20/08/2024
We love anything optics here and do take in some antiques now and then. Another happy customer.
I approached John at Orion Optics after several refusals from less specialized camera companies who either declined the work or were uncertain as to whether the task could be carried through to completion.
My commission was unusual – the repair of a condensing/collector lens on a Cooke, Troughton & Simms “Pointolite” lamp (to be found on p. 183 of the large hardback Cooke Microscopes promotional catalogue) dating to the 1950s and used to provide Koehler illumination for a large and well-specified mono/binocular black enamel M2000 research microscope of the old-fashioned inclining type. Internal fogging/spotting of the collector lens was the only optical defect in the system and it did not seem economical to purchase an entire modern outfit to compensate for a single fault.
Orion Optics not only fulfilled completely the task set before them, with near perfect light transmission and qualitative full diffuse illumination of the specimen field by the image plane produced by the repaired lens, but identified and corrected dirt accumulating on the nearly 60 year old iris diaphragm to prevent damage to a probably irreplaceable part. A light cosmetic cleaning completed the work to a “museum” standard.
Turnover rapid and fees extremely generous, no problem handling work for an amateur bryologist/pteridologist without relevant professional accreditation and outside of the declared specialism of the company.
I cannot recommend highly enough.
I am,
Very faithfully yours,
Patrick Joseph Gray
