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Classic Cookes – Taking a look back at our extensive lens catalogue, their place in history and their impact on the industry.
50mm Speed Panchro f/2, Series 1 Uncoated – Serial 280689 – Sold to Bell & Howell London in September 1943. Manufactured to ‘War Finish’ standards.
The Cooke Speed Panchros trace their origins back to the Cooke Opic lenses, designed by Horace Lee and released in 1920. By 1930 updated designs led to the Speed Panchro line being created specifically for cinematographic applications (U.S. patent 195591A).
These series 1 lenses had a range of 13 focal lengths from 24mm to 121mm at f/2 across the entire series. Many of the early lenses sold in the United States had their focal lengths represented in inches instead of millimetres.
These series 1 lenses had a range of 13 focal lengths from 24mm to 121mm at f/2 across the entire series. Many of the early lenses sold in the United States had their focal lengths represented in inches instead of millimetres.
“All of our productions are made with Taylor-Hobson Cooke lenses and at least 50% of our productions are made with Speed Panchros.” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s resident director of photography John Arnold, ASC in 1935. Arnold was the president of the American Society of Cinematographers multiple times in his lifetime.
This particular 50mm in Cooke’s archive is marked with “War Finish”. Manufactured during the Second World War when the country’s manufacturing resources were to be prioritised for wartime enterprises lower standards were applied to all non-essential processes such as painting the housing, engravings and surface polishing. All non-essential parts that would normally be aluminium or brass were cast iron if possible. “War Finish” then denotes to the customer that a more refined approach was not possible at this time. To us though this lens still looks beautiful – especially when photographed on the Cooke SP3.
By the late 1940s Taylor-Hobson had begun utilizing various rare earth elements in their glass compositions. These advances enabled the release of an 18mm f/1.7 in 1947 which was the last of the original series 1 Speed Panchros that was created.
Horace Lee left Taylor, Taylor & Hobson in 1936 and went on to be become a central figure in designing the sophisticated system of optics and mirrors inside of early home television receivers. By the end of his career, he’d completely lost his hearing but still penned many articles in scientific journals and continued designing optics well into his 60s.
Images shot by Kit Mackenzie on Cooke SP3
