Rare Antique Jamin Paris Opticien Brevete 1213 Vintage Brass Lens Collectible
Item History & Price
Reference Number: Avaluer:346034 | Lens Barrel Material: Brass |
Brand: Jamin | UPC: Does not apply |
Please see photos for condition. This is truly an exceptional and collectible piece that changed the history of photography.
Length- 228mm closed - 260mm extendedLens- 82mmWeight- 5.4 poundsSmall scratches, Tarnished Patina, No hazing or mold. Very nice!The brass has a... beautiful patina but it can easily be polished to shine.
Countless faces: portraits of men, women, and children; endless landscapes; Manifest Destiny and the westward expansion of the nation; the American Civil War; the advent of the automobile . . . What marvelous, strange and wonderful, or even tragic moments has this lens witnessed and documented?Manufactured in Paris by famed opticians, Jean Theodor Jamin and Alphonse Darlot, and produced in great numbers in the second half of the 19th century, lenses like this were the Nikon of their day.Whenever you think of the archetypal, antique wood-box camera, a photographer standing under a black shroud behind it, this was the lens on the front, Jamin lenses featuring rack-and-pinion focus, and a reversible lens-element for taking either portrait or landscape photographs.This exacting instrument is a triumph of machined brass and ground glass, handmade with precision yet idiosyncratic characteristics that make it desirable to this day — both for aficionados of traditional large-format, wet-plate photography, and also modern devotees that mount these lenses to the latest digital cameras!
Some history of Jamin Ing Opticien Jamin 1822 - 1861INDUSTRY: Photographic equipment manufacturerNATIONALITY: FrenchBASED: FranceSEE ALSO DARLOT & JAMIN, Optician, successor to this company. Production was mainly of Petzal lenses. Jamin was at 14, Rue Chapon, Paris. Darlot probably began work here. Certainly he was later at 125, Boulevarde Voltaire, Paris. The company was founded by J. Th. Jamin in 1822 (ie it was pre-photographic) and was purchased by Darlot (1828-1895), a former employee, sometime between 1855-1860, with lenses carrying both names from around 1860-1861 until the early 1870s.Fast same day free shipping.Any questions please feel free to contact me.