850
Rudolph at Zeiss further developed the Cooke design
and in 1902 Zeiss introduced its most famous lens, the
Tessar with an f/5.5 aperture. The Tessar was widely
copied and appeared under such names as Ernon, Ektar
Anticomar, Xtralux, and Lustrar from a large number
of different manufacturers.
The fi rst designs for a variable power telephoto
lens—the forerunner of the modern varifocal zoom
lens—also date from this period. This was developed
independently by Dallmeyer in London, by Miethe in
Germany and by Duboscq of France. It was patented
on 15 December 1891 by Thomas Rudolf Dallmeyer
(1859–1906) who had been running the Dallmeyer
company since his father’s death in 1883. In Germany
Adolph Miethe (1862–1927) applied for a similar pat-
ent—leading inevitably to a dispute over precedence of
similar magnitude to that which Dallmeyer’s father had
had with Steinheil in the 1860s. Dallmeyer produced
a book Telephotography (1899) describing the use of
his design.
A refi nement of the lens was introduced in 1905 by
K Martin and sold as the Busch Bis-Telar. This design
overcame the limitations of Dallmeyer’s original design
and again was widely copied. Dallmeyer’s own versions
were sold as the Adon and Dallon and other companies
sold under names such as Telestigmat, Telecentric, and
Magnar.
Several other specifi c lens designs were developed
during the period. Amongst them, a very wide-angle
lens, the Hypergon, was made by Goerz and sold from
1900 and soft-focus lenses from Dallmeyer and Wol-
lensak found favour with portrait photographers.
Michael Pritchard
See also: Dallmeyer, John Henry & Thomas Ross;
Miethe, Adolf; and and Duboscq, Louis Jules.
Further Reading
Eder, J. M., History of Photography, (translated by Edward Eps-
tean), New York: Columbia University Press, 1945.
Kingslake, Rudolf, A History of the Photographic Lens. London:
Academic Press, 1989.
Ray, Sidney F., Applied Photographic Optics: Lenses andOop-
ticalSsystems for Photography, Film, Video, Electronic and
Digital Imaging. Oxford: Focal Press, 2002.
Taylor, W., and H. W. Lee (1935), “The Development of the
Photographic Lens” in Proceedings of the Physical Society,
47(3), 502–518.
LEON, MOYSE & LÉVY, ISSAC;
FERRIER, CLAUDE-MARIE; AND
CHARLES SOULIER
The French photographic fi rm of Ferrier, Soulier, Lévy
(FSL) produced a vast library of stereographic views in
glass of mostly European monuments and sites during
the second half of the nineteent century. In point of fact
the FSL fi rm operated historically under eight names:
(1) “Ferrier photographe,” 1851–1859; (2) “Ferrier pere,
fi ls et Soulier,” 1859–1864; (3) “M. Léon et J. Lévy,”
1864–1872; (4) “J. Lévy & Cie,” 1872–1895; (5) “Lévy
et ses Fils,” or “Lévy Fils et Cie,” 1895–1920; (6) “Lévy
& Neurdein réunis,” 1920–1932; (7) “Compagnie des
Arts Photoméchaniques,” 1932–1969; and (8) “Roger
Viollet,” 1969–present.
The phenomenon of binocular vision produced star-
tling 3-D effects which still fascinate us today. Although
FSL did from time to time produce paper stereographs, it
was their superb glass stereographs which made the fi rm
famous, and rich. Their views were universally regarded
as the fi nest product of stereography. They produced a
sense of depth that stunned fi rst-time viewers, includ-
ing Queen Victoria, at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in
London. What set the glass stereograph apart from all
other kinds of stereoviews—paper, tissue, daguerreo-
type—was the albumen-on-glass process, which offered
a brilliant, very sharp, superbly contrasty and glisten-
ingly transparent image. Viewed in direct light, it was
incomparably superior to the paper stereograph, which
like the stereo daguerreotype could only be viewed by
refl ected light.
Claude-Marie Ferrier (1811–1889) was the founder
of FSL, and during the 1850s, while employed by maker
of scientifi c instruments Jules Duboscq (1822–1894), he
established the reputation of the glass stereographs. His
stereographs measured 8.5 × 17 cm, the standard size
for such views, whether paper, glass, or daguerreotype.
These dimensions were imposed by the early stereo
viewers, notably the Brewster stereoscope, which
became the industry standard thanks to its enormous
success at the Great Exhibition.
Claude-Marie Ferrier was born in Lyon in 1811.
When he removed to Paris is unknown. The earliest
mention of his work is in connection with the Great
Exhibition in London of 1851, where he and Frédéric
von Martens (ca. 1809–1875) produced photographic
prints for Nicholas Henneman of objects fi guring in
the exhibition. Ferrier’s photographs were printed on
salted paper from albumen-on-glass negatives. The
glass stereograph was “invented” at that same time,
as Frederick Langenheim (1809–1879) later testifi ed
to Marcus Root: “While in Paris, in 1853, I was intro-
duced to the celebrated optician, Dubosque-Soleil...In
conversation, Mr. Dubosque told me that when he was
engaged, in 1851, to arrange the display of his articles
for the ‘World’s Fair’ in London, he saw my photo
magic lantern pictures, the fi rst that he had ever seen,
and thinking that such photo-positive pictures on glass
might be used to supersede the daguerreotype pictures,
until then manufactured for him by Mr. Ferrier, he had
at once written to Mr. Ferrier, to come over to London toLENSES: 3. 1890s–1900s