
A legacy of superior and innovative lens design and manufacture under the Cooke name that continued throughout the 20th century beginning with still portrait, telephoto and process lenses, through the development of acclaimed Cooke cine and television lenses, and continues today by Cooke Optics Limited, with award winning 35mm cine prime and zoom lenses.
1893

Cutaway cross-section of Early Cooke lens of Cooke Triplet design offering critically fine definition right up to the margins of the photographic plates.
The Cooke Triplet


Cutaway cross-section of Early Cooke lens of Cooke Triplet design offering critically fine definition right up to the margins of the photographic plates.
He goes on to say: "You will see that the Minster wants a decidedly wide angle to get it all in, consequently I had to raise the rising front by 1 1/2 inches so that the lens is tried more severely than if used centrally opposite a 7 1/2 x 5 plate which size it is manufactured for. On submitting this print (or rather the negative) to an experienced amateur photographer, after looking carefully at it and without my asking, he said that if he had been using a 7 1/4 Ross Portable Symmetrical or other lens of such type, he would not expect to get so good a result without having to stop down to F/32, a conclusion which I had myself independently arrived at."
Having no desire to enter the photographic lens business, T. Cooke & Sons offered the manufacturing rights to Taylor, Taylor & Hobson of Leicester, optical instrument makers who had a reputation for producing quality optical products since 1886 when William Taylor founded the company in Leicester with his brother, Thomas Smithies Taylor. William Taylor's philosophy: "Don't do what everyone else can do; go out for something new," coined in 1886 holds true at Cooke Optics today.
The first Cooke photographic lens was made by TT&H in 1894 based on Dennis Taylor's Cooke Triplet patent of 1893. (There is no familial relationship amongst Dennis Taylor and brothers William and Thomas.). TT&H went on to produce subsequent lens designs by Dennis Taylor through Series V. The licensing agreement stated that the lenses would be sold under the trade name "Cooke". The very first lenses made were brass and included the inscription "H.D. Taylor's patents."
In 1895, the Cooke lens was awarded the only medal of the "Royal Photographic Society given for improvements in lenses within recent times."
The TT&H Cooke lens catalog of 1897 states:
"Lack of sharp definition at the margins, and blackness and lack of detail in the shadows, are among the commonest defects of photographs. The introduction of lenses which, without the use of stops, yield definition uniformly fine throughout their plates, marks quite a new era in photography."
Today, triplets of various kinds are used almost universally for lenses of intermediate aperture sold on smaller still cameras.
This was the beginning of a legacy of superior and innovative lens design and manufacture under the Cooke name that continued throughout the 20th century beginning with still portrait, telephoto and process lenses, through the development of acclaimed Cooke cine and television lenses, and continues today by Cooke Optics Limited, with award-winning 35mm cine prime and zoom lenses.

1913

Alfred Steiglitz' Eastman View 2D Camera (c. 1921) mounted with his Taylor, Taylor & Hobson RVP lens (c. 1890). Photo courtesy of George Eastman House, Rochester New York.

Early Cooke Series II, f/4.5 Portrait Lens.
Cooke Portrait/Soft-Focus Lenses

Alfred Steiglitz' Eastman View 2D Camera (c. 1921) mounted with his Taylor, Taylor & Hobson RVP lens (c. 1890). Photo courtesy of George Eastman House, Rochester New York.

Early Cooke Series II, f/4.5 Portrait Lens.

1914

A photo of the ship Endurance, lodged fast in ice, from the 1921 Cooke lens product catalog. The photo was enclosed with a letter from Sir Ernest Shackleton.
Shackleton Expedition
The expedition's official photographer, Frank Hurley, chose a Graflex camera fitted with a Cooke 12 inch f 3.5 lens and 6 3/4 x 8 1/2 inch and 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 inch glass negatives to capture the day-to-day life endured by the men, according to one source. The Cooke Series VIII lens was used on both Shackleton Polar Expeditions "for long distance views in the Antarctic," according to a 1920's Cooke lens catalog.

A photo of the ship Endurance, lodged fast in ice, from the 1921 Cooke lens product catalog. The photo was enclosed with a letter from Sir Ernest Shackleton.


1915
The Lusitania


1916


In 1924, the Cooke Aviar lens for general photography appeared in the company’s catalog as the Cooke Series II f/4.5 in 8 focal lengths ranging in price from £6 to £30.
The Aviar Lens
With the onset of World War I, there arose an urgent demand for aerial reconnaissance lenses. At first, the need was satisfied by the British government purchasing German lenses from the public. Then Arthur Warmisham designed a new Cooke lens (British patent no.113590) that was accepted as superior in performance to foreign lenses.
Mr. John H. Gear, F.R.P.S., when President of the R.P.S. [Royal Photographic Society], in 1916, made the following statement in his opening address about the comparative test that was made: -- "I may say that plates were exposed simultaneously at an altitude of several thousand feet with a Zeiss and the new Cooke lens, of equal foci, the latter now known as the 'Aviar': the plates received identical exposures and development. I was subsequently asked to give an opinion upon the quality of the lenses used in making the negatives, not knowing what lenses had been used. Very little examination was necessary before I unhesitatingly selected one negative as being superior to the other—that one was made with the British Lens." The Leicester firm deserves the congratulations of British photographers and the public, for having removed the stigma from British Science and Manufacture that English Lenses were inferior to German, especially at a time when there are war difficulties and shortage of suitable optical glass.


In 1924, the Cooke Aviar lens for general photography appeared in the company’s catalog as the Cooke Series II f/4.5 in 8 focal lengths ranging in price from £6 to £30.

1921

The Cooke Speed Panchro lenses were a development of the Cooke Series O lens (shown here from a 1926 product catalog). The Series O lenses were the first to be designed with an aperture of f/2.0.
Cooke Speed Panchro

The Cooke Speed Panchro lenses were a development of the Cooke Series O lens (shown here from a 1926 product catalog). The Series O lenses were the first to be designed with an aperture of f/2.0.
The magnitude of The Famous Players-Lasky's use of Cooke lenses is vast considering the following: The Famous Players-Lasky dominated theatrical distribution through its ownership of production, distribution agencies and theatre holdings. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission investigated the company for restraint of trade. According to excerpted testimony from The New York Telegraph, April 24, 1923, "this combination of effort stifles competition, inasmuch as its competitors are unable to secure first run showings of their pictures. The complaint also charges that the corporation is the largest theatre owner in the world, and controls showings of the pictures through its ownership of Paramount Pictures, the distribution corporation." At the time, Paramount was releasing sometimes two features a week. Famous Players Lasky, through their various companies including Paramount and Artcraft produced all of the films starring Mary Pickford from 1913 to 1919.

1922
Mount Everest

Captain John Noel, official photographer to the Mallory and Irvine 1922 Mt. Everest Expedition at 23,000 feet using a 20 inch f5.6 Cooke Series VIII Telephoto lens fitted to a Newman Sinclair camera. Copyright John Noel Photographic Collection.


"For every branch of photography in all climates and conditions they are unrivalled." The nuances of the 1914 Shackleton expedition were captured so successfully by Captain Frank Hurley that Cooke lenses were chosen again for the 1922 expedition to the Antarctic. Frank Hurley (left) and Ernest Shackleton shown in ad photo above at Patience Camp.

1923
Royalty

On 26 April 1923 at Westminster Abbey, a Cooke lens captures the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of York (Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth, now known as the Queen Mother).
Whilst there was no broadcast to the nation as with present day Royal weddings -- because authorities feared that "disrespectful people might hear it whilst sitting in public houses with their hats on" -- a Cooke lens captured the event, and the beautiful architecture of the Abbey in glorious detail.

The Duke and Duchess of York, 26 April 1923 on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, taken with a Cooke 20 inch Telephoto lens.

1926
Graflex
May 28, 1926, From the British Journal of Photography - "Where Cooke Lenses Go – We are interested to learn that Taylor-Hobson Cooke lenses, fitted to Bell-Howell Eyemo cinematographic cameras, have been used with great success upon many recent expeditions to remote parts of the globe. Amongst them are included the Amundsen-Elsworth North Pole Expedition, the African and Mongolian Expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, the Third Asiatic Expedition, the Speejax Expedition, the Wilkins North Pole Expedition, the Alaskan Geological Survey of the United States Department of Interior, the Byrd Polar Expedition, the Smithsonian Chrysler Expedition to Africa and the Bering Sea Expedition. On May 9, Lt.-Commdr. Richard E. Byrd reached the North Pole by aeroplane and returned to Spitsbergen in 15 1/2 flying hours, and Capt. Amundsen’s airship ‘Norge’ passed over the North Pole on Wednesday, May 12. Both these aerial expeditions carried Eyemo cameras fitted with Taylor-Hobson Cooke f/2.5 lenses."

1930

By 1935 the Cooke Speed Panchros for cinematography were supplied in 8 focal lengths working at f/2.0: 24, 28, 32, 35, 40, 50, 75 and 108mm. They were designed to cover standard format 0.631 x 0.868 inch. (Brit. Pat. 377,537. U.S. Pat. 1,955,591 - 1931)
Cooke Speed Panchros

By 1935 the Cooke Speed Panchros for cinematography were supplied in 8 focal lengths working at f/2.0: 24, 28, 32, 35, 40, 50, 75 and 108mm. They were designed to cover standard format 0.631 x 0.868 inch. (Brit. Pat. 377,537. U.S. Pat. 1,955,591 - 1931)
1931

Virtually all Technicolor pictures were made with specially modified Cooke Speed Panchros until the early 1950s.
Technicolor
"The most notable feature of these lenses, however, is the inclusion in the 30mm design of what might be called the inverse telephoto principle, whereby the back focal length is considerably longer than the equivalent focal length." (The Technicolor Process of Three-color Cinematography, by J.A. Ball, vice president and technical director, Technicolor Motion Picture Corp., Journal of Motion Picture Engineers, Vol. XXV, August 1935, No. 2, pp. 127-138.)
Walt Disney gained exclusive rights to the Technicolor technology for animation for the next three years, taking the opportunity to win two Academy Awards for short films: Flowers and Trees (1932) and The Three Little Pigs (1933).

1930's

Bell & Howell Cooke Varo Zoom Lens.
The First Zoom Lens for Cinematography

1935

George Noville, executive officer on board the S.S. Jacob Ruppert during Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s second Antarctic Expedition 1933 to 1935, with a Bell & Howell Eyemo camera fitted with a Cooke lens. Photo taken November 1934.
Bell & Howell Eyemo Camera Lenses
"In the United States, Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Warner Bros. used Cooke Speed Panchros almost exclusively. Fox, R.K.O., United Artists, Columbia, Universal, and other studios were using them increasingly. In England, all film producers, including British Gaumont, British & Dominion, London Films, and British International Pictures, used these lenses. In other countries, Cooke Speed Panchros were used by the Russian motion picture trust, in Australia by Cinesound and Australian Films, and by leading studios in Austria, France, Italy, Germany, India, Japan, and South America." (Quoted from a 1938 Bell & Howell brochure.)
Later, the equipment was standard issue for World War II Camera operators.

Bell & Howell
"George Eastman [of Eastman Kodak] told WT [William Taylor of Taylor, Taylor and Hobson] that 90 percent of the 16mm film used in America passed behind lenses made in Leicester." (The Life and Times of William Taylor, page 74. Written and privately published by Harry Dagnall.) This quote dates back to the early 1930s but George Eastman’s statement proved true through at least the 1950s. The popular Bell & Howell Eyemo cameras used for newsgathering, documentaries and by the armed forces during World War II came supplied with Cooke lenses, as did the Bell & Howell 8mm Filmo camera for home movies.

Ansel Adams

1944
Process Lenses

Pros and Amateurs
Technicolor cameras were equipped with special Cooke Speed Panchro lenses. (See History page for the 1930s.)
In 1958, Bell & Howell 8mm and 16mm cameras were sold to the amateur photographer with Cookes of various names and focal lengths:
Bell & Howell Cameras c. 1958 sold with Cooke lenses:
8mm Sportster Tri-Lens Model 605C
8mm Sportster Duo Model 605B
16mm Autoload Model 603
16mm Autoload Turret Model 603T
8mm Cooke lenses c. 1958 for Bell & Howell cameras:
Pelotal 6.5mm, f/1.75
Trital 12.5mm, f/2.5
Taytal 12.5mm, f/1.7
Ivotal 12.5mm, f/1.4
Serital 0.5 inch, f/1.9
Serital 1 inch, f/1.9
Serital 1.5 inch f/1.9
Telekinic 2 inch, f/3.5
16mm Cooke lenses c. 1958 for Bell & Howell cameras:
Wide Angle 0.7 inch, f/2.5
Serital 1 inch, f/1.9
Ivotal 1 inch, f/1.4
Ivotal 2 inch, f1.4
Telekinic 1 inch, f2.0
Telekinic 1.8 inch, f/2.8
Telekinic 4 inch, f/4.0
Telekinic 6 inch, f/4.5

1957
Explorations
Cooke Kinetal 16mm Prime Lenses

The Cinema Advances
The Cooke 100mm Deep Field Panchro was a six-element, four-component lens of extended Speed Panchro construction that corrected for all aberrations and was ideal for both colour and monochrome.

1971
20-100mm

Gordon H. Cook received the 1988 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Gordon E. Sawyer Award for this and other technological advancements during his career as an optical designer.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
The 16mm version of the Cooke 10.4-52mm lens, this lens was introduced in 1975.
Cooke Super Cine Varotal 25-250mm
With an aperture of f/2.8, it was ideal for special effects and was used to shoot the original Superman film in 1978, the year it was introduced.
Cooke Super 16 Varokinetal 10.4-52mm
This lens was first used by American cinematographer Curtis Clarke to film "The Draughtsman’s Contract," the first technically and commercially successful Super 16 feature to be made. The CVP offered advancements in filming under difficult lighting conditions in 16mm and Super 16mm formats. It began production in 1983. The Cooke 20-60mm was the 35mm equivalent to this lens.
Cooke Varopanchro, 20-60mm, T3.1
Epitomised 35mm zoom lens design, with an optical performance comparable to the finest prime lenses. Introduced in 1981.
Cooke Varopanchro (CVP) 10-30mm, T1.6
The CVP offered advancements in filming under difficult lighting conditions in 16mm and Super 16mm formats. It began production in 1983. The Cooke 20-60mm was the 35mm equivalent to this lens.
Cooke Cine Varotal 25-250mm, Mark II, T3.9
Introduced in 1983.
Cooke Wide Angle Varotal, 14-70mm, T3.1
During the development stage in the mid-1980s, valuable input was received from various customers, which prompted the company to incorporate an innovative curved front cover glass, and a noise isolator. This lens was unique in the zoom series because it included a wide angle aspheric. It was launched in 1986.
In 1988 Cooke lens designer, Gordon H. Cook, received The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gordon E. Sawyer Award "in recognition of technological contributions that brought credit to the film industry." It was the first time this Oscar category was awarded to someone outside the United States and is the highest accolade bestowed on an individual by the Academy for technical contributions to the film industry.
Gordon Cook designed cine and television lenses during the 1960s; most notably zooms that would meet the exacting requirements of the most discriminating cinematographer.
Feature films produced in the 1980s using Cooke lenses include Superman II, Star Wars, Ghandi, and Apocalypse Now.
Cooke Varotal 18-100mm
Design was initiated at the beginning of 1987 and the lens was exhibited for the first time at Photokina in 1988. It included refinements indicated by intensive market research into operator requirements.
Cooke Cinetal 25-250mm, Mark III, T3.7
Introduced in 1992.

1990's
Cooke S4 Primes
In 1998, designs were completed and production began on the Cooke S4 Prime, T2.0 lenses. In 1998, the S4s won a Cinec Award in Germany. In 1999 the mechanical designers and optical designer of the S4 lenses earned a Technical Academy Award for mechanical and optical excellence, and in 2000 were awarded a Technical Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Lord Richard Attenborough officially dedicated Cooke Optics’ new 20,000 square foot facility in Leicester in February 2000.

Cooke S4 35mm prime lenses

2000s

Cooke Portrait PS945 Lens for Large Format Photography.
Photo by Clive Russ.

Cooke Series XVa Triple Convertible Lens for 8x10 large format photography. Photo by Richard West

Cooke CXX 15-40mm Zoom Lens


Cooke S4/i Prime Lens and lens circuit board.


Panchro by Cooke.

miniS4/i, focal lengths: 18, 25, 32, 50, 65, 75, 100 and 135mm

2000s
In 2001, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, awarded Cooke two Queen's Awards; one for Enterprise - International Trade and one for Innovation. The Export Times and Trade Partners presented Cooke with their 2001 Exporter of Year award and 2001 Product Innovation award.
In 2002, the first Cooke lens made for large format photography in 50 years is designed and made in Leicester. The new Cooke Portrait PS945 lens for 4x5 format photography is a modern reproduction of the vintage Pinkham & Smith Company's Visual Quality Series IV lens. The first lens of its type is a 229mm, f/4.5. serial no. 0001 is auctioned at Christie's in South Kensington, London on July 16, 2002 to the highest bidder for 3500 GBP. One hundred lenses were made during the first production run. In 2009, Cooke Optics began a second production run.

Cooke Portrait PS945 Lens for Large Format Photography.
Photo by Clive Russ.

Cooke Series XVa Triple Convertible Lens for 8x10 large format photography. Photo by Richard West

Cooke CXX 15-40mm Zoom Lens


Cooke S4/i Prime Lens and lens circuit board.


Panchro by Cooke.

miniS4/i, focal lengths: 18, 25, 32, 50, 65, 75, 100 and 135mm

Cooke 5/i T1.4 Prime Lens

2010s

Cooke honored at 85th Academy Awards

Cooke Anamorphic/i T2.3 Prime Lens

Cooke Metrology Lens Projector

Cooke Anamorphic/i 35-140mm Zoom Lens

Cooke Panchro/i Classic 152mm Prime Lens

Cooke S7/i Full Frame Plus Prime Lens
2010s

Cooke honored at 85th Academy Awards

Cooke Anamorphic/i T2.3 Prime Lens

Cooke Metrology Lens Projector

Cooke Anamorphic/i 35-140mm Zoom Lens

Cooke Anamorphic/i 35-140mm Zoom Lens

Cooke Panchro/i Classic 152mm Prime Lens

Cooke S7/i Full Frame Plus Prime Lens
