LF current bargains?

[Phil Erickson]

Hi all,

As the digital/analog shakeout occurs, I've been fortunate enough to take advantage of the wholesale dumping of darkroom equipment and grab things here and there, to the point where I am comfortably set for a while in that department. I am wondering whether a similar equipment selloff is going on in the LF regime, though. I'm not as sure there since many fine LF cameras and lenses are decades old and capable of truly fine work, so maybe there is no 'fire sale' mentality to try and capitalize on. I'd be interested in other opinions though from those who have followed trends more than I have, especially from those bottom feeder inclined folks like me who have limited budgets. I don't want to miss a window of opportunity unless of course one doesn't exist!

Cheers.

[Frank Petronio]

Bottom feeder? I try to sneak under the bottom.

Hasselblads and other high end medium format cameras and lenses are at an all time low price because digital is really eating up their old market. Most new large format gear is being sold to serious amateurs, and they prefer field cameras and smaller lenses. So the large, heavy metal studio cameras - Sinar Ps, big Linhof and Toyo monorails, etc. are inexpensive, as are some of the larger, longer lenses.

Graflexes and Graphics continue to be popular inexpensive introductory cameras, but the old Calumet Orbit "curtain rod" monorails are really cheap - sometimes under $50. Add a "no-name" single coated Orbit or Ilex lens from the 1960s for another $50-$100 and some ratty holders - it is fairly easy to put together a servicable outfit for around $200.

[Victor Samou Wong]

Just picked up a korona 5x7 camera on epay for less than 50 buckeroos. Thank goodness for people who can't write ads and post truly awful pictures.

Much to my suprise, the bellows were actually in really good condition, in the pics they looked shredded, but it was just dusty. To wit, it did need some help with various things: Stripping some crud that someone taped onto it for no good reason. The leather handle is missing as well.... good bit however is that it comes with a nice bright clean grid back.

Cheers

[MIke Sherck]

Monorails are particularly good deals at the moment (speaking in general terms, of course!) They're less popular than folding "field" cameras so command a lower price. In particular, check out prices for older Calumet 4x5 models: many don't sell because they're priced far beyond the market but you can usually find a camera for less than $100. Other monorails are similarly discounted: Arca-Swiss and Sinar fans I've spoken to are disgusted by the comparatively low prices their favorites are bringing, but the market has spoken and currently values a beat-up Tachihara as approximately equal to a good condition Sinar. :)

Prices for generic 150mm and 210mm lenses have stabilized over the past couple of years; there aren't many "cult" lenses here, these were the focal lengths in which a lot of lenses were sold, so I suppose that's to be expected. Longer focal lengths are more expensive (as always) but I personally believe that longer plasmats are a relatively good deal because they're larger, heavier, and many folks want smaller and lighter lenses for backpacking.

[Ben Calwell]

I wish the prices of used Dorfs would come down. What is it with these cameras? From my observations, those things seem to go for a minimum of $1500 and up. Anything over a grand, and it might as well be a million, as far as my budget goes. As far for enlargers, I would love to have a Saunders variable contrast 4x5 one, but the last time I checked, they are still way outside my price range.

[Frank Petronio]

Dorf are incredibly overpriced. Look towards older stuff like old Agfas 8x10s and Kodak 2-Ds ($200) and the like, or the $800-ish Kodak Master View (vastly better than Deardorf).

[Mark_3632]

Where are you finding those 8x10s for around two hundred. I have not seen one of these go for less than three when I bid. I know, still pretty low but the price seems to be going higher and higher.

I am patient though.

[Frank Petronio]

Just guessing, read my other posts and you'll see that I make half my stuff up. I wouldn't buy one of those nasties myself unless I was going to dunk it in acid and rebuild it into a practical camera.

I did get a nice older 8x10 Arca-Swiss for $300 but that is another story. I saw an 8x10 Sinar F go for under $800 on eBay last month though, and one with holders and a 300 Symmar - nice outfit - went for only $1200 a week ago. Remember, this stuff was priced like a car just a few years ago.

[jnantz]

i used to always scour FEEbay using the seach string " old lens " or " brass lens " + " old "
and found lots of nice stuff that way. i had been watching prices of verito lenses for about 8 months
and realized that $400-600 was beyond what i could afford until i did the good ol' search and found one
in pristine condition with the leather lens cap ( "let the user judge" still embossed on it in gold leaf ) shipped for $170 .

lots of good stuff-cheep-still out there :)

[David Van Gosen]

Got my B&J Orbit 8x10 (a rebadged Calumet C1) for $300 not long ago with BuyItNow. Stuff's around if you look hard enough.

[Christopher Perez]

Perhaps as the Pros bail on LF and MF and stream to digital some of us will get to realize a useful saving in our toy budgets?

Someone just sold me a perfectly fine/useable 210mm Schneider for something significantly less than $175. In a modern shutter!

OTOH, I just paid a boatload of money for a like new Arca Discovery kit (well, a 1/3rd less than new). But gods! that thing is gorgeous!!! It rocks! (as my kids might say). Out with all those yuppie-approved wood field cameras and in with something rigid and accurate (except for the wee-Anba, of course).

I've stopped looking for the old stuff and have a nice brace of new/recent toys for less than I ever thought possible.

Life is good. :-)

[CXC]

8x10's and monorails seem particularly cheap nowadays. But I'm still waiting for an SWC to drop below the $1k barrier...

[Joseph O'Neil]

I think the "deals" started to dry up as early as ten years ago. Oh yes, there are still deals to be had, but IMO, they seem to be more of an exception than the norm. The classic example I use is try to find a lens board for a crown a or speed graphic. 20 years ago I saw them as cheap as 25 cents, in a stockk, now - if you can find one - $20 or more.

About - oh, 9 years ago, I picked up a used, but excellent condition crown graphic, complete with a Schenider Xenar 135mm - one of the better tessars lenes made, IMO. Got the whole thing for $250 Cdn , and at that time, the Cdn dollar was $1.60 Cdn = $1.00 US - give or take, so you can do the math.

It has sat on a shelf for over 6 months in the camera store before I bought it. Just before Christmas I saw a baby graphic, 2x3, with an Ektar lens (105mm ish range?) good shape, selling for $475 Cdn - same store I bought my crown from. it sold within 3-4 weeks of it showing up.

Just one small example, but I do not see the same deals like I used too. At least not in large format. Medium format is an altogether differnet animal however, I see some real deals there, at least locally.

Sometimes the "deals" come with strings too. I ahve some really nice process lenses - including a red dot artar that I had installed in a shutter. But in two cases, I had to eitehr buy half of the process camera that it came from, or in another case, I litterally helpd dis-assemble and take apart a process camera to get two lenses. Ever carry parts of a process camera down three flights of steps? "Fun"

:)

so my advice, for whatever it is worth, grab the deals now while you see them, I don't personally see the overall trends on LF gear leading to lower prices.

joe

[RDKirk]

Check www.keh.com

Their "bargain" items in 4x5 tend to be pristine, in my experience. I bought a Horseman 45 and five lenses from them (Nikkor, Fujinon, and Rodenstock, from 75 to 300mm, all f5.6) and the worse (the Rodenstock) merely had a bit of rubbing on the name, even though KEH rated them all "bargain". The camera was nearly perfect--a bit of paint rubbed off the edges of the ends of the rail.

[Mark Sawyer]

I've recently gotten some very good deals on lenses from Nigeria. They tend to come with a large check from the Nigerian Embassy, say, four million dollars, and all I have to do is wire them back the four million minus the lens price, then wait for the lens and check, so it works out to a lens for free! I'm awaiting delivery any day now...

[neil poulsen]

I purchased a Canon TSE 24mm shift/tilt lens from Keh that was listed as bargain. Only problem was that the knob for tightening the shift doesn't work. But, the shift holds in spite of that. The lens was hundreds of dollars less than what I would have paid brand new, so I ffeel I got a bargain.

My only problem with Keh is that they're so reluctant to answer specific questions about what they sell. They complain about having to go back to the shipping area or having to "request" that the item be brought forward.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Sinar kits are going at bargain prices. Try to get as big a package as you can find and can afford, because the accessories are going to cost more if purchased separately. I've been very pleased with my 8x10" P that cost less than the latest Digital Rebel.

[Eric_6227]

I just picked up a Horseman HD, 80mm and 150mm Schneider lenses, Gitzo CF tripod w/Linhof ballhead, Fuji quickload, stack of film holders, loupe, bags, etc. etc. The whole set-up---for a song. All of it in near-new condition. A few weeks ago, I bought an as-new Omega D5-XL enlarger with all lenses, neg carriers, etc for 35mm-4x5 for a couple hundred dollars. Both purchases were from hobbyists clearing out their closets of little used equipment and buying digital SLRs. Suddenly, I have entered the LF world with hi-quality, pristine equipment. I'll echo Christopher Perez: Life is good. Now...to stock up on film....

[Bill_1856]

The best bargains when they were new and now, 50 years later, are still the Graphic View II and the Kodak/Calumet Master 4x5.

[tim atherton]

I've probably seen more creaky, rickety, wobbly Deardorffs than nice tight solid ones. You have to be pretty careful what you are buying if you are picking one up on ebay. Many are very much overpriced.

Apart from a few obvious real dogs, a better deal is usually a Kodak Master 8x10