Went yard saling this past weekend. Found a guy that had a box of wrist
bands that were actually big blue rubber bands with a company name silk
screened on it. I had been looking for some to put around my ratchet straps
to keep them organized. I have tried to get some of those at the produce
department at the store, but either no luck, or they were too small. These
were perfect. I asked how much, and he said free. I didn't want to take
the whole box, so I asked if he had one of those plastic grocery bags. He
did, and filled one up.

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Steve

On 10/20/2011 6:48 PM, Steve B wrote:

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Not so much a darndest thing, and the metalworking connection is I need
to make a foot adapter for my dovetail clamp. But last weekend, scored a
Perkin Elmer 800mm catadioptric lens for $125. T-mount, but I had an
adapter to mount it on my DSLR. Having a smaller sensor gives me a 1.5
crop factor, so the lens equals a 1200mm lens on a 35mm camera.
Set it up on a tripod and pointed out at the furthest trees I could see
(which Google Maps shows to be about .12 miles away) and I can count the
pine needles at the top! These were designed for the military, not sure
how many were sold commercially by Perkin Elmer, but they were also sold
under the Vivitar brand. In 1975 dollars it would cost around $2400 today.
Been looking for a telephoto, can't say I don't have enough reach
anymore...


Jon

"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
On 10/20/2011 6:48 PM, Steve B wrote:

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Not so much a darndest thing, and the metalworking connection is I need to
make a foot adapter for my dovetail clamp. But last weekend, scored a
Perkin Elmer 800mm catadioptric lens for $125. T-mount, but I had an
adapter to mount it on my DSLR. Having a smaller sensor gives me a 1.5
crop factor, so the lens equals a 1200mm lens on a 35mm camera.
Set it up on a tripod and pointed out at the furthest trees I could see
(which Google Maps shows to be about .12 miles away) and I can count the
pine needles at the top! These were designed for the military, not sure
how many were sold commercially by Perkin Elmer, but they were also sold
under the Vivitar brand. In 1975 dollars it would cost around $2400 today.
Been looking for a telephoto, can't say I don't have enough reach
anymore...


Jon

Those lenses were legendary in the optical design community, as was its
designer, the late Juan Rayces. If it is really a Perkin-Elmer brand and not
a vivitar, it is probably worth quite a bit as a collectors item to the
right person. Perkin Elmer did not usually sell consumer optics and they
got out of the business very quickly. This design is called a "solid cat"
because it is a catadioptric lens where the space between the mirrors is
filled by glass. There is a great interview with Juan where he talks
(halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:23:55 -0700, "anorton"
wrote:


"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
On 10/20/2011 6:48 PM, Steve B wrote:

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Not so much a darndest thing, and the metalworking connection is I need to
make a foot adapter for my dovetail clamp. But last weekend, scored a
Perkin Elmer 800mm catadioptric lens for $125. T-mount, but I had an
adapter to mount it on my DSLR. Having a smaller sensor gives me a 1.5
crop factor, so the lens equals a 1200mm lens on a 35mm camera.
Set it up on a tripod and pointed out at the furthest trees I could see
(which Google Maps shows to be about .12 miles away) and I can count the
pine needles at the top! These were designed for the military, not sure
how many were sold commercially by Perkin Elmer, but they were also sold
under the Vivitar brand. In 1975 dollars it would cost around $2400 today.
Been looking for a telephoto, can't say I don't have enough reach
anymore...


Jon

Those lenses were legendary in the optical design community, as was its
designer, the late Juan Rayces. If it is really a Perkin-Elmer brand and not
a vivitar, it is probably worth quite a bit as a collectors item to the
right person. Perkin Elmer did not usually sell consumer optics and they
got out of the business very quickly. This design is called a "solid cat"
because it is a catadioptric lens where the space between the mirrors is
filled by glass. There is a great interview with Juan where he talks
(halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

WOW! I saw several variants of the solid-glass design in ATM 3, but
did not realize that anyone had actually made them. The optical glass
alone was probably several hundred bucks.
--
Best -- Terry

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:18:02 -0500, Terry
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:23:55 -0700, "anorton"
wrote:


"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
On 10/20/2011 6:48 PM, Steve B wrote:

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Not so much a darndest thing, and the metalworking connection is I need to
make a foot adapter for my dovetail clamp. But last weekend, scored a
Perkin Elmer 800mm catadioptric lens for $125. T-mount, but I had an
adapter to mount it on my DSLR. Having a smaller sensor gives me a 1.5
crop factor, so the lens equals a 1200mm lens on a 35mm camera.
Set it up on a tripod and pointed out at the furthest trees I could see
(which Google Maps shows to be about .12 miles away) and I can count the
pine needles at the top! These were designed for the military, not sure
how many were sold commercially by Perkin Elmer, but they were also sold
under the Vivitar brand. In 1975 dollars it would cost around $2400 today.
Been looking for a telephoto, can't say I don't have enough reach
anymore...


Jon

Those lenses were legendary in the optical design community, as was its
designer, the late Juan Rayces. If it is really a Perkin-Elmer brand and not
a vivitar, it is probably worth quite a bit as a collectors item to the
right person. Perkin Elmer did not usually sell consumer optics and they
got out of the business very quickly. This design is called a "solid cat"
because it is a catadioptric lens where the space between the mirrors is
filled by glass. There is a great interview with Juan where he talks
(halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

WOW! I saw several variants of the solid-glass design in ATM 3, but
did not realize that anyone had actually made them. The optical glass
alone was probably several hundred bucks.

What's that thing weigh?

Pete Keillor

"Pete Keillor" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:18:02 -0500, Terry
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:23:55 -0700, "anorton"
wrote:


"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
On 10/20/2011 6:48 PM, Steve B wrote:

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Not so much a darndest thing, and the metalworking connection is I need
to
make a foot adapter for my dovetail clamp. But last weekend, scored a
Perkin Elmer 800mm catadioptric lens for $125. T-mount, but I had an
adapter to mount it on my DSLR. Having a smaller sensor gives me a 1.5
crop factor, so the lens equals a 1200mm lens on a 35mm camera.
Set it up on a tripod and pointed out at the furthest trees I could see
(which Google Maps shows to be about .12 miles away) and I can count
the
pine needles at the top! These were designed for the military, not sure
how many were sold commercially by Perkin Elmer, but they were also
sold
under the Vivitar brand. In 1975 dollars it would cost around $2400
today.
Been looking for a telephoto, can't say I don't have enough reach
anymore...


Jon

Those lenses were legendary in the optical design community, as was its
designer, the late Juan Rayces. If it is really a Perkin-Elmer brand and
not
a vivitar, it is probably worth quite a bit as a collectors item to the
right person. Perkin Elmer did not usually sell consumer optics and they
got out of the business very quickly. This design is called a "solid cat"
because it is a catadioptric lens where the space between the mirrors is
filled by glass. There is a great interview with Juan where he talks
(halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

WOW! I saw several variants of the solid-glass design in ATM 3, but
did not realize that anyone had actually made them. The optical glass
alone was probably several hundred bucks.

What's that thing weigh?

Pete Keillor

Well, actually the point is it is so short, about 80 mm for an 800 mm f.l.,
that it does not weigh much at all.

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 11:40:05 -0700, "anorton"
wrote:


"Pete Keillor" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 08:18:02 -0500, Terry
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 00:23:55 -0700, "anorton"
wrote:


"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
On 10/20/2011 6:48 PM, Steve B wrote:

You find the darndest things at yard sales.

Not so much a darndest thing, and the metalworking connection is I need
to
make a foot adapter for my dovetail clamp. But last weekend, scored a
Perkin Elmer 800mm catadioptric lens for $125. T-mount, but I had an
adapter to mount it on my DSLR. Having a smaller sensor gives me a 1.5
crop factor, so the lens equals a 1200mm lens on a 35mm camera.
Set it up on a tripod and pointed out at the furthest trees I could see
(which Google Maps shows to be about .12 miles away) and I can count
the
pine needles at the top! These were designed for the military, not sure
how many were sold commercially by Perkin Elmer, but they were also
sold
under the Vivitar brand. In 1975 dollars it would cost around $2400
today.
Been looking for a telephoto, can't say I don't have enough reach
anymore...


Jon

Those lenses were legendary in the optical design community, as was its
designer, the late Juan Rayces. If it is really a Perkin-Elmer brand and
not
a vivitar, it is probably worth quite a bit as a collectors item to the
right person. Perkin Elmer did not usually sell consumer optics and they
got out of the business very quickly. This design is called a "solid cat"
because it is a catadioptric lens where the space between the mirrors is
filled by glass. There is a great interview with Juan where he talks
(halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

WOW! I saw several variants of the solid-glass design in ATM 3, but
did not realize that anyone had actually made them. The optical glass
alone was probably several hundred bucks.

What's that thing weigh?

Pete Keillor

Well, actually the point is it is so short, about 80 mm for an 800 mm f.l.,
that it does not weigh much at all.

Cool!

By the way, according to Sky & Telescope, there's a satellite coming
down in a week or so. This one isn't that big (2.5 tons), but there's
a 1.5 ton telescope of some high heat glass likely to make it through
the atmosphere. Likely to be more interesting if over land than the
recent very large satellites of less dense stuff.

Pete Keillor

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:08:35 -0800, Jon Anderson
wrote:

On 10/22/2011 10:40 AM, anorton wrote:

Well, actually the point is it is so short, about 80 mm for an 800 mm
f.l., that it does not weigh much at all.

Short does not translate into light in this case. The main optic is one
solid chunk of glass.

It's 5" long, 4" dia, and weighs 3.7lbs. That's enough weight to damage
the mount on the camera body if handled carelessly.


Jon

Wow! Sounds like it'd work better with an older metal frame film
camera than the current generation of super light plastic wonders. I
guess you treat the camera back as a non load bearing accessory.

Pete Keillor

On 10/22/2011 10:40 AM, anorton wrote:

Well, actually the point is it is so short, about 80 mm for an 800 mm
f.l., that it does not weigh much at all.

Short does not translate into light in this case. The main optic is one
solid chunk of glass.

It's 5" long, 4" dia, and weighs 3.7lbs. That's enough weight to damage
the mount on the camera body if handled carelessly.


Jon

On 10/21/2011 11:23 PM, anorton wrote:

Those lenses were legendary in the optical design community, as was its
designer, the late Juan Rayces. If it is really a Perkin-Elmer brand and
not a vivitar, it is probably worth quite a bit as a collectors item to
the right person. Perkin Elmer did not usually sell consumer optics and
they got out of the business very quickly. This design is called a
"solid cat" because it is a catadioptric lens where the space between
the mirrors is filled by glass. There is a great interview with Juan
where he talks (halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

It's a genuine Perkin Elmer lens. Included was a two page instruction
sheet that starts off by noting it's a cosmetically imperfect lens,
though no imperfections will affect image quality. It also strongly
cautions due to weight, that when attached to the camera, always support
the lens, never hold just the camera alone.

A separate sheet of paper lists the Casey Ave Perin Elmer address, with
a short list of three names, and serial numbers. So I know who
originally got this lens from them. And it came in a cool military grade
case for some sort of night vision device's battery. Need to cut some
foam for a better fit, but it's sure as hell secure in that case!


Jon

On 10/21/2011 11:23 PM, anorton wrote:

There is a great interview with Juan
where he talks (halfway through) about the the design of the lens.
http://spie.org/x16987.xml?ArticleID=x16987

Thank you for the link, that was interesting reading. This lens is
probably even more a rarity than I first thought!


Jon

On 10/22/2011 12:19 PM, Pete Keillor wrote:

Wow! Sounds like it'd work better with an older metal frame film
camera than the current generation of super light plastic wonders. I
guess you treat the camera back as a non load bearing accessory.

Yeah. My brother cautioned me that the Sony Alpha lens mount is rated to
hold the camera's weight. Anything heavier calls for a foot mount on the
lens so the mount is not overstressed.

I just found two copies of this lens on eBay with a BIN of $1100!
Not my best yard sale score ever, but pretty darn close...


Jon

"Jon Anderson" wrote in message
...
On 10/22/2011 10:40 AM, anorton wrote:

Well, actually the point is it is so short, about 80 mm for an 800 mm
f.l., that it does not weigh much at all.

Short does not translate into light in this case. The main optic is one
solid chunk of glass.

It's 5" long, 4" dia, and weighs 3.7lbs. That's enough weight to damage
the mount on the camera body if handled carelessly.


Jon

Yes, but still lighter and much shorter than a conventional refractive 800mm
lens, but perhaps not as light as a modern catadioptric with aspheric
elements. Aspherics have become much cheaper in recent years.

The 5" length includes the shade in front, right?

On 10/22/2011 2:08 PM, anorton wrote:

The 5" length includes the shade in front, right?

Yes. But the paperwork that came with it cautions users to support the
lens by hand and not rely on the camera mount. That was back in the 70's
before cameras incorporated a lot of plastic.


Jon

Pete Keillor wrote:



By the way, according to Sky & Telescope, there's a satellite coming
down in a week or so. This one isn't that big (2.5 tons), but there's
a 1.5 ton telescope of some high heat glass likely to make it through
the atmosphere. Likely to be more interesting if over land than the
recent very large satellites of less dense stuff.
This would be one of the "keyhole" class units from the NRO?
Or, not one of the US instruments?

Jon

"Jon Elson" wrote in message
...
Pete Keillor wrote:



By the way, according to Sky & Telescope, there's a satellite coming
down in a week or so. This one isn't that big (2.5 tons), but there's
a 1.5 ton telescope of some high heat glass likely to make it through
the atmosphere. Likely to be more interesting if over land than the
recent very large satellites of less dense stuff.
This would be one of the "keyhole" class units from the NRO?
Or, not one of the US instruments?

Jon

Sheesh, people. Get Borat to climb up the tower there and check the wiring
and the pointing of the satellite. You're a bit late on getting your news.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44992707...science-space/

Steve

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:29:10 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Pete Keillor wrote:



By the way, according to Sky & Telescope, there's a satellite coming
down in a week or so. This one isn't that big (2.5 tons), but there's
a 1.5 ton telescope of some high heat glass likely to make it through
the atmosphere. Likely to be more interesting if over land than the
recent very large satellites of less dense stuff.
This would be one of the "keyhole" class units from the NRO?
Or, not one of the US instruments?

Jon

German, "Rosat". Here's a link:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/132109883.html

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 06:03:56 -0500, Pete Keillor
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 23:29:10 -0500, Jon Elson
wrote:

Pete Keillor wrote:



By the way, according to Sky & Telescope, there's a satellite coming
down in a week or so. This one isn't that big (2.5 tons), but there's
a 1.5 ton telescope of some high heat glass likely to make it through
the atmosphere. Likely to be more interesting if over land than the
recent very large satellites of less dense stuff.
This would be one of the "keyhole" class units from the NRO?
Or, not one of the US instruments?

Jon

German, "Rosat". Here's a link:
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/132109883.html

Apparently just came down last night.