Insurmountable opportunity for John Stafford

[Dan Fromm]

Here's another one, John:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Linhof-Focal-Plane-Shutter-Pre-owned_W0QQitemZ7549932559QQcategoryZ107927QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[John_4185]

Saw that.

Bob S. assures us that there are no parts for the shutters, and they were not so robust as to stand up decades ago, so owning one now certainly seems to be a lost cause; of course I shall bid on it at the very last nanosecond - hopefully too late to win.

[John_4185]

FORGOT - One back atcha cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7547744158 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7547744158)

[Ole Tjugen]

Nice lens - I'm glad I already have one :)

[David A. Goldfarb]

I'm shocked, shocked that someone is selling "*Pre-owned*" merchandise on eBay.

[Dan Fromm]

John, thanks for the return volley. I watch f/3.5 Planars, don't bid on them. Too expensive. I have too many projects demanding cash as is. And at this point I'm pretty happy with the lenses I have, don't see much point in chasing anything better. I think I'm into diminishing returns.

In that focal length range I've been making do with a 127/4.7 Tominon, just got a 135/5.6 Symmar (yep, crappy, they say, old convertible one) that I hope will shoot a little better. The Tominon is plenty good enough on 2x3. I probably shouldn't have bought the Symmar, but I bid low and then, um, lightning struck. Every once in a while a low bid backfires. Bid low and then pray for rescue is dangerous.

Pre-owned but unused, David. Pristine, as the leicanuts say.

Cheers,

[John_4185]

Aw heck, I bid on it just to antagonize the newbies. The last one went to some chap in Sweden who just collects Linhof stuff. I think it went for $2,100US or something crazy like that. I'll bet this one lands somewhere around $1,400.

Do you think it might be good for slicing fruit? Maybe rig it up to an electric motor for a small pet door? Any other ideas?

[Dan Fromm]

Doorstop, maybe. Did you see that one idiot who probed and probed and probed and probed again?

[John_4185]

I don't need another doorstop. It would be nice to have a quality focal plane shutter for big, fast shutterless lenses. Hey, ya know that 3" Biogon you dis me about? Well, it's speced to 147 lp/mm wide open (at an unreasonable contrast of 1000:1 in 'blue' light) :), and the best darned doorstop I ever had.

[Struan Gray]

There was one on eBay.uk that went for £100 or so. Working order according to the seller.

[David A. Goldfarb]

The ones I've seen seem to go for $1000-1500. I'd like a faster shutter for my 360mm Tele-Xenar, but at that price I'll just shoot 6x6 when I want a longer lens, fast shutter speed, and a reasonable-sized neg.