Ross Xtralux 50mm f2 LTM mount

Bill Snell · 03-24-2006

I've had this lens for quite some time now and have now used it. It has yellowing glass but seems to handle B+W very well. Apparently it is a "planar" type lens and was made in 1947 when the Reid came on the market. I'll try to add some samples as I think this is a rare lens and may be of some interest.

OldNick · 03-24-2006

Looks like a very nice lens from the images you posted. Be careful with it. It could be quite valuable in the eyes of collectors.

Jim N.

raid · 03-25-2006

Could you also post some photos of your lens. Thanks.

pbjbike · 03-25-2006

Raid, you need to borrow this lens to make your 50mm lens test complete!

Bill Snell · 03-25-2006

Raid,
I don't have a digital camera. So I'll take a pic on film. Could take some time, however. The lens is collapsible and looks like a cross between a Summar and a Summitar. Front element slightly smaller than Summitar. Lens is coated and has the old stops 2,2.2,3.2,4.5,6.3,9 and 12.5. Will post pic if thread is still here when film developed.

bmattock · 03-25-2006

Very nice, thanks for posting! I always wanted a Stewartry Trinol, but those are hard to come by (at an affordable price) as well. The Ross brand of lenses are legendary.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Bill Snell · 03-29-2006

Raid,
Pics as promised. We work while you sleep!

Dingo · 03-29-2006

A beauty !

John Robertson · 03-29-2006

Bill,
I have the British Journal of Photography 1950 in front of me, in which the introduction of this lens is announced, along with the 9 cm f3.5 Xtralux.
Around this time Taylor Hobson,Dalmeyer, Ross, and Wray all produced lenses for the Leica camera, as Leitz products were unobtainable in the UK. your lens cost £37 + £16 tax when introduced, a hell of a lot of money. You could buy a new bungalow for £500!!
The Reid cameras were supplied with the 2inch Taylor Hobson Anastigmat only as new, I have one of these. The lens is superb, I bought mine new in1972 for £20, when the last of them were being sold off.
It was tested in the Amateur Photographer by Geof Crawley in 1990, alongside some much newer lenses by Leitz and equaled all of them!! I would think your Xtralux will perform well.
I can scan the article in the journal if you like, but its not hugely informative.
The Ensign Ross factory in Walthamstow was destroyed in the London blitz, and their ability to supply lenses to the market before 1950 would have been severely limited. A lot of equipment was announced several years before it was generally available, the Reid camera in particular.

Bill Snell · 03-29-2006

John, Thanks for the info. You must get up early. I got the 1947 bit from a website www.marriottworld.com%20articles/1947.htm. You would enjoy! Old Timer Cameras has a test report from AP dated 1949 and I also have H.S.Newcombe's book "35mm" 1951 edition in which he mentions both our lenses as being of the same class and mentions that the Xtralux came in both collapsible and rigid mounts? The yellow glass in mine probably means they used radio active glass? You will be looking forward to spring now. By the way I was in Dundee acouple of years ago and took a few snaps.

John Robertson · 03-30-2006

I'm an insomniac Bill, retired so probably nothing else to do!!! The Yellow glass could be lanthanum, the mount on the collapsible Xtralux looks almost identical to the Taylor Hobson, you wonder how much co-operation was going on.
Mine is probably the sharpest and most flare resistant lens I own. The current price in UK for a mint one is £1000 or so, I would imagine the Xtralux to be the same. The Dalmeyer Super Six is another of the group.
You were in Dundee, Why??? not for the scenery!!!
If the national lottery pays up, NZ is at the top of my list of places to visit, a certain trilogy of films has had a lot to do with this!!!
so greetings to Middle Earth!!

Meleica · 03-30-2006

From the Lens Collectors Vade Mecum

http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/sell.htm

See attached image

Dan

Bill Snell · 03-30-2006

Dan, Thanks for the info. I'll be getting a copy of the CD.
John, Thanks for your input too. Sounds as though the,coloured glass is well known. Great to be retired. Always wanted to retire as a millionaire recluse. I've got the recluse bit under control. My wife's neice married a doctor at Nine Wells. Stayed with them for a few days, weather was lovely that year. I'm an ex pat (London) sailed out of Greenock 1956. What they call a "ten pound Pom". Come to the SI all the Orcs are in the NI.

John Robertson · 03-30-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Snell

Dan, Thanks for the info. I'll be getting a copy of the CD.
John, Thanks for your input too. Sounds as though the,coloured glass is well known. Great to be retired. Always wanted to retire as a millionaire recluse. I've got the recluse bit under control. My wife's neice married a doctor at Nine Wells. Stayed with them for a few days, weather was lovely that year. I'm an ex pat (London) sailed out of Greenock 1956. What they call a "ten pound Pom". Come to the SI all the Orcs are in the NI.

Looking at the mount again on the Xtralux, it looks nearly identical to the Taylor Hobson, I have a sneaking feeling that a third party made the mounts for the lens companies for them to put their glass in. A posibility is Reid and Siegrist of Leicester who made the Reid cameras. Taylor Hobson is still very much alive and well, they now trade as Cooke optics, this is their web site, only look if you have a big wallet!!!
http://www.cookeoptics.com/
They make a very nice (but expensive) portrait lens for large format.
I may be a "recluse" but as an ex civil servant, not a millionaire. I sadly was a resident at Ninewells last year with plumbing problems (stones!!)
I'd love to take pictures at the Franz Joseph glacier, also the tram museum at Ferrymead Christchurch.
Enjoy shooting with the Xtralux, it'll be a good lens. Att shows what the TH can do, I also got a mention in the AP magazine see att.
To a ten pound (£10) pom from a two hundred pound (lbs) scot