S.K. Grimes

Creators of custom photographic equipment and accessories. Contact us through our website skgrimes.com as we regular experience issues with Facebook messenger.

05/28/2026

“What’s in the box?! What’s in the boooox?!”

Fortunately, this one’s easy—we engraved it right on the lid. Inside: a custom set of Waterhouse stops for a Dallmeyer 3A lens (serial #67930, to be exact).

We’re always refining even the simplest accessories, so our custom stop sets now include personalized storage cases to help keep everything organized and lens-specific.

05/26/2026

Some lenses walk. This one sprints.

Rodenstock XR Heligon 75mm f/1.1—another one of our fast-glass projects. This fixed-focus lens received a custom bayonet mount and matching lens hood, giving this speed demon a proper modern setup.

05/21/2026

Carl Zeiss Tessar 13.5cm f/6.3 in an old-school Compur #0 dial-set shutter. Sounds straightforward… until you realize old #0 shutters aren’t always modern #0 shutters.

Today’s #0 standard is M32.5×0.5, but this vintage Compur had its own ideas. We machined a custom retaining ring while still designing it to fit a standard 35mm #0 lens board opening.

05/19/2026

Another session of brass lens therapy at SK Grimes. This Darlot barrel lens arrived needing a proper fl**ge, lens board mounting, and a fresh set of Waterhouse stops. We got it sorted out and back on the path to making dreamy images again.

05/14/2026

Graflex focal plane cameras are some of the coolest cameras out there. Beneath that leather exterior lies a mahogany beauty—and a built-in shutter that opens the door to all kinds of interesting optics.

For this project, we modified the front lens board with a permanent M65×1.0 mounting fl**ge, allowing the client to quickly swap between a wide variety of shutterless lenses that would otherwise be difficult to use in the photographic world.

05/12/2026

In a world where old projection lenses refuse to fade away…

One Leitz Wetzlar Hektor 175mm f/2.5, originally built to throw light across the silver screen, gets a second act. We disassembled the lens, stripped its original silver finish, blacked out the housing, added M65 mounting threads for a modern 65mm helicoid, and a matching rear cap to protect the protruding rear optic.

From projector booth to camera rig—coming soon to a viewfinder near you.

05/07/2026

Like a classic childhood story—this project had a little bit of everything.

A Cooke Anastigmat Series II 8.2" f/1.5 came in for a full suite of work: iris overhaul, custom lens caps, mounting to a 4" Wisner lens board, and fabrication of a lens board adapter for Arca-Swiss 141 compatibility.

Restoration, adaptation, and precision machining—all in one build.

05/05/2026

Like fitting a compact car inside a freight container.

This Arca-Swiss 171 mm lens board adapter was designed to accept a Technika 4×5 lens board, allowing the use of a smaller, more common standard within a larger camera platform. When original boards become scarce or unavailable, adapting to a conventional format is often the most practical long-term solution.

04/30/2026

The hood that never existed.

Never seen a Taylor Hobson hood before? Neither had we—until we made one. Built for a 6½" f/2.5 Taylor Hobson Anastigmat, we did our best to match the lens’s original styling and design language, then added the logo for a little extra flair. A fitting companion for a truly distinctive piece of glass.

04/28/2026

Flash! Ah-ahhh… another super-speed experiment from the lab.
This 42mm f/0.75 Kowa barrel lens has been fitted with a Canon EF mount—but with a very short fl**ge to focal plane distance, infinity focus lies in another galaxy. Instead, this one is set for approximately 5 ft focus, with the option to add mirrorless adapters for broader compatibility.

Not quite as fast as Flash Gordon… but close enough to bend a little light.

Address

Woonsocket, RI

Website

http://www.skgrimes.com/

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