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Cooke Datal Anastigmat 1 inch f/1.9
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 11:20 pm    Post subject: Cooke Datal Anastigmat 1 inch f/1.9 Reply with quote

Being fascinated by the crazy and swirly bokeh that the legendary Cooke Kinic 1 inch f/1.5 produces I sought to get a similar lens.
Lightly daunted by the prices at which the Kinic is sold I stumbled upon this more affordable and nice little lens on ebay.

Besides the desire for a small and non-expensive crop-sensor camera besides my new 6D I bought a NEX-3 to be able to use this lens.
The lens looks pretty cool and aged and arrived with a very stiff focusing ring but after some cleaning lubing the focus got very nice. The aperture works smoothly and the blades are free of oil.

After the surprise of the unexpected vignette due to the incomplete filling of the APS-C sensor (the only photos shot with this lens were made on a M4/3 camera) I was quickly rewarded with the cool bokeh of this lens.
Also it struck me that it is pretty sharp wide open, at least in the center. Further stopped down it gets really sharp although I haven't thoroughly tested this.

I took this lens with my on the way to work this week and came across some wet morning grasses in the bright crisp sun. The lens obviously works great for close-up work where the bokeh get plenty of room to play. In landscape shots of the water the weaknesses start to show. While the lack of sharpness in extreme infinity is probably caused by my adapter, the sharpness clearly starts to drop further from the center. I still have to take some careful infinity shots, also at smaller apertures.

The first shot shows the full image as projected on the NEX sensor and all other shots are cropped relatively to the size of a M4/3 sensor.
The vignette can have a cool effect but the square vignette in a rectangular shot is appears odd. The bigger crop (4:3 ratio) of the first image does have some character though.




#01 - wide open (full shot)

#01 - wide open (4:3 crop)

#01 - wide open (full crop)

#02 - wide open

#02 - wide open - 100% crop

#03 - f/2.8

#03 - f/2.8 - 100% crop

#04 - wide open

#05 - f/2.8

#06 - f/5.6

#07 - wide open

#08 - f/2.8

#09 - - wide open

#09 - wide open - 100% crop

#10 - wide open

#10 - wide open - 100% crop

#11 - wide open

#12 - f/2.8




I could only find two webpages that showed the lens and three shots on flickr. Any information of this lens of the Datal series is more than welcome! I guess that this is also a cine lens, but cannot figure out what Datal would stand for. (Kinic sounds to me as something that relates to cinema)

Thanks for watching!


PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Datal relates to the lens series, there were others named: Ortal, Comat, Amotal, Lestal, Vidtal, Kinetal, Panchro, Panchrotal etc. All very different.

edit: The pics, I find the bokeh very distracting. I realise you've taken them to accentuate it, but it would be nice to see how the lens works with other subjects. very sharp though as I would expect from a lens of this type.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 7:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oeps, I forgot to post the longer distance shots.


#1 - wide open

#2 - f/2.8



These shots show sharpness in the center but drop off away from the center.
I am unsure if my adapters doesn't allow infinity focus, or surpasses it.
As I only had time for a quick shot, I want to take some more shots focused at infinity with different apertures.


@philslizzy: Do you know what the differences are between these lens series?


PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

These are some info on Cooke history page.

Quote:
By 1955, nearly every 35mm film camera in use throughout the world was equipped with Cooke Panchro, Speed Panchro or Super Speed Panchro lenses.

In 1954, design began on the 18mm Series III Cooke Speed Panchro. Two years later, the new lens, of inverted telephoto construction, achieved an angular field of 80 degrees and f/1.7 while maintaining the modern standard of definition and resolution required for wide screen presentation. The other Speed Panchro to share the Series III distinction was the 25mm, again of reverse telephoto construction and also released in the mid-1950s.

Technicolor cameras were equipped with special Cooke Speed Panchro lenses. (See History page for the 1930s.)

In 1958, Bell & Howell 8mm and 16mm cameras were sold to the amateur photographer with Cookes of various names and focal lengths:

Bell & Howell Cameras c. 1958 sold with Cooke lenses:
8mm Sportster Tri-Lens Model 605C
8mm Sportster Duo Model 605B
16mm Autoload Model 603
16mm Autoload Turret Model 603T

8mm Cooke lenses c. 1958 for Bell & Howell cameras:
Pelotal 6.5mm, f/1.75
Trital 12.5mm, f/2.5
Taytal 12.5mm, f/1.7
Ivotal 12.5mm, f/1.4
Serital 0.5 inch, f/1.9
Serital 1 inch, f/1.9
Serital 1.5 inch f/1.9
Telekinic 2 inch, f/3.5

16mm Cooke lenses c. 1958 for Bell & Howell cameras:
Wide Angle 0.7 inch, f/2.5
Serital 1 inch, f/1.9
Ivotal 1 inch, f/1.4
Ivotal 2 inch, f1.4
Telekinic 1 inch, f2.0
Telekinic 1.8 inch, f/2.8
Telekinic 4 inch, f/4.0
Telekinic 6 inch, f/4.5


PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 12:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the info!

Still, no information about the Datal series..

Anyone?


PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2013 2:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

According to the VM, "A unique lens was two Datal f1.9/1in on Victor 16mm cameras. However the point of this name 'Datal' is not
obvious. Names may have been used in response to customers needs." This would have been in the late 1930s.

In addition, "Recording Lenses, etc. These include lenses for data recording and microfilming.
Datal f1.9 made in 1.0, 1.5in." Post-WW II.