Good price for a 5x7 Norma?

[Ron Marshall]

I have been offered a minty 5x7 Sinar Norma for $800. Is this a fair price?

[medform-norm]

Depends completely on what's in the deal. Extra bellows, standards, extension rails, lens boards, reducing backs, lenses, carrying case, DB shutter etc. etc. For just the camera I would pass on it for that money, but then I'm a real bargain hunter.

More and more people are selling their 5x7 formats, so prices are low at the moment. Even the 5x7 Linhofs are dumped these days, almost as if they were an average Welta 10x15 folding plate camera.

Maybe someone else here will contradict me, so please, by no means let yourself be guided by my 2 cents of uncertified opinion.

[Ron Marshall]

It is just the camera. ie. two standards, back with GG, two rails, one lensboard, conical bellows (new).

[Ron Marshall]

I have only been checking the market for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't seen many interesting 5x7 for sale. The old classic 5x7 seem to be going for around $600. Newer 5x7, such as Canham I have not seen for less than $1500. So this seems to be a fair deal to me.

[Ron Marshall]

This is not a deal breaker, but would anyone know the approximate weight of a 5x7 Sinar Norma?

[Jimmy Peguet]

Ron,

My 13x18 (the 5x7"european size ) Norma with a 30 cm rail and standard bellows weights 4.375 kg. This is a great camera.

Jimmy

[Sanders McNew]

Sounds like a deal to me. I converted my 4x5 Norma to 5x7 a year ago. I had to buy the rear standard and back for $600 (eBay), and have a bellows made in England for another $250, and bellows frames from Sinar for another $100. So I spent nearly a thousand, for half the camera. If you can get the entire thing for $800 and you want to work in 5x7, hop on that deal before somebody else on this list snaps it up.

Sanders McNew

www.mcnew.net

[Ron Marshall]

Thanks to all for the helpful postings. But it turned out to be a scam. I lost an auction for the 5x7 Sinar, it went for $823. I should have bid higher, it was in perfect shape, a one owner camera. The next day I received a message purporting to be from the seller, saying that the high bidder had declined to pay. When I contacted the seller he told me the message was fraudulent, so I contacted ebay.

In the end it has worked out well. I managed to buy a Sinar P rear standard and a Sinar 5x7 format changing kit, altogether for $700. So I can convert my Sinar F1 to 5x7.