As the sibling comments says, if the the lenses were large that was because they had to project a large image circle, not because they gathered more light (per

As the sibling comments says, if the the lenses were large that was because they had to project a large image circle, not because they gathered more light (per unit area) than modern lenses. Modern lenses generally have wider maximum apertures than lenses from ~100 years ago. Also, because the maximum f-number was generally around f4-f8 for lenses from that period, it's not really true that these lenses were much bigger than modern 'full frame' lenses. There are plenty of old lenses that have a diameter of just a few centimeters. Here is an example: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1256001801/vintage-19th-century-beck-symmetrical-f8 https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1256001801/vintage-19th-cent...