the history of lens design. I wish he gave more opinion and reputation type remarks since he must have seen it all in lens design. He includes brief comments on lens designers and gives their photo or sketched portraits from the late 1700's through the 1900's. An historically important book though maybe not as complete as I would have liked. Rates a 5 for historical importance alone.
Collectors, photograhers will love this one Back to the roots of photography. Amazing journey to the past and the development of extraordinary designs that are still used by the most prestigious lens makes (Leica, Carl Zeiss).
Great resource for someone entering medium- or large-format If you've moved from 35mm photography to medium format, you are no longer confronted with lenses called "Minolta 28-70mm/2.8 G," but rather Tessars, Planars, and Super-Angulons. In medium format, you're still limited to using lenses provided by the manufacturer of your camera, but if you move to large format, where almost any lens can be used on any camera, things become really convoluted. In short, lens manufacturers give names to their designs in much the same way that car manufacturers give names to their products. Kingslake provides a history that will help the photographer unravel the advantages of different lens designs as well as serve as an excellent resource to the classic lens collector. Diagrams are provided for most significant lens designs up to the 1980's. There are chapters on optical glass and lens attachments. Be warned that about a third of the 300+ pages are biographical sketches, with portraits, of important figures in the development of the photographic lens. This may be of value to some, but less to others. There is also a very useful, separate, index of lens names, and a glossary of many of the technical terms used. (Although the index seemed to leave out some names, such as Protar, which ARE discussed in the book!). I didn't find the quality of this printing objectionable, as did another reviewer. In fact, most of the figures are line drawings, and aren't really subject to bad reproduction. Now for the inevitable complaints. Kingslake assumes that the reader has some knowledge of lens design, or at least of common aberrations. I may get his Fundamentals of Lens Design soon, but would hate to have to read it as a prerequisite to reading History. A short chapter on aberrations and lens design would be of great advantage. The glossary explains some of the terms, but could use figures to great benefit. The author could use a note indicating that the subject is to the left and image to the right in the diagrams (perhaps a convention for opticians, but less likely to be known to many readers of this book). Likewise, the chapter on optical glass would be more useful if introduced before discussing the lens designs. Perhaps cross-hatching on the diagrams or some scheme could be used to indicate glass densities. Lastly, some lenses designed since the book was published may now be considered classics, and a reprint with more lenses would be nice (where is the Tele-Xenar? How about the Tri-Elmar?) Even with the minor complaints, I found this book very informative and useful. It will remain next to my computer for contributing to lens discussion on newsgroups and for looking up those classic lenses that appear on auction sites.
Kingslake's "History": an essential guide to lens history Rudolf Kingslake's "History of the Photographic Lens" is not only one of the most informed histories of lens design, but also serves to remind photographers, amateur and professional alike, of the value of older lens designs, largely abandoned in this "modern" computer age. Not only will everyone whose interest in photography far outreaches their credit line or bank account enjoy this retired lens expert's chronicle, the book will also serve to recommend some of the very same optics, still available today, for those wiling to experiment with the vast range of used photographic lenses on the market. The value of my own images relies, in part, on the knowledge that certain designs, such as the Dagor or the Protar can still be used to advantage in larger formats where the need to enlarge is minimal or nonexistent. While some reviewers would like to se the more information on later developments in photographic lenses fom the second half of the century on, I am glad that this text is still in print and hope it shall remain so. rk.
Five star book, 3 star reproduction quality This classic book on the large format photography lens is a must for serious enthusiasts. I have used my local library's copy so much that I decided to buy the book. Boy, was I let down when it came from Amazon.com. It turns out that this is a poor quality reproduction, the original plates having been lost by Academic Press. The text and line drawings are OK, but the halftones stink, and I am disappointed that I paid $51 dollars for this book. It should be described on the Amazon web page as a reproduction-grade book and should be priced at $24.95.

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