Like Mark Sawyer: see lens, like lens, buy lens.
Like Mark Sawyer: see lens, like lens, buy lens.
As I hinted in my original post, I have a bit of an obsession in building a modern Fuji kit, which I am two lenses away from (125 NSW and CM-W 300... or perhaps the 360... Hear me, Claus...)
Nonetheless there are oddities I would spring for, given the right opportunity and price, like a myriad of Kodak lenses mounted in Copal (IIRC) shutters for the UK market in dickety two. Did Kodak sell much in the way of optics in Japan back then? I just really like Copal shutters, and I highly value having consistent operation across lenses. I digress!
I picked up lenses cheap over decades and didn't have an application for them then, but have been trying out new formats and applications and some now have come to life for me in the present...
They do that sometimes...
Steve K
Really, I'm not trying to start trouble, but... umm...Originally Posted by StrangleMeRandy
You know, the Fujinon L-Series Tessar lenses are really, really nice...
If you really want a complete "Fuji Kit", I think you need all of them.
"I love my Verito lens, but I always have to sharpen everything in Photoshop..."
Yes I meant the APO too
Just_don't_tempt_me! I really "need" the SWD 65, CM-W 105 and L 400. And an SF of course but with all the sieves. Not that I have taken any 4x5 the last 2 years but they would sit nice in the cabinet.
Expert in non-working solutions.
I have bought all my lenses from eBay, specifically from Japan, all in mint condition. I have a 75 mm, 90 mm, 135 mm, 150 mm, 210 and 250 mm. All Fujinon, but the 90 ( Schneider super Angulon 90/8).
I was buying hot and heavy from about 2006-2014. I was interested in antique (brass) lenses and rare ones (Struss). I dug deeply, searched hard, networked. Some obscure ones I found on eBay that were unknown at that time. One engraved "Lewis" comes to mind, an American Radial. Some I found at the great Paris camera fair, went 2 years to that. But many I found networking and talking to people. Several times I ended up meeting the sons or grandsons of photography studios from the 1920s-30s. They often still had old brass Petzvals, when they closed. I'd get to know these people and eventually they'd unlock the studio and let me take my pick of all the dusty lenses, usually Vitax and Veritos and such. Sometimes A CC Harrison, still being used after WWII. I'd go to estate sales, like the one for the University president who was friends with Ansel Adams, and created the Center for Creative Photography to house his work. Got a Leica or two there. I went to antique shops. Once I saw a big Anthony studio camera with brass lens in the rafters of an old bar and pizza joint back east in the Appalachians. I remembered it and a year later when back, talked the owner into selling it to me. Climbed up in the rafters and got it down, it's an all original webplate era one.
After a golden age when you could buy a good lens for just a couple hundred, the prices quickly bubbled and it became almost impossible to source. I stopped trying. I see now one or two big sellers in Eu are still at it, with fancy websites. They buy the same way I used to. Me, Eddie, Jim Galli, and a few others were treasure hunters, or as Jim said - pirates seeking booty. I still am, but in other types of antiques. The other tip is don't search were the other searchers are, or the retailers show. Look for lenses at those other places no one thinks about, if you want good prices anyway.
It was an enjoyable period, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.
Garrett
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I have to have a need. Then has to have good glass, especially rear element. Then if it is a bargain or appropriate price. Then shutter condition, which may affect the my value of the lens. Buying off ebay I always expect condition to be worse than described which means condition of the glass is everything and any hesitation on my part is a "Pass". I would be more likely to buy off this forum when something I am looking for comes around.
After reading Kerry Thalman’s website maybe 10 or so years ago, I was on the lookout for a 150 f9 Kowa for my 5x7. I put in a bid on eBay for a set of two lenses for $79.00. I won the auction and cleaned up the lenses (210 & 150). The were, are both in excellent condition and screwed into Copal shutters directly. I only wanted the 150 but the 210 was excellent and light at f9 so I sold my heavy sinaron s and never looked back. Other lenses were bought in local shops or mail order from various places like Lens and Repro or others. Only a few dogs over the years. Luck, I guess. I particularly have liked Kodak lenses, especially the 203 and 127, but have not enjoyed the weight of the tessars. Artars are so good in the long focal lengths. Etc. . . .
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