John Henry Dallmeyer (London, England)

 

Dallmeyer's Patent Portrait and Group Lens (D),  1866-c.1910's

 

Illustrated Catalogue Issued Annually by Thos. H. McCollin, Thos. H. McCollin (Philadelphia, PA), January 1, 1876, p. 19

Notes: 

Patented in 1866, this lens is a Petzval-type (two groups; two cemented elements in a front group, and two elements with an air spacing in the rear group).  The D Series is a general purpose formulation, suitable for portraits and groups of people, but not as sharp as other types for landscapes unless stopped down.  Its advantage for portraiture was its speed, and, because of the large size of the glass necessary for such speed, it is heavy and often almost too large for the lens boards of field view cameras.  And, since it had to be stopped down for landscapes, the advantage of speed was thereby negated.  Regardless, it sometimes is encountered, as the example above.

In the U.S., Dallmeyer lenses were a fixture in E. & H.T. Anthony catalogs, although always more expensive than Anthony's house brand, E.A lenses.

References:
Illustrated Catalogue Issued Annually by Thos. H. McCollin, Thos. H. McCollin (Philadelphia, PA), January 1, 1876, p. 19
The Photographer's Friend, Richard Walsl (Baltimore, MD), 7th edition, 1882, p. 38
Descriptive Catalogue and Price List of Photographic Apparatus, E. & H.T. Anthony & Co. (New York, NY), November 1893, p.11
Photographic Goods 1842-1904, The Anthony and Scovill Co., (New York, NY), 1904, Catalog A, p.13
 

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