Lens Wars: Episode V - Petzval Strikes Back

Petzval Portrait Lens, circa 1890, from author's collection. It’s amazing to me that we’re rapidly approaching the 200th anniversary of the first photograph being made: Niepce’s View from the Window of Le Gras, taken in 1827. My last post concluded with the WWF–style camera cage match that was the beginning of photography. Daguerre and Fox Talbot were the main combatants. Sir John Herschel refereed the match rather impartially and helped both sides (and photography) equally. Hippolyte...