We all talk today about fantastic Japanese and German lenses, but we should not forget the old British lenses. When I was a young shaver, I bought an enlarging lens in a second hand shop for 4 pounds. A Taylor-Hobson Ental 2 80mm. At the time, I had a Minolta and an enlarging Nikkor lens. The Taylor-Hobson beat them both, hands down, so I sold them and made a decent profit.
At the time, all the Hollywood Mitchell BTN film cameras were equipped with British Taylor-Hobson lenses, and many a famous movie was shot through a British lens. But, alas, we could not compete in price with the Japanese, and the British camera industry went under. I have had, over the years, several British-made cameras, but the bodywork and shutters were not up to the German standard of workmanship. But the hand-built lenses were something to marvell at. Incedently, I still have that Taylor-Hobson enlarging lens kicking about somewhere.
