Lenses for 8x10 (again)

[Nick_3536]

With all due respect to Hizzoner the moderator, do I detect a note of hostility to eBay?


Immediately upon being advised to check out Midwest Photo Exchange by two responsible people, I hustled butt to Google the name, and promptly got their website with its Inventory List. At this moment, under the heading of Lenses - 8x10 and larger, I find:

150/8 Nikkor-SW (used, for $1,295)
210/5.6 Super Symmar XL (new for $2,995)
240/5.6 Nikkor W (qty. 3, used, $469-689)
240/9 Apo-Ronar (used, $589)
240/5.6 Apo-Sironar-S (new, $1,789)
240/5.6 Symmar-S (used, $449)
250/5.6 Fuji-Soft Focus (qty. 2, used, $469-495)
300/5.6 Nikkor-W (qty. 2, used $695-795)
305/9 Apo-Artar (used, $695)
450/12.5 Fujinon-C (new, $895)
480/9 Goerz Apo-Artar ctd. (condition unspecified, $695)
600/11.5 Fuji-C (new, $1,425)
600/9 Nikkor Tele ED (used, $1,595)
1100/22 Schneider Fine Art XXL (new for a modest $4,499)

Much to my disappointment, only one of the listings actually specified the presence of a shutter,

Of those the Ronar and the Artar would be the only ones I'd question if a shutter was included. All the rest left the factory mounted only. I think the XXL might come in a barrel to but I think it's faster without the shutter.

Ebay tends to be fairly expensive IMHO. Too many of the bidding wars you mentioned often for lower grade product. Gems do get bought on Ebay for pennies but often the prices make no sense to me.

[Salty]

If the list of Mpex available lens came from the same page, they should all be in shutters. Mpex usually has a seperate page listing for barrel lenses.

It's been a couple of years since I bought a lens on ebay. The prices seem higher and there's a lot of gouging on shipping charges.

[Brian C. Miller]

I looked up the specs for the 305 Artar, and that's a 5x7 lens.

Aparently 8x10 has improved in popularity. A couple of months ago they had two pages of lens.

[David Schaller]

FWIW, I use the 450 Fujinon and the 240 G-Clarion, and don't use the 305 G-Clarion any more for 8x10. Both are small and easy to use. The 240 is wide enough for most buildings, and the 450 is great for the details. Sometimes I think about getting a faster lens, to make focussing easier, but I haven't done so.
Good luck in your search.

[David Karp]

The MPEX inventory goes up and down. Often, they have lenses not yet shown on the website, so its worth a call to Jim to find out what is available. He can also tell you if he has lenses on their way in to the store. Finally, if you want a particular lens, give Jim a call and tell him what you want. If he does not have it, he can usually find it for you fairly quickly, unless it is something in huge demand or rare.

[John Kasaian]

I'd contact Jim Galli if you want a 240 G Claron. He seems to have an unlimited supply of them mounted in either copal or prontor press shutters and quite reasonable IIRC

[ditkoofseppala]

I witnessed a most amazin' phanonnamon last night whilst perusing my eBay watchlist. A 12 1/4" COOKE CONVERTIBLE ANASTIGMAT was up for grabs. For days it had slowly built up a bidding base without going much over $200. But things warmed up in the last hour, taking it over $500. Then in the last few minutes, the snipers moved in -- more than one, I think. This lens was knocked down for $1,025 at the close of the auction.

Just as though a "control" was needed for this experiment in bidding extravagance, about ten minutes earlier bidding closed on a Symmar 300/5.6 -- it sold for only $293. Okay, its shutter needed a CLA and it showed some wear and a minor ding. But the glass was okay.

I have to ask myself whether those participating in the frenzied bidding on the Cooke thought -- or felt, perhaps subconsciously -- that owning that particular lens would somehow put them as photographers in a class with Ansel Adams.

And then I have to ask myself which lens Ansel Adams would probably use if he were alive and 40 years old again, right now in the year 2007. Would it be the Symmar-S or some similar current or recent lens -- or would he be one of the cultists seeking and using the lenses of three-quarters of a century ago?