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Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
As part of my series on Soft Focus Lenses ( see www.antiquecameras.net ), I have been collecting completed sales data, mostly from ebay, for the classic Large Format Soft Focus Lenses.
Data is here: http://www.antiquecameras.net/softfocuslenssales.html
Thanks,
Dan
http://www.antiquecameras.net/images/600_psvq.jpg
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
PM sent re buying :rolleyes: :D
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Thanks for this, Dan. Excellent resource.
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Interesting!
There was a mint coated Universal Heliar (420mm) in this time period which was sold for $5.500.
200483346454.
Surprised there were no Port-lands.
Do you want tips about others in this time frame?
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
There was a Universal Heliar 360mm f4.5 sold on this site the end of June....
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If anyone has sales data they would like to forward, thats great. My searches on ebay dont catch every lens, so any I missed are appreciated. Please email data to dcolucci AT aol.com
Thanks
Dan
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Just as useful as "condition" would be indication of BIN sales. As we all know, these are often above market forces price levels - and sometimes even below!
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
There are two other problems about non-e**y sales:
European auction houses often sell groups of lenses as one lot - even when one of these should have had a separate listing as they represent more than 50% of the lot value.
Items sold here usually end up with PM's and the agreed price is often not available - especialy with those that start under "wanted".
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Steven,
Because condition can be highly subjective and especially because a seller can call a lens "mint" when it is clearly well used, I have only mentioned condition if the item looks extremely clean ("minty") or if it is in poor condition or broken. If the lens is listed with no comment on condition, its because the lens looked, to me, to be in good usable shape - anywhere from good to excellent condition.
Thanks
Dan
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PS - two more pieces of data from Ebay yesterday:
Verito 11 1/2" in Studio Shutter $ 598
Velostigmat II 12" in barrel $ 248
Dan
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Appreciated - very valuable info!
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Dan,
There was a sale of Pinkham-Smith SA lens in shutter at $12,000 (or was it $12,500?) a few months ago on eBay.
Hugo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
SAShruby
$12,500
Probably sitting on some lawyer's bookshelf now. I bet his pictures are way better than yours... :p
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Is there an economic model that makes sense for a seller to buy their own lens at a high value.
I don't want to impute dishonesty to any one but I do wonder if these 5500-12500 dollar values are from real purchases. I wonder this because I have a hard time thinking such lenses have such value; I am probably just to cheap to imagine it.
I watched the 420mm Universal Heliar auction and It sat and sat until just before the end and then got sold for the buy it now price. I was just surprised; should I have been? Did some one here buy it?
Regards
Bill
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There are companies like Nikon and Canon selling 35mm super tele lenses for $6000+ every day for bird/nature/sports photography. Not exactly rare, and of limited use. It doesn't surprise me a bit that actual rare and special lenses go for big bucks once in a while. Still it's way out of my price range, but we all know a few people who could afford it if they really wanted it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Robert Hughes
Probably sitting on some lawyer's bookshelf now. I bet his pictures are way better than yours... :p
Quite expensive paper weight.
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I was so close to buy that $12,500 lens. I had the money. I was torturing my head with pro's and con's. Lots of pro's. Only one con's.
At the end of two ebay campaigns (it got sold on second one) I satisfied myself by stating there will be another chance down the road. I was willing to pay $X,000 for it.
I bet I wans't alone...
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The price of the Cooke PS945 (which I am obsessing over) is over 3k. If however one checks other Cooke photographic/cine lenses etc. the PS945 is one of the cheapies!
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On this particular P&S sale, compare it to the other soft focus lens sales. Was that P&S worth $10,000 more than say a Gundlach Achromat? $9,000 more than a Cooke PS945? Come on, ten thousand dollars is a friggin lot of money. A lot of this sort of pricing is hype, like the "$200 Million lost Ansel negatives." Wait til one comes around at a reasonable price.
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Quote:
Originally Posted by
goamules
On this particular P&S sale, compare it to the other soft focus lens sales. Was that P&S worth $10,000 more than say a Gundlach Achromat? $9,000 more than a Cooke PS945? Come on, ten thousand dollars is a friggin lot of money.
A bit like high end hi-fi: for some people even though its way past the law of diminishing returns it is worth it to them because it does something special for their ears (or eyes in our case). Or its for cachet:rolleyes:
Even though these lenses are beautiful if it was being bought purely for decoration you would be satisfied with any big brass lens at a bunch less money. I think this is the least likely explanation unless some multi-zillionairre has got a penchant for them and regards 12k as pocket change
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12k for a lens IS pocket change compared to some other hobbies. Compare with vintage motor racing (or any serious motor racing) with the big motorhomes and 6-figure car haulers filled with tools and cars of similar value. People who fly can easily spend 12k on fancy electronics for their plane or similar amounts to overhaul something. Home audio has already been mentioned. Even something a little less high end like Harley-Davidsons; people buy and sell those all day for far over 12k, and the bikes don't even go fast! Then there is sailing... What people spend for boat care, winter storage, transport, the sky is the limit for something that changes with the times even less than the lenses.
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Who cares what the final price was? Find out who's bought one and break in tonight! You'll get it for better than market price, and be able to clear well more than 20x your cost... Borrowing from another thread, "Summing up, buying for less than market is what most of us desire. Some call it "stealing" for fun. Selling for above what you paid for it is normal hobby activity, honorable, and defines economics. Selling a few items a year or month here doesn't make you a dealer, and is much appreciated by the members."
Some people might think this method excessive perchance? But it's mere economics - profit is good - what could be wrong with that?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
cowanw
Is there an economic model that makes sense for a seller to buy their own lens at a high value.
I don't want to impute dishonesty to any one but I do wonder if these 5500-12500 dollar values are from real purchases.
Yes, with items such as this setting the "market" value through a sale can be economically advantageous. Same thing happens with real estate, art and other high value items. You can typically get loans, insurance or perhaps sales by setting an artificially high value for an item and then ...
typically dishonesty at some level is part of the picture though.
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"The older the boys, the expensier their toys" comes to mind ;)
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Anyone have a link (cached?) to the $ 12,500 Pinkham ?
Thanks
Dan
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According to this website http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=ca
English version: http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=ca
ebay user nicolaisen2007 is probably the owner. He lives in Switzerland. BTW, he bought Universal Heliar for $5,500 US, quite a guy. Seems like he has a lot of dough. He also bought from dagor77 :) and gokevincameras. I don't want to be obtrusive, but it would be nice to know and congratulate to guy who bought it.
Update: And I know the name.
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JP498, it's not about recognizing some people have expensive hobbies. It's about understanding someone spending many times what the market value is. It's the same as paying $1000 for a $190 Velostigmat. Yeah, it's rare, but is it 480% more valuable than the other P&S sales? I saw a Leica lens worth $400 somehow "sell" for like $3000 once. Methinks there is some laundering or something going on....
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Isn't it just possible that the prices might reflect the provenance of the lens, rather than it's intrinsic value?
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The lens went to a female photographer. It's in a good hands...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
SAShruby
The lens went to a female photographer. It's in a good hands...
Wow, I didn't know it was a female photographer. How smart she was to rather put her money on this lens than a diamond like most other females? She has exquisite taste. :)
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And soon we will have data for the first Darlot version of the de Pulligny adjustable landscape which just about meets the soft lens criterium I would think!
Yes, it made it into part 1 of the already classic CCHarrison series!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
SAShruby
Bernd Nicolaisen is a he and a well known swiss photographer whom I have the pleasure to know since many years. If he is the new owner, we'll surely see some excellent works using this famous lens soon. His works on ice and old wood for instance are a class of its own.
http://www.berndnicolaisen.com/index.php?lang=en
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dr Klaus Schmitt
Bernd Nicolaisen is a he and a well known swiss photographer whom I have the pleasure to know since many years. If he is the new owner, we'll surely see some excellent works using this famous lens soon. His works on ice and old wood for instance are a class of its own.
http://www.berndnicolaisen.com/index.php?lang=en
I thought that Kelly Nicolaisen would be the buyer... http://www.kellynicolaisen.com/, but you're right, he seems to be better candidate for the lens. Good for him.
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Having looked at the work done by these two "Nicolaisen"s I would say that the lucky (astute!) Nicolaisen was the more deserving of these two - by a very wide margin.
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<<<<http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&ct=clnk&gl=ca >>>
Was there any bidding or was this a Buy it Now ? I believe the seller was J. Brewer if I recall and then lens is the one he wrote about on his site http://wideopen1.squarespace.com/jou...i-polaroi.html ?
Thanks
Dan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
CCHarrison
There was only one bid, taken just before the end of the second ebay posting time expiry (re-list), I believe it was a No Buy it Now auction. And yes, it was John's lens.
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Yep, Jonathan was the seller. It will take a while until Bernd (N.) will be using it, as he still works on his "ice" projects a lot, so don't hold your breath.
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Dr Klaus Schmitt
Yep, Jonathan was the seller. It will take a while until Bernd (N.) will be using it, as he still works on his "ice" projects a lot, so don't hold your breath.
Hi Dr. Schmitt
I don't participate on this forum but I'll make this one comment and then disappear. I was the seller of the P&S Semi-Achromatic Ser. III and it's sale was legit, it sold for the price listed.
When I put this lens on e-bay, several folks contacted me, I'd say four individuals indicated that they had the money and were interested in the lens, including the individual who eventually bought it.
The first time I put the lens up for sale, I made a big mistake, I hadn't checked the box for ebay transactions outside the US, so ebay wouldn't let anyone outside the US bid, so the lens didn't sell. I ck'd the right box and relisted the lens and it sold w/the one bid.
I had heard of the individual who ultimately bought the lens but have talked w/him several times, a great individual w/a great family, and from perusing his site he'll get some great stuff out of this lens.
There are two galleries, 'Pellucere, and 'Semi-Achromatic Series III' on my
www.imageandartifact.bz site which show the images I did w/this glass, the individual I sold the lens to has the insight and creativity to carry on w/this lens, I'm glad I sold it to him. He hasn't given me permission to release his name, but I will say he's out of Europe.
The special thing about this lens in one of degree, it renders the sharpest image inside the softest image together of any of the other SF glass, no other lens gets the sharp version of the image THAT SHARP inside a soft image THAT SOFT. That's my take on this, and again, everything about this was honest and on the 'up and up'.
I'll even be allowed to visit the lens if I get around to this gentelman's 'neck of the woods', where I hear they make some of the best beer in Europe.
Ciao
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Thanks Jonathan for sharing additional information with us.
You have a wonderful site with awesome images btw.
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I agree with Klaus, nice soft focus images. It makes me want to photograph again.
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Don't stop then, follow your wish!
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Some recent sale updates;
Bodine Pictorial Lens $ 1,775
Wollensak Vitax # 2 brass $ 499 in shutter
Kodak Portrait 16" $ 766
Pulligny/Darlot Adj Landscp $ 640 no flange, # 1 size
Velostigmat 12" in barrel $ 248
Verito 11 1/2" in shutter $ 598
Dan
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Re: Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information
Another Plasticca. 3503888557781. 350mm. Good, late serial number. No flange. Loss of yellow pigment? $550 as best offer.
Aldis 4,5 anastimatic. 230513127083. No 18 8". No flange. Functioning of Soft/Sharp adjustment uncertain. Auction £133.77.
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Pulligny Adj. Landscape Optique Française Ligny (Meuse) $2000
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Actually the Pulligny above did not sell - I only am tracking items that sell.
Thanks
Dan
Steven - what is the link to the Plasticca ?
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350385577811. Google is a bit quicker than going into e**y. Sorry about too many 8's last time. Condition is based only on visual appearance which can be misleading.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
Steven Tribe
350385577811. Google is a bit quicker than going into e**y. Sorry about too many 8's last time. Condition is based only on visual appearance which can be misleading.
i still do not see it. can you send me the link please in a PM? i would like to look at the completed auction. thx.
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24” Hermagis Eidoscope No 0 soft focus portrait lens F5 $12,000 !!!!!!!
on ebay now, gogetem!
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The Hermagis hasnt sold and has been listed for almost 2 months now. Again, I am only tracking items that actually sell. Its rare, but it wont sell at $ 12K.