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Test and Review of a Super Rare Infrared Industries Inc 3-inch (76mm) f/1.6 16mm Projector Lens

Writer: Mohsen Jalali
Mohsen Jalali
Aug 12
2 min read

Updated: Aug 29


The next projector lens that we have in hand to review is a very rare Infrared Industries Inc 3-inch f/1.6 16mm Projector Lens. This lens is so rare that not only has no one ever tried it on a modern digital camera, but Googling its name also doesn't yield any relevant results. Nor does anyone know what the triangle with I/AV mark on it actually means. Anyway, the uniqueness of the experience made us take and share numerous photos to demonstrate the lovely swirl and bubble that it creates in bokeh. I will give you further details about the origin of this lens to my best of knowledge, but first, let's take a look into some of the photos we took with this lens mounted on our go-to Nikon Z7 mirrorless camera.



Color Shots and Bokeh Quality



You can see above that in certain distances from subject, this lens creates an amazing swirl in the bokeh, bubbles have sharp edges and become oval as we move towards the sides of the frame. Also, like many other vintage projector lenses that we've tested, the center of the image is considerably sharp, while a certain softness appears farther from the center. In general, the photos we shot with it look amazing and unique.


Although Infrared Industries Inc, then based in Santa Barbara, California worked (and still does work) mainly in infrared industries and military equipment, it used to manufacture lenses for projectors especially after acquiring Simpson Optical Manufacturing Co. (SOMCO) of Chicago. Nevertheless, this lens doesn't carry the brand name of SOMCO, and instead has this triangle with I.A.V. abbreviation on it. My detective work led me to a company called International Audio Visual, Inc based in Seattle, Washington, that filed for registration of exactly this triangle as a trade mark back in August 1973 (there's another company with this name based in New Jersey that was established in 1986, and is irrelevant to our research). The trade mark, however, was "subsequently removed from the registry when the registration was not successfully maintained", as US Patent and Trademark Office says. As you see, we're left with a Bermuda Triangle stretching between Chicago, IL, Seattle, WA, and Santa Barbara, CA. Was this lens manufactured based on an order by IAV and was discontinued when it ran out of business? It only makes this lens rarer than we thought, especially that SOMCO lenses we came across in our online searches looked much more primitive when compared with this artefact. With the anodized finish and the story around it, I believe this lens was produced sometime in the mid-1970s.


Anyway, if you're wondering how we mounted it on our favorite Nikon Z7, take a look at the photo below.


Black-and-White Photography



The amount of details you can achieve in the black-and-white photos is insane! I just slightly increased the contrast and you can see the results above. Shallow depth of field, and the swirly, bubbly bokeh have created an outstanding dreamy effect.


I think I've explained enough about this lens. So, scroll down to see the flare effect and video quality that this rara avis of a lens offers.



Flare




Videos



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