Thomas Rudolph Dallmeyer was a British inventor and manufacturer of lenses.
Background
Thomas Rudolph Dallmeyer was born on May 16, 1859 in Hampstead, London, United Kingdom. He was the son of John Henry Dallmeyer who ran an optics business. His maternal grandfather, Andrew Ross, was himself the first English photographic optician.
Education
After attending other schools, Thomas Dallmeyer enrolled at Mill Hill School where he came under the tutelage of Dr. J.A.H. Murray who is best known as an editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. After leaving school, he entered his father's optometry business, while learning the theoretical side from Oliver Lodge.
Career
For some years prior to his father's death, the younger Thomas Dallmeyer actively managed the family business. He patented the first practical telephoto lens in 1891, for which he received the 1896 Progress Medal of RPS. His other inventions included a mirror reflex camera (1893), a camera with an internal rotatable mirror capable of making four negatives (1898), an astigmatic corrector for residual errors in older-type lenses (1895) and a mirror reflecting camera (1900). Thomas Dallmeyer was the author of a standard book on the subject of telephoto lenses, Telephotography (1899).