Cooke Optics Ltd. is a camera lens manufacturing company based in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

History

The foundation of Cooke Optics is coincident with Taylor, Taylor and Hobson (TTH) in 1886, as the sole activity of TTH was the manufacture of lenses under the Cooke branding. Administratively speaking, Cooke Optics is a spin-off of Taylor-Hobson, created after Taylor-Hobson shifted its focus to metrology instruments. The brand name Cooke originally came from the company T. Cooke & Sons of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, a manufacturer of telescopes. The optical manager of that company, H. Dennis Taylor (no relation), devised the

Cooke triplet The ''Cooke triplet'' is a photographic lens designed and patented in 1893 by Dennis Taylor who was employed as chief engineer by T. Cooke & Sons of York. It was the first lens system that allowed the elimination of most of the optical distort ...

lens in the 1890s. Cooke of York was not interested in the manufacture of camera lenses, and licensed this design and others to TTH. Subsequently many of TTH's own designs, though unconnected with Cooke of York, also carried the Cooke brand. The Cooke triplet lens was also made under licence by Voigtländer and other companies. Throughout the twentieth century TTH produced a series of innovations, and supplied lenses for the (once large) UK camera industry, for photolithography in the printing industry in the USA and UK, and for cinematography. It provided a succession of technical solutions for Hollywood's evolving needs. Bell & Howell took control of the company in 1930, but it was sold to Rank in 1946. In its later years, Taylor-Hobson's main interest was

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

, and it now operates as a subsidiary of Ametek. In 1998, Cooke Optics was a new company formed following a buy-out of the Optical division of Taylor-Hobson. Chairman Les Zellan led the buy-out. Dave Stevens was then Managing Director of the Leicester-based facility and remained so until 2008 when Robert Howard replaced him as Chief Executive Officer. In 2018 Cooke Optics was acquired by Caledonia Investments. In 2020 Cooke announced the appointment of Tim Pugh as Chief Executive Officer and Kees van Oostrum as Non-Executive Chairman. The company now designs and manufactures 35 mm lenses for the film industry. In a reversion to its previous markets, it has also made limited quantities of the PS945, a redesigned Pinkham and Smith portrait lens, and the Series XVa, a redesigned triple-convertible lens for 10×8 inch format. The company distributes to over 60 countries worldwide and exports 90% of its production. In 2013, the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., with the stated goal of adva ...

gave the company an award of merit, saying it "helped define the look of motion pictures over the last century," with innovations over the years that have included zoom lenses for movie cameras and lenses that did not require bright lights. resulting in lenses that produce what is known in the industry as the "Cooke look" — warm, natural images on the screen.

Products

Notable products include: * a soft-focus 'portrait' lens favoured by Clarence White and

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (; January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was k ...

* the Aviar aerial survey lens, designed in World War I when German lenses and optical glass became unavailable to the RAF * the Series XV triple- convertible lens for 10×8 inch cameras, favoured by

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his Monochrome photography, black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association ...

and others (also see below) * the Opic and Speed Panchro large-aperture lenses, widely used by Hollywood * the inverse telephoto (retrofocus) lens, created for use with the early

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

process, and now the standard design for wide-angle lenses in 35 mm and other small-format cameras * high-quality zoom lenses for cinematography and television * high quality lenses for cinema projectors File:Taylor US568052A (Cooke Triplet, 1893 Fig 11).svg, ''Triplet'' ( Taylor, 1893) File:Warmisham US1361207A (Aviar, 1917).svg, ''Aviar'' (Warmisham, 1917) File:Lee GB157040 (OPIC, 1920).svg, ''OPIC'' ( Lee, 1920) File:Lee - Inverted telephoto (1930).svg, Inverted telephoto ( Lee, 1930)

References

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External links

Official site
;History:

Lens manufacturers Manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Photography companies of the United Kingdom Photography in the United Kingdom British brands Recipients of the Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit

History

Products

References

Further reading

External links