12$ CHINON 135mm f/2.8 M42, WOW ! :-)

[David Kilpatrick]

Perkin Elmer rings a bell. I think the design was by Perkin Elmer but the production was in Japan by Kino - unless anyone can produce a 600mm Solid Cat labelled 'made in the USA'. I did use one for a short while on test. The same sort of deal as the Burleigh Brooks lenses, which were designed in the USA as Computar, but actually produced in Japan by Kowa. In fact, that is also how Vivitar started - US computer design, Japanese production.

I think the reasons for this burst of US-designed optics lay in the computers available. The USA had optical computing facilities in advance of Japan, where everything was still being designed by real people. It did not take the Japanese long to catch up though.

David