Should this eBay listing bother me?

[Dan Fromm]

Please see http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7549171602

Now see http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/archiv/pdf/repro_claron.pdf

I have a 55/8 Repro Claron that behaves pretty much as Schneider claims.

Should the seller's claims outrage me? Or am I even dumber, blinder, and crazier than he is?

Cheers, zing away,

Dan

[Sam Crater]

Yeah, if he knows enough to identify it as an Artar he should know better than to make those claims.

[Joseph O'Neil]

I'm not outraged but I do think the cowpatty meter is starting to overheat.

I've got a 8.25" Georz Red Dot Artar myself, front mounted in an Ilex #3. Love the lens, use it all the time. Razor sharp, lightweight for backpacking - but the thing is, including the shutter and the lens, I haven't got any more than $100 Cdn invested in it all. For $100 Cdn, it's a great lens, but then I see Ebay auctions like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7549036272

Okay, same lens as I have, the guy wants $300 US for it. Add shipping. Say you buy this lens, then you have to send it off to somebody like SK Grimes & Co to mount it. Do you need to buy a new shutter? Or a used shutter, then pay to have the shutter cleaned and serviced & calibrated (in some circumstances, a new shutter is cheaper).

Then you pay for the cost of mounting the lens. Then do not forget the cost of shipping to and fro.

Bottom line is, by the time the lens lands back in your hands, all ready to go, how much have you got invested in it total? $400 US? $500 US? $600 US, or more.

At that kind of money, there are a lot of really good, used 210mm out there you can problaly buy for even less money. For that matter, I was looking at Badger's price for a new Fujinon 210mm, and you know something, for the couple hundred different in price, I'd get a brand new Fujinon.

I think what happens is something like this. I've been involved in dismantling/tearing apart two older process cameras, and I have been rewarded with the lenses from them. For example, my 600mm, F9 Apo ronar, which problaly was over $5,000 US brand new (and what, about $100 US now on Ebay? :), cost me nothing more than an afternoon's work of physical slugging stuff up and down three flights of stairs (why people build heavy, heavy cameras on the third floor, far away from the elevator is a mystery of life to me :).

So, for the price, my lens was a great deal. If i ever get off my butt and get myself that 8x10, it will be worth having my lens mounted, or even buying a large enough packard shutter. Whatever. Point is, a lot of us got very good lenses at very, very low cost compared to the original price, even when you add in the expense of mounting the lens in a shutter.

But I think the "mystique" around some of these process lenses gets out of hand somehow, blown out of proportion, and some point, crosses a line. Where that line is, open for debate, but IMO, that seems to happen a lot on Ebay anymore.

I guess it's like those Nigerian e-mails, of which I get a million a day (or so it seems). A few years ago I was outraged, now I just shrug it off and hit delete. Too jaded I guess.

joe

PS - not withstanding the fact I love my Red Dot Artar, focusing any F9 lens in low light or for a night shot is still a pain in the butt.

[paulr]

He's selling it as a "Repo Claron." Doesn't this suggest that he's missed a few payments?

[Ralph Barker]

LOL, Paul.

I view most eBay sellers in the same light as politicians and similar personality types. Some are more artful and convincing than others. Outrage, however, is a precious commodity, and should be saved for more important targets, I think.

[Daniel Grenier]

I'm not sure you want to be outraged Dan but if you are, check out this one for some comic relief. This guy had me down for a good laugh!

http://cgi.ebay.com/SEXIEST-FEMALE-ALIVE-SEXY-PHOTO-SEXY-BODY-SEXY-BLONDE_W0QQitemZ7353211763QQcategoryZ66465QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[le]

[Daniel Grenier]

Oopss... try this instead ....

http://cgi.ebay.com/SEXIEST-FEMALE-ALIVE-SEXY-PHOTO-SEXY-BODY-SEXY-BLONDE_W0QQitemZ7353211763QQcategoryZ66465QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Doug Dolde]

$40K for a modeling fee? What a dreamer.

[Michael Kadillak]

The simple answer - NO. You should not be outraged or even give a flip. In a similar veil you should also not care that a convicted criminal is making millions selling a $29 book that he claims has the cure for every disease known to man. The fact that he is not a physician nor has any medical training I find is quite funny but the joke is on the consumer that takes the bait as is the case here with the lens.

The solution to the problem? You have to much time on your hands so turn off your computer, get your camera out of the case and make some photographs. It prevents you from watching the news and the darkroom requirements that follow prevent you from having any excess time to expend on these trivial iterations.

Cheers!

[Jim Galli]

Glad you finally found someone else to be pissed at for their enthusiastic descriptors. Hell, he should have said "it's a quarter plate lens that gives you those darkened corners that are so desireable."

[Alan Davenport]

I can't imagine why you'd care, unless maybe you're the high bidder...

[Dan Fromm]

Alan, if he sells it I'll be a little annoyed. I tried to sell mine a while ago. Low opening notwithstanding, it got no bids. Nice clean lens, too. That'll teach me to quote Schneider on their lenses' coverage in eBay listings.

Michael, I fear that guy's lies make it harder for us relatively honest sellers. I don't want to have to go in the sewer to sell my surplus lenses. There's something parallel to Gresham's law working here ... Just wait until you have something surplus to requirements and want to find it a home where it will be treasured.

Jim, IMO you've gone near the edge as a seller, but not often, and never over it. Same goes for Andrew. Sharkey and landarc jump as far over as they can manage.

Cheers,

[Eric Rose]

Dr Phil could have a entire show based around pissed off eBay buyers and the sellers they hate.

[Michael S. Briggs]

There's something wrong when a knowledgeable seller uses the words "Wide Angle" in the title for the auction of a Repro-Claron. All manufacturers of this lens design have rated it at 46 degrees (plus or minus a few degrees). Ebay is definitely "caveat empor". Continuing the cliches, life is too short to get outraged, fools who get educated about lenses from ebay sellers instead of from books, or lens manufacturers, or internet forums, will sometimes be parted from excessive amounts of money. The combination of greed of some sellers and ebay will cause this to continue, to the detriment of some buyers and of some sellers of higher standards.