Varifocal Projection Objective

A lantern-slide projector threw one fixed picture size at a given distance; to fill a different screen, the lantern had to be carried closer or further. Clile C. Allen of Chicago put three lenses in one tube, fixed the first and last, and made the middle one slide on a spiral track as the tube was turned - changing the focal length, and so the picture size, from the same spot. A rack and pinion moved the whole tube to refocus. **US 696,788**, "Optical objective", Allen, filed 25. February 1901, granted 1. April 1902: "three lens elements, the first and third of which are permanently fixed … while the second is movable and capable of being placed in any intermediate position". It is one of the earliest variable-focal-length objectives - the idea behind every zoom lens. **You build it on a bench as a projector**, and measure picture size against the middle lens's position.