Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

[hoffy]

Hi Folks,

Today I did something silly. I did a Tin Type workshop..... It was Awesome!

Anyhow, I am quite keen on getting my hands on a Brass lens. Yes, I know, what a cliché......

In my searches tonight, I have found a Aldis Projection lens for sale. I know not a lot about brass lenses, except for maybe this falls into the "no name" category. From the pictures I have seen, it appears to have 8 Inches stamped on the front.

Does anyone know anything about these lenses?
Cheers

[Steven Tribe]

We steer clear of valuations these days, which is really what you are asking!

Aldis (And Wray!) suffered from Dallmeyer and Ross being well established, so they had to compete with their pricing. But they made good lenses. Many anon. projection Petzvals will fit your needs as well. Note that Petzvals do not have great covering power and you will need to know their speed as well as their focal length to be able to judge whether it will suit your planned use.

[hoffy]

OK. Its a shame about the no valuation thingy (and I now have memory of being told this in the past - OP has now been edited) Its going to be a bit of a crap shoot (I always end up paying too much).

Anyhow, I am not sure whether I am going to get that information. Its listed on the suckers Auction site with scant all info. I hope the seller can fill me in!

As for application - 4x5 is what I am realistically going to use it on and probably for table tops and portraits. I'd like something closer to 300mm, but on a Toyo 45A, its a bit of a bellows stretch, so 200mm (if that is what it actually is) would probably be better.

If you are interested, this is the listing:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brass-Petzval-type-lens-4x5-/262370377169?hash=item3d167e3dd1:g:d40AAOSwWBJXA0RI

(and now all the Australian member are going to bid on it and price it out of my range.....sigh)

[Steven Tribe]

Oh dear! Links to on-going auctions is very very naughty and the last post will be removed by the mods. If not all of this thread.

[Ralph Barker]

Links to an example are OK.

[hoffy]

As they say, a fool and their cash are quickly parted. I am just trying not to be the fool.

If this thread has to be deleted, then so be it.

[Jim C.]

If you're patient you can always find a deal on a photographic ( as opposed to a magic lantern projection lens ) on ebay
or even Craigslist ( never had any luck there ). Impatience will make you a fool with your money ;)
I've picked up some very nice photographic petzvals and RR's only because they didn't have a nice patina or were shiney new looking
but they cleaned up very nicely.

[seezee]

Moderators, delete if not allowed.

I've bought 2 Petzvals from this guy (http://www.ebay.com/usr/4473waldemar?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754); both have been as described & the seller is a good communicator. He lists Petzvals quite often; I'd watch his sales & if something interests you, ask him any questions you have. You will have to be patient, as Jim C. says, because he's in Poland so it takes a bit longer to ship.

BTW, the 2nd lens I got from him has in internal iris with more blades than I've ever seen in any camera optics. Anyone else have one of those?

[hoffy]

Thanks folks.

I just find buying gear like this fraught with danger. As we know, the evil site has become phishing site. And it is harder to buy things in Australia. You need to know a guy who knows a guy kind of thing.

[goamules]

You're making too big a deal of it with words like "danger" and "evil". Lighten up, study this site and others for 2-3 weeks, and you'll know all you need to buy a good 4x5 wetplate lens. It's not like you're buying expensive diamonds from a cartel. They're lenses, and discussed in thousands of threads here and all over the internet.

[hoffy]

Yes Garrett. You probably have a point. I just despise what Ebay has become for a lot of sellers, where its over inflated prices with the same listings running for years.

Anyhow, I have started searching and have noticed that there are reasonable prices for some gear coming out of the UK and Europe.

Cheers