Lenco
Lenco Photo Products, Inc was a distributor of photographic gear in the 1960s and 1970s
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| Tele-Lentar 105mm f/2.8 lens image by Ladenla (Image rights) |
Contents
History
Lenco Photo Products, Inc. was a US-based distributor of photographic products, best known for their Lentar branded gear. Lenco was originally based in New York, NY but later moved to Chicago, IL. The company had offices in a number of states including California, Illinois, New York and Texas.
At some point in the later 1960s or early 1970s Lenco became a wholly owned subsidiary of GAF. The Lentar brand names were used at least through the 1980s before being retired.
The Lenco product line includes lenses, extension tubes, exposure meters, enlargers, 8mm movie cameras and projectors, flash and lighting equipment, photographic accessories, and binoculars. Lenco was not a manufacturer. They sold rebranded equipment made by other manufacturers. Many of the Lentar lenses are said to have been made by Tokyo Koki. In addition to selling rebranded products, Lenco was also a distributor of Ricoh products in the United States.
Their Texas branch filed incorporation documents with the State of Texas on 2 May, 1968.[1] The company's main address at time of filing was:
Lenco Photo Products, Inc. 1180 6TH AVE NEW YORK, NY
The May, 1970 issue of Popular Mechanics includes a product review of the Ricoh Hi-Color 35 camera, distributed by Lenco and provides this company address:[2]
Lenco Photo Products, Inc. 2414 W. Devon Chicago, IL
The 1977 edition of Marconi's International Register gives this address:[3]
Lenco Photo Products., Inc. 3512 N. Kostner Ave Chicago, IL 60641
Lenses
- Lentar 250mm f/5.6 mirror
- Lentar 500mm f/8 mirror
- Lentar 75-230mm f/4.5 zoom auto
- Lentar 80-200mm f/3.5 zoom auto
- Lentar 90-230mm f/4.5 zoom preset
- Lentar 90-230mm f/4.5 zoom auto
- Super-Lentar 21mm f/3.8 auto
- Super-Lentar 28mm f/2.8 auto
- Super-Lentar 35mm f/2.8 auto
- Tele-Lentar 105mm f/2.8 preset
- Tele-Lentar 135mm f/2.8 preset
- Tele-Lentar 135mm f/3.5 preset
- Tele-Lentar 135mm f/3.5 auto
- Tele-Lentar 200mm f/3.5 auto
- Tele-Lentar 200mm f/4.5 preset
- Tele-Lentar 300mm f/5.5 preset
- Tele-Lentar 400mm f/6.3 preset
- Tele-Lentar 450mm /f6.5 preset
References
- ↑ State of TX taxable entity search for taxpayer ID: 11326180194 TX Entity search
- ↑ Popular Mechanics, May, 1970, p 144, Low-Cost Rapid-Fire Camera
- ↑ Marconi's International Register, 1977 ed, p 442
