$900 for a 4.4 oz. Rodenstock Apo Grandagon Helical Focus Mount!

[Andre Noble]

I am putting together a Silvestri T30 system - a beautiful camera system made in Florence, Italy. http://www.silvestricamera.it/eng/pr...ng/t30_eng.htm that allows for shift and accurate focusing of ultra wide angle lenses.

This system uses Schneider or Rodenstock large format lenses mounted in their respective manufacturer's helical focus mount, finally attached to a Silvestri proprietary bayonet mount which all attaches to T30 body.

I hit a major roadblock: Apparent price gouging:

B&H quoted me a price of 900$ for this 4.4 ounce piece of brass & aluminum known as the Rodenstock Helical mount for their LF lenses.

Thankfully B&H did sell me the Rodenstock helical mount for the 55 Grandagon for a more reasonable price of $320 - I suspect only because it was already listed on their web site for $320. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ing_Mount.html They did not have it in stock, so they special ordered it for me at $322. Acceptable.

Here's the problem. I need the same helical mounts for the Rodenstock 35, 45, and 65 Grandagon lenses as well. These almost identical helical mounts for the 35, 45, 65, etc were NOT listed on B&H web site.

SO, I inquired with B&H about purchasing them.

Here's B&H's reply:

Hello Andre Noble, my name is Daniel W:

Thank you for contacting the E-Mail Sales Department at B&H Photo Video and Pro Audio.
As per our buyer, we can special order, non cancellable at $900 each.
Please let us know if there is anything else we can assist you with.

Thank you, we appreciate your business.

Daniel W
B&H Photo Video and Pro Audio
The Professional's Source.
E-Mail Sales Department



Maybe Bob Salomon can double check this. Something doesn't seem right here. $900 for 4.4 oz ring. That's $220 and ounce!

BTW, I stand corrected. There is No plastic in my Rodenstock focusing helical.

[Leigh]

Mechanical assemblies are not sold by weight. Diamonds are. You want to buy a 4.4 oz diamond?

- Leigh

[vinny]

Maybe they saw the city you live in and just threw out a number

[Louis Pacilla]

Maybe they saw the city you live in and just threw out a number

Oh that's funny Vinny.

BTW- That does seem to be a mighty high special order price. Then again, when you can "only" purchase what you need by special order(and that seems highly likely given the items your after) they kind of got you over the old" proverbial barrel" That's a bummer.

[Leigh]

Calumet sells Rodenstock, and seems to have better prices.

- Leigh

[Bill_1856]

"H. P." apparently stands for Horrendous Prices.

[E. von Hoegh]

Mechanical assemblies are not sold by weight. Diamonds are. You want to buy a 4.4 oz diamond?

- Leigh

I know where there's a Rolex Oyster Milgauss for sale, just a wee bit lighter than 4.4oz. $34,000. And it's used.

Look around for a used mount.

[Leigh]

The fact that something is a "catalog item" does not mean or imply that it's a stocked item.
It only means that sufficient documentation exists to enable manufacture of the item.

If they have to give the drawings to a machinist to make a one-off for your order, $900 is very cheap.

- Leigh

[John Schneider]

If you're patient, another option would be to buy a used Horseman SW612 lens cone (which uses the Rodenstock helical), disassemble, keep the helical, and sell the lens and the cone.

[Oren Grad]

Call Bob Salomon and find out what the list price is for the Rodenstock helical mounts you need. If it's much less than $900, ask where else you can order besides B&H.

Call Schneider and find out what the price is for helical mounts for their ultrawides. If the focal lengths don't match the Rodenstock lenses but the mount+lens cost is cheaper than for the Rodenstock products, evaluate whether you can accomplish your objectives with the Schneider products instead. FWIW, Schneider recently quoted me a list price of $439 for a helical mount for the 120mm Apo-Symmar.