a bit of help

[false_Aesthetic]

Hey,

What might this camera be worth?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Agfa-Ansco-8x10-Vintage-1930s-Era-Folding_W0QQitemZ200069961746QQihZ010QQcategoryZ11717QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Seems like a good deal but obviously its a auction so I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


T

[Ernest Purdum]

The AGFA's were one of the better flat-bed cameras, but even so I'd be inclined to pass on this one. Some of the new woodwork doesn't look right to me and as is unfortunately so often the case, the extension rail is missing. I'm also leery of Turner-Reich lenses sight unseen because so many of them suffer from severe separation.

[Brian Ellis]

Agfa Anscos are underrated cameras. I owned a 5x7 and it was a great camera though heavy and bulky. But I agree with Ernest, I'd probably pass on this one. It looks from the first picture as though someone has replaced a lot of wood on it. And with a camera this old, being sold by someone who hasn't used it, it's a good bet that the bellows would have to be replaced though if you were interested you could ask the seller to do a flash light test.

I'm not sure that the extension rail is missing. On my Agfa Ansco and on the others I've seen the rail wasn't removable as it was on many other LF cameras of the era so you'd have to actually break the camera to get it off. It normally is attached to the camera and folds up onto the ground glass. It appears to be there in the first and fifth pictures though the sixth picture is a little puzzling.

8x10 Agfa Ansos aren't common but they also aren't as rare as this seller seems to think, you see them on ebay fairly often. If you're patient I think you can find a better one than this. However, ignoring the lens and assuming everything is right with the camera (i.e. extension rail is there, bellows is light tight, there's an explanation for what looks like added wood) I'd guess it would sell for about $400 - $500 not counting the lens. I have no idea what the lens is worth. Kind of interesting that all the people who have posted questions are out of the U.S.