For the past year & half I was concentrating on buying a few pre-Civil War lenses, and I think I now have what I want. After buying a few of the ancients, I started buying a select few of the "classics". By classic I'm meaning lenses in early shutters made roughly 1900 to 1930. So far, I have a 1906 DAGOR 3 5/8" in dialset, a 1914 Zeiss Tessar 165mm in Compound, and a 1922 150mm Heliar in dialset. I'm looking for a Velostigmat, and also an early Protar. The Velostigmat will be no problem--they are plentiful and cheap. The Protars seem plentiful, but not cheap! Exactly what is the deal on Protars? Why are they going for crazy prices like the soft focus lenses? What I had in mind was an 1890s Protar with the wheel stop, and either already mounted in something like Prosch shutter, or I have it adapted for a Copal. I think it would be cool to have a Protar; it's the lens that changed everything around 1892. At $1,200 though, I have to wonder what makes it more special than the other anastigmats of the era?
Kent in SD
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