C P Goerz Berlin Serial Numbers

In 1895 Goerz founded a branch in New York that started its own production in 1902 and was to become the C. P. Goerz American Optical Co. in 1905 (see here for dating these serial numbers). This company continued to operate independently in the US until 1972. Until WWI many great companies cooperated with Goerz. Rochester Optical Co. used Goerz lenses for its Snappa in 1902, Kodak for its No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak in 1901, and Ross in London got a license to make Dagor double anastigmat lenses already in 1893.

c p goerz berlin serial numbers

If so, it's only because there's so much nonsense flying around that ithas obscured the pretty simple facts.All Dagors with serial numbers after 77000 (I may have dropped a zero there;I don't own any Dagors any more to check) are essentially the same; thisincludes all gold-dot, "golden" (gold bezel) and some plain black paintDagors. They're generally all reformulated with modern glass, have goodsingle coatings, and were centered with the automatic process which eliminatedmost of the QA problems that had resulted from the difficulty of centeringDagor-type lenses by hand.The Kern-built Dagors sold by Schneider are an exception; some are multicoatedand are marked "MC-Dagor" and are presumably better than the other post-77000modern Dagors in that they should have better contrast. I've shot one andcan confirm that it was a pretty contrasty lens, but multicoating just isn'tas important with the Dagor design as it is with the more common modernPlasmats, which have more air-glass interfaces.Now, "Gold Dot" and "Golden" Dagors sell for a premium for various reasons;the collector market, confusion over whether all Dagors with serial numbersover 77000 are of similar optical quality (they are), hype from variousdealers, etc. and so forth. If you're looking for a Dagor I would recommenda non gold-dot, non "golden" or "gold rim" post-77000 lens in a Rapax shutter.I had a lens like that and I still somewhat regret selling it. OTOH I boughtit before the current Dagor craze for $395 and sold it about a year and ahalf ago _to a dealer_ for $400 -- so I don't feel _too_ bad about it. TheRapax shutter was the only one I had and was a bit of a nuisance to maintainjust because of its uniqueness but was both accurate and consistent, which isa rarety in LF shutters both old and new.-- Thor Lancelot Simon t...@rek.tjls.com"And where do all these highways go, now that we are free?"

>If so, it's only because there's so much nonsense flying around that it>has obscured the pretty simple facts.>>All Dagors with serial numbers after 77000 (I may have dropped a zero there;>I don't own any Dagors any more to check) are essentially the same; this>includes all gold-dot, "golden" (gold bezel) and some plain black paint>Dagors. They're generally all reformulated with modern glass, have good>single coatings, and were centered with the automatic process which eliminated>most of the QA problems that had resulted from the difficulty of centering>Dagor-type lenses by hand.>>The Kern-built Dagors sold by Schneider are an exception; some are multicoated>and are marked "MC-Dagor" and are presumably better than the other post-77000>modern Dagors in that they should have better contrast. I've shot one and>can confirm that it was a pretty contrasty lens, but multicoating just isn't>as important with the Dagor design as it is with the more common modern>Plasmats, which have more air-glass interfaces.>>Now, "Gold Dot" and "Golden" Dagors sell for a premium for various reasons;>the collector market, confusion over whether all Dagors with serial numbers>over 77000 are of similar optical quality (they are), hype from various

I have the Shutterbug article thanks to David Lindquist who was kindenough to send me a copy. It is actually a letter to the editor. In it Bolsetzian says that the centering devise was applied to lensproduction in 1963. Serial numbers starting at 770000 would startsomewhere around 1947. My serial number list is also due to Mr.Bolsetzian. This list does not extend past 1955 and has a few gaps. It would be interesting to know how Goerz American centered lensesand also how much better this method was than the old conventionalmethod. I frequently see statements made about modern lenses being betterbecause they are not assembled by hand. I rather think there is asmuch hand work now as ever. There maybe some automation employedgrinding and polishing the blanks and greater precision in thecentering and edging operations but both are likely to be stillultimately controlled by observation. Cementing elements is not anoperation which could be easily automated and automation would likelynot be economical unless thousands of lenses were made. I was sent a second article by Mr. Lindquist. This one is by ArtKramer from "Modern Photography" May, 1969. It has a number ofbloomers. It is mainly of interst because he says that Goerz wascontemplating the manufacture of a Plasmat type lens at the time. The Plasmat is generally credited to Paul Rudolph but Kingslakemakes clear that Emile von Hoegh, the inventor of the Dagor, proposedit as a variation of the Dagor shortly after joining Goerz in Berlin. The Plasmat has advantages over the Dagor but has four additionalglass-air interfaces so was not a popular design until after lenscoatings were made ecomonical. (The Ross Wide Angle Xpress is anearly Plasmat).

that shows Dagors with serial numbers 225xxx.I have the following that I am trying to date:8 1/4" f/6.8 Goerz DA Series 3 No 3 No 130xxx300mm f/6.8 C.P. Goerz Berlin No 325xxx 9 1/2" f/6.8 Goerz Dagor No 753xxx12" f/6.8 Goerz Dagor No 753xxx14" f/7.7 Goerz Dagor No 754xxxI have a flyer from the mid 50's from Goerz Opt Coin Long Island, NY that lists serial numbers 783xxx , 784xxx , and 785xxx for Golden Dagor,Golden Wide Angle and Red Dot Artar.............Anyone care to fill in dates and Serial numbers for American Gold Dots, Schneider Gold Dots,andKern Gold Dots???.................bill...................