Which Pinkham and Smith is on Feebay now?

[Jim Galli]

I waited to weigh in on this lens since passions were running high. I know the fellow who won it and can tell you he is a person who has bought the lens in order to use it for it's original intended purpose. Prices are relative. It's like buying a 'moonrise hernandez' photograph. You may set the new record this week, but in 10 years it won't really matter, and in the intervening time you have the joy of owning and using it.

I have the identical lens. I could not have bought this one. I'm just a guy making wages. Mine cost me $435 a few years back when no one was paying attention. That seemed like an exhorbitant amount of $$$ at the time. Now I'm super glad to have it.

A little about the lens. It is very obvious that Wollensak did the mechanical machining. The barrels are inter-changeable with my 11 1/2" Verito. But the glass was still being hand ground by Pinkham - Smith. It is among my most treasured lenses because it is among the best of the best performers. It is head and shoulders above the more pedestrian Verito. Then as now.

Oh, and fwiw. Anyone that tracks these has "Wollensak" in his favorite searches. I found this lens the day it was listed. To think that no one else has found it and that you're going to swoop in and get a bargain until someone blabs about it here is ludicrous. I'd have paid a couple grand for it just to turn it over for a profit.

[Mark Sawyer]

It is head and shoulders above the more pedestrian Verito. Then as now.

Grrrrrrrr... Them's fightin' words...

[Jim Galli]

Grrrrrrrr... Them's fightin' words...

I laughed after I wrote that. What a snob I am to call a Verito pedestrian. I enjoy my Verito's very much. But I can see the difference between them and the P&S. Even in 1933 I think it was probably the difference between a Ford and a Buick.

[Mark Sawyer]

I laughed after I wrote that. What a snob I am to call a Verito pedestrian. I enjoy my Verito's very much. But I can see the difference between them and the P&S. Even in 1933 I think it was probably the difference between a Ford and a Buick.

If I ever get another P&S (we won't count my P&S Bi-nocular Quality!), I'll let you know...

I always wanted a Buick. It's the only car ever named after the sound people make when they throw up...

[Brian Bullen]

I always wanted a Buick. It's the only car ever named after the sound people make when they throw up...

Hilarious!

[goamules]

I really appreciate all the knowledge on this board, and the great questions.
To me the fun of OhBoy is trying to find the deals. I will concede that if we want to learn and discuss a lens, before bidding, we have to post. But if I’m not bidding, I’m going to wait until after the auction before discussing something that is on. I know it's a paradox; ask but don't out.

As far as finding OhBoy deals, I suppose most of us get good at searching. But not long ago I won a similarly misrepresented wollensak in a lot of lenses for 80 dollars. The fine print said Verito, but either no one else noticed, or wanted it. It's mint. So instead of dreaming of owning one, or paying 10 times that, I felt I really did “win” one. What do you suppose would have happened if a couple boards had “Check out the Verito on....!” ?

[Kerik Kouklis]

I have to disagree! I have both a P&S VQ lens (paid $350 several years back) and an 18" Verito ($300). While they are different, I consider them to both be Porsches. In fact, I've made a lot more images on film with the Verito (mostly because it covers my 14x17 and the P&S does not). I'm just starting to put the P&S to use with 8x10 wet plate images. Although to be honest, after seeing this last auction, if someone offered me three grand for my P&S I'd probably sell it! Plus, I have another "magical" lens on the way that I scored on ebay last week. Something I've been lusting after for a while...

[Brad Rippe]

Jim, Could you post a photo of this lens for us to see? I'd love to be able to recognize one.
Thanks,
-Brad

[Hugo Zhang]

Kerik,

A Cooke? It's amazing how high these old lenses running up these days. I am curious to see how you compare P&S with Hermagis Eidoscope lens. You and Jim have them both and I have seen Jim's pictures taken with both lenses. They look charmingly similar to my eyes. Hermagis was born a little earlier, but if you read users comments from that time, there is little difference between the two. Maybe Jim will chime in.

Thanks.

[Kerik Kouklis]

Hugo,

Yep, a venerable 15" THC "knuckler". At about a grand, it's the most I've ever spent on a lens. However, when new in the 1930's the lens cost about $250. Figuring for inflation, in today's dollars that's $3,000! So, I got a bargain. :-)

I also like the Eidoscope. It's SF effect is subtler than the P&S and Verito. It has a nice 'sparkliness' to it that I like.