Hermo f3.5 50mm Lens Question on what camera it fitted on

rossn4 · Joined: 22 Nov 2013 Posts: 20

I found an unusual lens at a camera show recently that I had never heard of before. When I searched the internet about it I could not find a single piece of information about the lens. I was hoping that someone would know what brand of camera the lens originally went to. It is a Hermo f3.5 50mm lens. It's size is similar to the Leica screwmount lenses. There are no threads on the back it looks like it just screwed directly on to the camera at the edges. It has a working diaphragm and it focuses like the Leica screwmount lenses. I am including some pictures. I'm always a sucker for mystery lenses so if anyone knows what it is I'd be grateful in learning.

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Mos6502 · Joined: 20 Jun 2011 Posts: 961 Location: Austin

It reminds me of a Finetta lens, but the internet suggests Hermo was the trademark of a French company. The focal length and construction suggest some sort of thick bodied 35mm camera though.

dan_ · Expire: 2016-12-19

It looks like having no diaphragm. It could either be only the front part of a lens or the lens of a very simple "box" 35mm camera.
Hermagis is the maker of the Hermo Box cameras, but I have never seen one for the 135mm film. They were usually made in the 6x9cm format, but who knows?.

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Hermo was a trademark owned by the French camera maker Hermagis.

I have never seen this lens but I would say it is from the 1930s. At that time, Hermagis sold a rebadged copy of the German 3x4 folder Zeh Goldi under the name Cady. But lenses for folding cameras came in shutters while this lens obviously does not.

The lens could come from a box camera, as box cameras usually have rudimentary shutters behind the lens and Hermagis had a few 3x4cm box cameras with 50mm lenses that used 127 film. But f/3.5 was quite fast then and such a lens would not have been used on a box model, which was a cheap entry-level camera generally equipped with a fixed focus f/11 lens.

So, in my opinion, this lens must probably originate from a stereo camera. Hermagis had a few models and these cameras have twin coupled shutters built inside the body, rather than the usual lens in shutter. On the picture, the lens focusing cam looks quite worn-out. Stereo cameras were often equipped with a coupling rod linking the focusing tabs on both lenses and that could explain why the base of the tab has lost its chrome.

Here's a picture of an older stereo camera showing the coupling rod between the lenses :

Cheers!

Abbazz