How to sabotage your own Petzval listing!

[Steven Tribe]

This is a current listing, described as a Ross Cabinet no. 3. In reality, it is a no-name largish Portrait Petzval, marketed by W.Watson with his serial number.
He has something of a stubborn streak as he replies to me after pointing this out:

" It was sold to me as a Ross Lens by an antique lens dealer in London, so
that's what I am selling it as."

Now he says nothing about the glass in the listing, so he couldn't have been surprised by the published question:


"Q: how about the glass of this lens,THANKS
A: Yes, there is a lot of it. "

No comment necessary.

[pierre506]

No comment, too.

[Emil Schildt]

hmm - yes - I just noticed an auction (not LF) on a Voigtländer Brilliant Mf camera with a Skopar lens....

It didn't sell for his (far too high) reserve, so he re submitted it as a "Voigtländer Large format 6x9 Bergheil folding camera with a Heliar lens"... and it sold....

[Brassai]

hmm - yes - I just noticed an auction (not LF) on a Voigtländer Brilliant Mf camera with a Skopar lens....

It didn't sell for his (far too high) reserve, so he re submitted it as a "Voigtländer Large format 6x9 Bergheil folding camera with a Heliar lens"... and it sold....

If someone sold me something as badly misrepresented as that, I'd kill him with negative feedback and file a complaint.

[Jim C.]

There's a bright side to this, since he's sabotaged his auction, there's a nice Watson portrait petzval to be had for cheap

[adelorenzo]

Well he can't do any worse that the guy who, not surprisingly, did not get a $500 bid for a lens without any glass at all!

[Ari]

Well he can't do any worse that the guy who, not surprisingly, did not get a $500 bid for a lens without any glass at all!

"...this lens very good but without glass elements!"

I, too, have an 8x10 Ebony for sale for $7500; it's just missing both standards and the focusing track, but it's a great camera.

[Mark Sawyer]

Well he can't do any worse that the guy who, not surprisingly, did not get a $500 bid for a lens without any glass at all!

Think of it as a very fast vintage pinhole...

[Steven Tribe]

Lens VM implies that these Cabinet Portrait series were instigated by Watson, himself. Which could explain the presence of a serial number. The Ross/Watson lens I have, has a very clear "Sold by Watson & Sons". Glass is 3" and the focal length is 10" on these.

[N Dhananjay]

Well he can't do any worse that the guy who, not surprisingly, did not get a $500 bid for a lens without any glass at all!

Well, think about it - it was, after all, that very rare thing that turns up at auction. A lens that does not have any 'cleaning wisps' that do not affect image quality....