Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information

[evan clarke]

Ha! After a couple hundred lenses, no argument works..

[Amedeus]

Wollensak Velostigmatic 15 1/2", f/4.5 with flange for $449 (261477896674)

Wollensak Verito 6 1/8" f/4.5 with flange for $699 (BIN, 281322972887)

Wollensak Vitax 16", f/3.8 with flange for $1,000 (BIN, 301175435212)

Dallmeyer 3D, no flange for $791 (BIN, 301171576935)

Dallmeyer 4D, with flange for $1,320 (171320481922)

Dallmeyer 3B on lens board for $1,625 (331199283304)

Wollensak Verito, 7", f/4.5 in Studio Shutter for $625 (151299766200)

Cooke Portrait, Series IIa, 15", f3.5 in need of repair for $364 (121340637038)

[Amedeus]

Cooke Portrait lens, Series IIa, 9 1/2" at f/3.5 on lens board for $1,196 (331201713462)

Wollensak Veritar 14inch 356mm f/6 Soft Focus Portrait on lens board for $555 (BIN, 151306682462)

[goamules]

Trends. My background likes to look for trends. The prices are dutifully reported here every few days, for years. What is there to make of it?

What I've noticed is there has been a flattening of most soft focus lens prices, from the ever increasing levels of 2-3 years ago. A few still have spikes and higher averages....mostly the Cookes, which seem to the be the cult lens du jour now. But the other, great, SF lenses, like Veritars and Kodak 305 portraits seem to have returned or remained at the prices they were 5 years ago. Look at this list, everything is selling for about what I'd expect, in 2010. Yes, the Velostigmat seems low, but they seldom are appreciated, even giant ones. The Dallmeyer Ds are low, because everyone only clambers for the B model, and a little bit the A.

Wollensak Velostigmatic 15 1/2", f/4.5 with flange for $449 (261477896674)
Wollensak Verito 6 1/8" f/4.5 with flange for $699 (BIN, 281322972887)
Wollensak Vitax 16", f/3.8 with flange for $1,000 (BIN, 301175435212)
Dallmeyer 3D, no flange for $791 (BIN, 301171576935)
Dallmeyer 4D, with flange for $1,320 (171320481922)
Dallmeyer 3B on lens board for $1,625 (331199283304)
Wollensak Verito, 7", f/4.5 in Studio Shutter for $625 (151299766200)
Cooke Portrait, Series IIa, 15", f3.5 in need of repair for $364 (121340637038)

So other than an unusual low sale due a poor listing, or a very high due to a bidding war, things seem much more stable than 2011-2012. The cult lenses (today Cookes, Eidescops, and Dallmeyer Bs) still have unstable sales that vary as much as 50%. The rest vary about 15%-20%, which is to be expected for antique items. Stability means it is a predictable market. Instability means the opposite, usually a bubble. I just point that out because a couple years ago I warned a few "collector - dealers" to proceed with caution, because they were buying every lens they could find for any price, with resale in mind. The refrain was always "They're just going to cost double that in a year!....better buy while you can...." Well, the truth is, there are only so many people that want these lenses, which were made by the thousands. Supply and demand always rules. So it's interesting to have this many years data, so that you can see the longterm trends. Boom and bust, like many things.....

[Amedeus]

I tend to agree with Garrett here but since most of the data is off the auction site, there's something else I noticed ... BIN pricing that is set in favor of the buyer ... not everyone seems to know the existence of this data ;-) ... not complaining ... lol ... supply and demand will always set the pricing and it should be clear for anyone following this thread which lenses are in ample supply and which ones are truly rare

[Mark Sawyer]

One of the nice things about the list is that besides prices, it shows how common or rare lenses are. For example, the ever-popular Dallmeyer 3B had 28 sales listed. Still, it goes for around three times the price of much rarer lenses, such as the Boyer Opale, 2 sales listed in the same time period.

...A few still have spikes and higher averages....mostly the Cookes, which seem to the be the cult lens du jour now.

That I can understand. I think they had the best machining, best lacquer, an elegant design in the Cooke Triplet, and exceedingly nice glass ground to very high standards. Cooke's are pretty special, especially their portrait lenses.

[goamules]

You're right, their value is based on quality, not fad. They're good lenses.

[Emil Schildt]

rare? made a bid but was just overbid...

Boyer Opale 210 F4.5

260£ (ca 438$)

eBay item number:360936482830

[Mark Sawyer]

Wish I'd seen that Opale, though it's a bit short for me. Some things from Europe show up in my ebay searches, some (probably most) don't. I have a nice 300mm Opale waiting for me anyways!

Opale's are one of the few soft lenses that get their softness from chromatic rather than spherical aberration. I believe the usual crown-flint glass arrangement of the rear achromatic doublet was reversed.

And yes, pretty rare...

[Mark Sawyer]

A beautiful 15" f/4.5 Cooke Portrait Lens with the knuckler and an interesting history for $3,783.87, (321412196766)