Cooke’s new Lens Projector is now shipping.

No rental house or lens owner should be without one.

A lens test projector is essentially a slide projector. The light source is a bright, parallel beam. Instead of a slide, it carries a test chart (reticle) with format lines and resolution grids. The image is projected through the back of the lens onto a flat white wall. It’s important to use studio white paint, and the wall must be flat.

The lens test projector lets you see how the lens handles geometric distortion of straight lines (or do they bend?), whether there is chromatic aberration (white target shifts from magenta to green as you focus), internal barrel flare (hazy gray black background), sharpness, where the edges fall off (shading), and whether the lens breathes.

It’s a good idea to mount the lens projector on a cabinet with solid wheels that lock and install a track on the floor to double check engraved lens focus marks. However, the projector is also easily transportable and convenient to take on location in a small case.

The Cooke Lens Projector’s light output is the brightest one that we know of, which is helpful when evaluating T1.3 – T1.4 lenses.

In fact, the projector is so bright it can be demonstrated in daylight. Of course, there’s a dimmer knob to adjust light intensity on the electronic ballast without changing color temperature. Color stability and uniform illumination across the entire field was an important design parameter in the design.

In addition to PL-mount lenses, the projector’s interchangeable lens mount system accommodates a variety of other mounts, including Panavision, Canon, Nikon, BNC-R and more. The base accepts 19 and 15 mm support rods.

Lens control systems, lens lights and accessories can be plugged into the 4-pin and USB connectors that come standard on all projectors.  You can plug in Transvideo’s CineMonitorHD to display Cooke /i lens metadata.

Accessories include: remote focus control, wired back focus adjustment, monitors, lens supports, and custom test charts. The Cooke Lens Projector is manufactured in Munich by Pure4C to Cooke Optics specifications.

The Cooke Metrology Lens Test Projector is available from ZGC in North and South America, and from Cooke Optics in the rest of the world.

The US list price of $14,600 includes Cooke Lens Test Projector (110V/220V), PL-Mount, Lens Test Chart (Reticule), and Analog Measuring Gauge.

Specs

• 200W Ceramic Tungsten Lamp (rated at 200 hours lamp life)
• Dimmable Electronic Ballast
• Adjustable Back Focus
• Dial gauge for analog Back Focus Read-out
• Connector for USB work light
• Lemo 2-pin Connector for 12V-output
• Interchangeable Mount System with PL Mount
• Optional Canon EF-Mount, Nikon Mount, and more
• Support for 19mm and 15mm Rods
• Tool for Correct Line-up When Testing Anamorphic Lenses
• Flange Depth Control without Touching the Sensitive Reticle
• Upgrade 1: Wire Remote Control for Back Focus Adjustment
• Upgrade 2: Box with Large LEDS for Flange Depth Read-out
• Useable for all High-Speed Lenses