Where to buy used lenses, etc?

[Brian Creek]

Howdy,

Are there reliable on-line sources selling LF lenses, Film Holders, Dark cloths, and the like beyond Ebay, CatLabs, B+H, Adorama, and Badger? I need some stuff.

Thanks!

Brian

[Bob Salomon]

Howdy,

Are there reliable on-line sources selling LF lenses, Film Holders, Dark cloths, and the like beyond Ebay, CatLabs, B+H, Adorama, and Badger? I need some stuff.

Thanks!

Brian

Samy’s, Bear Images, Glazers, Dodd, PPR, Quality Camera, Ace, Tempe, and a bunch more!

[Peter De Smidt]

Kumar, KEH, Usedphotopro, Igor's camera exchange, the classifieds here, the classified LF group on Facebook...

Dark cloths:
http://www.quietworks.com/FRAMES_FILES/BJ_SPECIFICATIONS/BJ_NEW_HOME_FRAME_.htm

[Tin Can]

In 30 days you will have access to our FS section.

You may also post wanted to buy.

[Brian Creek]

Thanks for all the leads!

[Two23]

I buy most of my stuff either here or on ebay. You have to really look at the photos and know what you are doing, or ask good questions of the seller if they don't know. Sellers here have always known what they have and any problems. Ebay is more the wild west, but I've not had any problem myself.


Kent in SD

[Sirius Glass]

Samys, KEH

[Brian Creek]

Thanks, Kent. That's been my experience with Ebay as well, but there are some genuine bargains to be had.
Not that I've ever scored any of those.... ;)

Brian

[esearing]

I have had good luck on ebay with samy's and nationalcameraexch. You pay a little more but they have a generous return policy and their descriptions are trustworthy. USED at Adorama and B&H sometimes. KEH but not their bargain bin on ebay. And watch the for sale boards here, B.S.Kumar also seems to have a knack for finding good gear at decent prices, PM him if looking for something in particular.

[Corran]

Facebook/eBay

Most online dealers these days seem to price LF stuff too high.

[Tin Can]

Perhaps they are responding to demand.

We are a grouchy bunch on this forum and may be well out of touch with market realities.



Facebook/eBay

Most online dealers these days seem to price LF stuff too high.

[Corran]

I'll mention here that I bought a lens last week on Facebook for $225, identical to one a prominent online dealer is selling for over $1000. I didn't think the lens price was particularly amazing, but it had some accessories along with it that I wanted, so I made the purchase.

I think there's a lot of interest in LF right now, and it is true that the barrier to entry is high with regard to knowledge/understanding of what lenses to get, and dealers can capitalize on that by providing kits or specific categories, and up-charge appropriately...but sometimes it's just egregious.

[John Kasaian]

Be patient.
The For Sale sub forum here awaits you (after 30 days)

KEH has good deals IMHO
Ebay, IMHO, is a crap shoot unless you really know your LF "stuff"

[Michael Kadillak]

It is all about demand turning up a bit and limited product supply. As we are all aware driving this issue - plastic sheet film holders along with Copal shutters have ceased production. The major lens manufacturers have either ceased production of have regressed to limited productivity with increased prices. Certain desirable lenses like the lightweight and small multi coated Fuji 600C are commanding enormous market premiums as those that cannot or will not pay the inflated prices scramble for cheaper alternatives. The increase in demand I feel will never rise to a level of accommodating market entries for what products have been lost so what is in the market cycle has to last for the time being IMHO. Being patience and knowing what is a reasonable and/or acceptable price for a lens is critical when you are in acquisition mode in LF or ULF at this juncture. Just be ready with the cash and don't wobble when you find an acceptable deal.

[jim_jm]

Also, Igor Camera (http://www.igorcamera.com/) has a large selection of LF gear. I've bought several lenses from him and been very satisfied. His prices seem to be a bit lower than KEH in some cases.

[OKAROB]

Brian,

I do not recall you telling us what size/format camera you are using. Finding deals on stuff for 8X10 and larger cameras is getting tough. I have been buying gear on e-bay for years and have had fairly good luck. If you watch e-bay long enough you will sometimes notice that prices drop or the bidding drops off or increases during different times of the year. It seems like late Spring or Summer large format gears seems to sell for higher prices. Oddly I have gotten some of my best large format e-bay deal during the few weeks leading up to Christmas. Why????. I also look for items ending on major holidays as sometime the bidding competition is less apparent. Also I sometimes save some money by buying a lens with a small ding in the filter ring provided that the glass is good. So far every lens I have bought with a dinged filter has worked and focuses fine. I do not care to buy a lens where the seller has tried to fix the ding, I like to see for myself how bad the ding is. That way I will not feel so bad if I drop it or it gets bounced around in my pack. Also remember that will impact resale value.

I have bought a few KEH bargain lens that were way better than described. My experience is that in the past they were very conservative in their rating of equipment. Just make sure you closely study the photographs and stay away from lenses with fungus or obvious deep scratches, separation or obviously abused lenses. Unfortunately it seems that sometimes they using a "boiler plate" description or disclosure statement of their Bargain rated equipment making it tough to ascertain the quality of item under consideration.

Regards,
Robert

The name of the game is patience.

[Dan Fromm]

I have bought a few KEH bargain lens that were way better than described. My experience is that in the past they were very conservative in their rating of equipment. Just make sure you closely study the photographs and stay away from lenses with fungus or obvious deep scratches, separation or obviously abused lenses. Unfortunately it seems that sometimes they using a "boiler plate" description or disclosure statement of their Bargain rated equipment making it tough to ascertain the quality of item under consideration.

Regards,
Robert

The name of the game is patience.

Robert, KEH is very explicit about the pictures on their site. They are guaranteed not to be pictures of the item on offer.

About patience, yes, we cheapskates need a lot of it.

There are still real bargains out there but they're very rare and often hard to justify buying even when real. Mr. Galli and I occasionally twist each other's tails. The day a 65/5.6 SA (not engraved Multicoating) that I'd snagged for $142 including postage and (hmm) NJ sales tax arrived I sent him an e-mail, subject "steal of the week if not the year." He topped it handsomely with a casket set he'd just acquired.

With respect to our steals, Jim really has no use for tiny little lenses like my new (to me) SA. Although casket sets fascinate me, I have no use for his wonderful find. I'm not sure he'd have grabbed the SA, if he'd stumbled across it, as a speculation. I mean, the man has principles. I certainly wouldn't have bought the casket set for resale if I'd found it.

[reddesert]

IMO: As an amateur photographer, these days, it feels a bit like being a visiting barbarian stumbling around the decaying capitol of a fallen (professional) empire. You can pick up all sorts of amazing things out of the rubble. The infrastructure to support those amazing things is another story.

Use value and bargains are relative. Jim gave a more eloquent description of this upthread, but for example, with a bit of care I think one could buy a good modern plasmat lens (Symmar, etc) for US$100-150 (sometimes less, a wide angle like Super Angulon would be more) on ebay, or a working Sinar or Toyo 4x5 monorail kit for ~ $300. These prices are unimaginable compared to 20 years ago when they were still professional tools and used price was 3 times as much.

8x10 kit doesn't seem to be at as much of a discount (because the market isn't as flooded with former professional gear, I imagine), and maybe all of it is more expensive than 10 years ago when film seemed like it might disappear. But it still seems much less expensive to get started in film photography than it was in the past. The hangup is the film and processing - gear is very durable, but there are fewer suppliers of consumables and fewer labs.

[Jim Galli]

Brian, Just send me your wish list and your budget. I live out on the edges of area 51 and we've got these *LGM's that can find me the most amazing things. I've got two 12" Goerz Dagor's just in the last couple of weeks that they brought me. I think I have a link on my web pages that explain the LGM's and the Tonopah connection.









*(little green men)

[Jac@stafford.net]

I am all done buying military/government lenses. I'm satiated! Now the issue is how to get rid of some!

[Jim Galli]

I am all done buying military/government lenses. I'm satiated! Now the issue is how to get rid of some!

I'll have the LGM's come pick them up while you're snoozing.

[Brian Creek]

Thank you one and all for your input! I'm getting back into 4x5 film after almost 30 years with 35mm and FF digital. Some of the places I relied on are gone (Calumet, for instance) and gone are the days of buying new lenses from the guys in Brooklyn. I'm comfortable with Ebay and facebook, but living in western Wyoming there aren't a lot of LF doodads for sale on FB locally.

Ordered the Chamonix 45F-2, extension board, and protective leather wrap. I really liked the mechanics of the 45H-1 better, but not enough bellows extension. Now I'm looking for a meter , film holders, loupe, and the following lenses.

A wide angle that I can use for low-angle foreground to distant landscape photos. Like a 90 - 110mm. Suggestions? Was lusting after a Schneider Super-Symar XL 110mm f5.6 until I read of a possible haze issue.

Fujinon CM-W or NW in 125mm and 150mm (or 135 or 180, all are f5.6) I don't care about filter size. My FF digital stuff weighs a ton and I have hauled it everywhere, have filters from 42 - 105mm and it just is what it is. Have considered buying a donkey to haul it around, though.

Fujinon A 240 f9

Nikkor M 300mm f9

Best regards, Brian

[Corran]

90mm lenses are extremely common. Do a search and you'll find many, many threads that will give you more opinions than you'll possibly know what to do with. The short answer is, Nikkor 90mm f/8 and be done with it.

Any modern lenses from Schneider, Rodenstock, Nikkor, or Fuji will be just fine. You probably don't need 4 lenses to start out but really none of us can tell you what YOUR preference on lens selection will be. I'm a wide-angle guy and use a 58mm or 90mm probably 80% of the time. I have a Nikkor 300mm f/9 but have used it maybe a handful of times on 4x5...

[Peter De Smidt]

I had a Super Symmar XL 110. It was my all-time favorite lens. Unfortunately, I had to sell it at one point. A 90mm f/6.8 is a really nice lens. I have one and use it a fair amount. On the other side, I have a 120mm Super Angulon, which I use when I need a lot of movements. Otherwise, I use a 125mm Fujinon, the one with 55mm threads. It small and sharp, but it does have less range for movements.

With 240mm, also consider a Germinar-W. I have one, and it's excellent. They're somewhat scarce, though, and I'm not sure what current pricing is.

[John Kasaian]

Thank you one and all for your input! I'm getting back into 4x5 film after almost 30 years with 35mm and FF digital. Some of the places I relied on are gone (Calumet, for instance) and gone are the days of buying new lenses from the guys in Brooklyn. I'm comfortable with Ebay and facebook, but living in western Wyoming there aren't a lot of LF doodads for sale on FB locally.

Ordered the Chamonix 45F-2, extension board, and protective leather wrap. I really liked the mechanics of the 45H-1 better, but not enough bellows extension. Now I'm looking for a meter , film holders, loupe, and the following lenses.

A wide angle that I can use for low-angle foreground to distant landscape photos. Like a 90 - 110mm. Suggestions? Was lusting after a Schneider Super-Symar XL 110mm f5.6 until I read of a possible haze issue.

Fujinon CM-W or NW in 125mm and 150mm (or 135 or 180, all are f5.6) I don't care about filter size. My FF digital stuff weighs a ton and I have hauled it everywhere, have filters from 42 - 105mm and it just is what it is. Have considered buying a donkey to haul it around, though.

Fujinon A 240 f9

Nikkor M 300mm f9

Best regards, Brian

Donkeys are very cool!
:cool:

[Brian Creek]

Thanks again, everyone!

Glad someone else understands the imperative of CDO. And just how am I supposed to properly arrange an uneven number of eggs in a carton?

Brian

[Brian Creek]

I'm kind of obsessive wrt composition, so I'm pretty sure that 4 lenses are just the tip of the iceberg.

[Corran]

So am I. And I also own waaaaay too many lenses. But I don't carry all of them, ever.

But, really, just buy a couple of lenses and start shooting, and then figure out where you want to go from there. 90mm and 150mm is a great start for most people. If you tend to shoot longer on your other cameras, maybe 150/240. There's a lot of stuff to carry, and while I know some claim to carry 10 lenses in 20-30mm increments, curiously none of them seem to shoot that much or post many photos...so take that how you will :).

[goamules]

My grandfather used to say they were "land poor". I think I am "lens poor".

[Tin Can]

One member uses mules.


Donkeys are very cool!
:cool:

[Bernice Loui]

Don't believe everything on the internet. I've owned both the 110mm & 150mm SSXL since they were introduced back in the mid-late 1990's. Both have been perfect, no haze, no problems what so ever. These two were from the initial batch with "hand made" Aspheric elements. The later SSXL's were made using uber precision moulded, then polished Aspheric elements. It appears Schneider had a problem with the revised production method (reason why Schneider had a difficult time sorting out the process early on which is why the wait for the newly announced SSXL was over one year). With more time, Schneider figured it out and warranty repaired more than a few of these 110mm SSXL's with the haze problem. IMO, if the specific sample does not have haze and pass the burned lots of film to the users satisfaction, it should be and remain fine.

That said, from about the mid 1980's to mid 1990's used a 115mm f6.8 Grandagon as a wide angle for 5x7 & 4x5 before trading for the 110mm SSXL. In more recent times I've gone back to using the 115mm f6.8 Grandagon instead of the 110mm SSXL which is now essentially parked. While the 110mm SSXL has higher contrast and perceived sharper, the more moderate contrast rendition of the 115mm f6.8 Grandagon became preferred.

Do a search on LFF on the 110mm SSXL as there has been LOTs of discussion about it.

As for the 150mm SSXL, it's also parked and in it's place is a 165mm f6.8 Angulon in barrel, yes this is the OLD reversed Dagor design being preferred over what is "State of the Art" Aspheric wide angle SSXL.

As for a 90mm lens, given you're on a field camera the 90mm f6.8 Grandagon or one of the 90mm f8 wide angle lenses would be preferred due to size. As for Nikkor SW wide angle lenses and Nikkor LF lenses in general, they tend to have high contrast rendition which promoted the perception of "sharper" their color rendition as with Fujinon is different than European and US made lenses. Only way to really know what works for your needs, make the purchase or make a trial arrangement then burn LOTs of film to sort out what stays and what goes.


Bernice




A wide angle that I can use for low-angle foreground to distant landscape photos. Like a 90 - 110mm. Suggestions? Was lusting after a Schneider Super-Symar XL 110mm f5.6 until I read of a possible haze issue.


Best regards, Brian