Litton Systems / Pacific Opitical Lens ??????

killervine · Oct 11, 2015

I came across this lens and I am having trouble finding info on it can you help. All it has on the lens is two deferent companies, 1) Pacific Optical Corp. P.N. 34320 Serial no. 278 and also has Litton Systems Inc. P.N. 860289-1 and in the middle of them it has 105mm f/5.6. On the side it has f/ 5.6 6.3 8 11 16 22, also FL 104.9mm Looks to be a wide angle lens for topo pics ? Thank You for your help

KmH · Oct 11, 2015

105 mm is the focal length and 105 mm is a medium telephoto focal length, not a wide angle focal length.
It has a rather slow maximum aperture opening of f/5.6.
Consequently it sounds like it was an inexpensive consumer grade lens in its day.

Understanding Camera Lenses

Derrel · Oct 11, 2015

KmH said:
105 mm is the focal length and 105 mm is a medium telephoto focal length, not a wide angle focal length.
It has a rather slow maximum aperture opening of f/5.6.
Consequently it sounds like it was an inexpensive consumer grade lens in its day.

Understanding Camera Lenses

What, exactly do you mean "it's a medium telephoto" length lens? 105mm can indeed be a wide-angle lens if it's used on 4x5 inch or larger film...the fact that it is a SLOW f/5.6 makes me wonder what it was used for...that's atypical of a lens designed for use on small-formats. Do you KNOW what this lens was used for?

Could this also have been a VERY expensive, night-vision system lens worth $3,000 initially?

Alexr25 · Oct 11, 2015

The marking of its exact focal length (FL 104.9mm) and the odd f stop markings starting at f/5.6 then f/6.3 (1/3 stop down from f/5.6) then the run of full stops down to f/22, suggest that it is anything but a cheap medium tele lens for a 35mm camera.