What is this giant yellow beast?

[austin granger]

I am absolutely positive that someone here will know what this is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zeiss-Super-Lame...t_13342wt_1141

And no, I'm not planning on buying it-just curious.

Austin
www.austingranger.com

[Frank Petronio]

It's why the Soviets won the Cold War.... wait....

[Jack Dahlgren]

I am absolutely positive that someone here will know what this is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Zeiss-Super-Lame...t_13342wt_1141

And no, I'm not planning on buying it-just curious.

Austin
www.austingranger.com

Survey camera. I think there was a thread on these a few months ago. Those prices are high. You can probably pick up one for maybe half the price. Has less tilt and shift than a speed graphic but it won't be easily lost.

[Arne Croell]

GDR made aerial camera. The Superlamegon covers 120°.

I think I saw the same camera and lens some weeks ago on the German or another European ebay, offered from Hungary or the Czech Republic, and it went for something like 2000-3000 Euros.

[Ramiro Elena]

Super- Lame-gon is a terrible name for a lens.

[georgl]

It's a little bit overpriced, IMHO.... ;-)

Remember that this is a GDR-made camera with standards that have very little to do with "Made in (western) Germany" - it took Carl Zeiss hundreds of million of Dollars to make their Jena-located facilities usable after reunion. They were up to 40 years behind in technology and were operating with very little resources and their most skilled employees fled into West-Germany (e.g. workign for Zeiss Oberkochen) - Soviets took everything - even the rails for the steel!

Carl Zeiss Jena != Carl Zeiss!

[Arne Croell]

It's a little bit overpriced, IMHO.... ;-)

Remember that this is a GDR-made camera with standards that have very little to do with "Made in (western) Germany" - it took Carl Zeiss hundreds of million of Dollars to make their Jena-located facilities usable after reunion. They were up to 40 years behind in technology and were operating with very little resources and their most skilled employees fled into West-Germany (e.g. workign for Zeiss Oberkochen) - Soviets took everything - even the rails for the steel!

Carl Zeiss Jena != Carl Zeiss!

Well, what you said about the quality is not quite true for this camera/lens (the price is outrageous, yes). The Soviet reparations damaged CZJ considerably, but they did not take everything. Plus this lens was developed much later, in the 1960's or 1970's when they had rebuilt. They were capable of developing LF lenses that were equal to or even ahead of the western competition - I wrote an article in View Camera about a series of 4x5 lenses developed in the 1960s that were top notch, just never made it to widespread production due to a lack of shutters (which were not made by Zeiss Jena, but Pentacon.). This camera/lens unit with the Superlamegon was offered internationally in the aerial photography field and was a direct competitor of the Wild Aviogon lenses.

[Robert Hughes]

Super- Lame-gon is a terrible name for a lens.

Ramiroelena FTW!

[austin granger]

I knew you guys would know! You learn something new everyday. Thanks.

Now if only all my questions on life were so easily answered...

Austin

www.austingranger.com

[Robert Hughes]

Now if only all my questions on life were so easily answered...

It's what happens while you're making other plans, of course...