By the way, I received an email from one of the biggest sellers of large format lenses on eBay. He was concerned and wanted to know if he had sold the lens to me. Without mentioning his eBay seller's handle, I will say that he is also known for writing some of the most informative and entertaining eBay ads. Just so everyone knows, I did NOT buy the lens from him and the fact that he contacted me to express concern indicates to me that he is a class-act and someone I want to deal with.
I bought the lens with an 8x10" camera from someone who was making their first eBay sale. I don't think the guy lied to me. He had only used the camera itself a few times and I think it was just sitting on a tripod as an ornament, judging by the dust that had collected on the bed, etc. The lens had probably been just sitting too. He may have tested the shutter by just operating it with the lever. It works fine that way. On the other hand, the camera was far better than he described it. He did mention that it had been restored by Patrick Alt who I contacted before bidding. Patrick confirmed that he had indeed restored the camera and that it was far nicer than the seller indicated and that the pictures on eBay did not do it justice. That turned out to be true. The seller could have really talked up the camera but he didn't. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and just assuming that he wasn't aware of the shutter problem. As I said, I would have probably sent it out for a CLA anyway. The work will just be a little more involved and expensive now. The glass itself is beautiful.
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Originally Posted by Gene McCluney
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