Put on thinking caps......

John Madill

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because i do not know what this is. Found it a few inches deep in the yard of a one-hundred-year-old house in northeast Arkansas this week.

At first i thought it might be a focusing dial from an old camera. But the numbers are too specific and go all the way to 300 feet and then infinity.

Maybe it is something from some kind of surveying instrument? It looks like something from the 1950's to me.

And it is in very nice condition for being in the ground for quite a spell.

thanks!
 

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It's a dial off of a rangefinder that mounts onto a camera.
 

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Wow! Given those numbers like 2.6", 2.9", 3", etc they seemed too exact. I am used to zone focusing on the order of 3', 5', 7', etc. Nice job, many thanks! Takes an Ozark man to nail down those Natural State finds!
 
Wow! Given those numbers like 2.6", 2.9", 3", etc they seemed too exact. I am used to zone focusing on the order of 3', 5', 7', etc. Nice job, many thanks! Takes an Ozark man to nail down those Natural State finds!

It helps that I have been a collector of vintage photographic equipment for 30 years too. :cool3:
 
Great fast ID! My initial thought was spark plug gap tool, but the numbers were all wrong! Haha.
 
Vintage camera gear is great. The older lenses from the later 50's are the pinnacle of the craft. Can't go wrong with older Zeiss, Nikkon (Nikon), or Konirishu. 70s Pentax SMC are underrated but excellent.
Nice find and quick Id.
 
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