Got it! (well, sort of).
At this link:
[ http://www.google.com/patents?id=fKI0AAAAEBAJ ]
you'll find a patent for a "Very compact wide-angle zoom lens system" by
Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., dating back to 1978.
There are 4 distinct "incarnations" of such a wide-angle zoom: the first two
are constant f4s, whose field of view ranges from 84° to 56°, (that is 24 to
40mm f4 zooms). The latter two are constant f3.5s, whose field of view
ranges from 84° to 62° (that is 24 to 35mm f3.5 zooms).
Judging by the actual pictures of the production (!) item recently appeared
on the list, I suppose that it should be a slight variation of the first two
designs, both showing a very weak positive front element and a small back
element (the one nearest to the film plane).
Aberrations for the first two embodiements are quite small, if not for a
pronounced distortion (something less than 4%) on the wide end.
With the original patent finally in hand, such crafted persons as John
(Hermanson) will easily be able to start a mass production of this almost
forgotten lens... :)
Regards!
Fabio
On Wed, Mar 19, 2008 at 3:01 PM, Fabio Fiorellato <flowerside@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> According to this site: <
> http://www.luciolepri.it/lc2/marcocavina/articoli_fotografici/Zuiko_OM_85_1,4/00_pag.htm>,
> 50 of them went into production (we're talking the 85mm f/1.4 GRIN).
>
> Guess the lucky owners won't give them away neither when their hands are
> cold and dead!
>
> Strangely enough, none of them surfaced on the 'bay in the last 10
> years... :)
>
> In one of my latest post to this list I reported my results after a quick
> search on the google patents base (www.google.com/patents) regarding
> Olympus patents in the film photography area. Time to do a new search and
> see if that 24-40 shows up somewhere...
>
> I'll let you know if something interesting is in the air
>
> Regards
>
> Fabio
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 8:13 PM, Chuck Norcutt <
> chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> > Wonder what happened to that variable refractive index glass? And I had
> > to chuckle at the 4MP self-imposed limit for a 2/3" CCD. That was
> > obviously the engineer speaking before he was beaten down by the
> > marketroids.
> >
> > Chuck Norcutt
> >
> > Geilfuss Charles wrote:
> > > Well that is a new one on me. After seeing this post I searched
> > > a bit on Google but found no other links, but I did find another
> > > interesting lens: the OM 85mm f1.4 GRIN lens.
> > >
> > > http://www.geocities.com/maitani_fan/camera_technologies.html
> > >
> > > Charlie
> > >
> > >
> >
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>
>
> --
> The definitive answer to the meaning of life, universe and everything else
> is: 42.
--
The definitive answer to the meaning of life, universe and everything else
is: 42.
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