I've recieved 5 lenses for free!

[Moloko]

I've just acquired five large format lenses, mounted on Cambo boards, all for free! A caveat: I'm in high school and it would be practically impossible for me to shoot large format. Since I'm content with my Minolta SRT 202, I figure I'll sell these lenses and maybe buy some lenses for my Minolta or possibly get myself a motorcycle if they end up being worth what I hope they are.

All lenses are in extremely good condition, no scratches whatsoever. The barrels appear to also have hardly any, if any at all, dings or scratches. The Fujinons all are on Seiko shutters. The Zeiss I'm not sure, but it says Linhof around the barrel.

----
I have:
1 f6.7 250mm Fujinon W S
1 f8 90mm Fujinon SW S
1 f5.6 180mm Fujinon W S
1 f8 75mm Fujinon SW S
1 f4.5 53mm Carl Zeiss Biogon Linhof
----

As I said, these are all excellent. I was originally planning to go to Seawood, a local shop, and sell them. But then it occurred to me I have only a faint idea of their value. What would be the most rewarding venue to dump these on?

Also: I have the Cambo camera itself, as well as a very large amount of film holders (new in box), but the foam in the case decomposed and everything is covered in a thin layer of black tar. It isn't so bad on the Cambo, but I don't really want to touch it. :P

One more thing: These appear be older, uncoated lenses.

[davidb]

this is gonna be fun.

[Capocheny]

Moloko,

There's a number of methods for establishing the value of your lenses:

1. Speak with Jim at www.mpex.com or Jeff at www. badgergraphics.com. These two guys are very familiar with large format camera equipment and can be relied upon to give you good advice.

2. Do a search for "completed" transactions through Ebay. If you track the sales back for the last 6 months or one year... this should give you some idea as to what the "market" is willing to pay for lenses such as yours. Of course, the values will be significantly determined by the condition of your gear as compared to those in the ebay listings.

As for venues... of course, you can list them on ebay and they'll be sold through the auction process.

Secondly, you can probably speak with Jim or Jeff about selling them for you. This will involve you paying them a commission or some other means of compensation for the service.

Lastly, once you've determined what you want for each lens (or the entire collection of lenses) list them here on the forum. There's always people looking for gear.

[Here's another thought... buy yourself a camera and use the lenses! :)]

Just my 2 cents worth.

Good luck on the decision!

Cheers

[Vaughn]

You listed one lens twice -- unless you got two of them. I'd recommend getting your hand dirty and clean the camera up. Between the camera, lenses and holders, you have quite a functional set up...that you just might regret not having in the not-so-far future.

Nothing is impossible...

Vaughn

[Moloko]

^^^ Thanks for catching that. It's a 75mm. You bring up a good point. I'll clean it up and sit on it a while, buy some film and see how I feel using it. Maybe take some portraits for cash! I have a free lab at school, but I still have to buy my own film, paper, and probably developing equipment.

[alec4444]

Yeah, I could see how a motorcycle could be tempting....having wheels is pretty crucial. But I'll tell you this - no bike you purchase will ever hold it value compared to this camera equipment you now own. Two, three, five years down the line that bike's gonna be worth half the value you paid (particularly with all the miles you're gonna put on it) and that camera setup with be worth the same if not more.

So yeah, hock some portraits with it or find some other stuff to sell and chew on this for a while. You know you're getting the bike anyway! :D

Cheers!
--A

[David Karp]

Try Freestyle Photographic for reasonably priced film. www.freestylephoto.biz. Arista.edu Ultra is made by Foma, form the Czech Republic. It is good film. Their Arista II and Arista.Edu Ultra papers are also good. Freestyle also sells chemicals under its Arista brand, as well as film, paper, and chemicals from all the major manufacturers.

Two things. First, Jim at MPEX is great. A very honest, straightforward guy.

Second, that is a darn nice set of lenses, and that Cambo is an excellent learner's camera. It is so good that many professionals used them for many years.

Have fun.

[Merg Ross]

Were you considering Seawood in San Anselmo?

[Moloko]

Were you considering Seawood in San Anselmo?

Correct.

David, thanks for recommending Freestyle, I can't recommend them enough myself! I've bought almost all my photo supplies from them.

Okay, you guys have convinced me. I'll definitely get into large format. If only (this is probably a horrible sin to say) I could start out digital for a month or two, to get used to the camera. Heh. Money is expensive!

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Moloko,

One suggestion, but it won't help you buy wheels: Sell ONE of the lenses and hold that money for film and chemicals. Of the lenses you listed the Zeiss Biogon is the most valuable (maybe $500+ on eBay) and the least useful to you since it won't cover 4x5. Sell it, put the money you get into film, chemicals, and whatnot. I doubt you will regret it.

[Bill_1856]

Dump the lenses (and camera) for as much as you can get out of them, and find yourself a lovely old Ducati, Honda, or BMW. Or Vespa. Wear a helmut. There are some things which are even more important than photography -- especially to a high schooler.

[Moloko]

Haha! Differing opinions. Wow, this is much more insightful advice than I was anticipating. If the Zeiss truly isn't good for 4x5, then perhaps I will sell it. I was on a Cambo board with a big indent, I presume to make it compatible, but if I'm better off with the Fujinons (and so many there are!) so be it.

My photo teacher also promised me some other equipment if I fix her computer, so I'll take her up on that and sell that to finance something fun.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Wilhelm may be right...

I had it good at 18, with both motorcycle and LF camera. Neither were great, but rather "good enough" (Yamaha RD350 vs 5x7 Korona with 210mm G-Claron). Twenty two years later while I still occasionally dream about my motorcycle (and forget about all the time I spent fixing the damn thing), I value the images I made much more than my memories of motoring.

[Moloko]

It also isn't as easy to kill oneself with a camera as it is with a motorcycle. I've got a car and a Honda scooter already, maybe another would be overkill. Besides, the scooter serves me well when it works. (never.)

[Sheldon N]

I'd guestimate that the whole lot of them could be sold individually and add up to close to $1600-$1700. If you sold the bunch together, no one would probably want to pay more than $1100-$1200, since they'd just be splitting them up to sell and make a profit, or selling off the lenses they didn't want and keeping the ones they did. Don't let anyone shortchange you! :)

I say that you should try the Cambo and a couple lenses out for a while. See if you can get some film holders/film and play around to see if it's something that you'd enjoy and use. As long as you don't drop the lenses, you could use them for a year or more and they'd still be worth the same money. Think of it as a free rental. :)

If you don't end up liking large format, sell it all and buy lenses for your minolta or whatever else you'd like. You're young, enjoy it!

[Nick_3536]

The Fujis are likely all single coated not uncoated. The 250 F/6.7 is most likely the single coated ones.

The 250mm should cover just short of 400mm according to Fuji
The 180mm 305mm so just short of a full 8x10. But if you're contact printing I doubt it would even clip the corners.

The 90mm and the 75mm are in some ways less interesting. Plenty of other choices in those focal lengths with similar or better coverage.

Personally I'd keep the 180 and the 250mm. Well I'd be tempted by the 250mm -) Both the 180 and 250 would give you over kill coverage on 4x5 or 5x7. The 250 almost covers 11x14. Relatively small for the coverage they give you. Plus neither attracts big money on the sale market. Selling the other three lenses will likely bring the most money in.

[e]

If you decide to sell the 53mm Biogon let me know, I would like to buy it. Emile/www.deleon-ulf.com

[David Millard]

I'd guestimate that the whole lot of them could be sold individually and add up to close to $1600-$1700. If you sold the bunch together, no one would probably want to pay more than $1100-$1200, since they'd just be splitting them up to sell and make a profit, or selling off the lenses they didn't want and keeping the ones they did. Don't let anyone shortchange you! :)
!

Actually, I've seen 53mm Biogons in excellent plus condition go for over $1100 by themselves. If you decide to use a roll film back and keep this lens, you won't be disappointed - it's extremely sharp both at infinity and at close range. I have one, and its my favorite lens!

[Sheldon N]

I wasn't too sure with the Biogon value, just went with the $500 someone else previously mentioned. For $1100, I'd think someone would be much more inclined to go with the Schneider 58XL, unless they were a collector. Maybe $750 is more realistic, which would add $250 to my figures.

Of course, a lot of value is tied up in who is selling and how well they're marketed.

[Moloko]

I cleaned the Cambo today in the parts washer at work. It's actually a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 camera. I wonder why I have so many 4x5 film holders then... On the upside, film is cheaper.

To the people PMing me about purchasing some of these lenses, your comrades have convinced me to try out large format, blame them, not me.

[cyrus]

Hmm...lets see now....courting certain death on a motorcycle vs getting into LF photography....what is the smart choice here? (spoken by a former motocyclists who has the muffler burns to prove it.)

[Darryl Baird]

I own two Cambos, but I can configure them from 2x3 to 8x10. If you have a 2x3, the way to upgrade is by adding a 4x5 back/standard. All the other parts work on the same monorail system.

On my SF, I can attach/detach a 4x5 or 2x3 back directly onto the standard block. It just requires a hex wrench. What is the outside dimension of the lenboards, 6x6 or the smaller version for the 2x3? audioexcels had some Cambo parts (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=28428) for sale a week or so back, I bought a front standard and a rail, he might still have the rear 4x5 standard.


I cleaned the Cambo today in the parts washer at work. It's actually a 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 camera. I wonder why I have so many 4x5 film holders then... On the upside, film is cheaper.

To the people PMing me about purchasing some of these lenses, your comrades have convinced me to try out large format, blame them, not me.

[Moloko]

I just measured the boards, they're slightly larger than 4.75"x4.75".

[David Karp]

The Cambo SF series is different than the SC in that it uses the modern Cambo monorail as opposed to the old 1" square monorail used for the SC. The SC came in many sizes, and I believe that I have seen a bellows that went from a 4x5 back to 6x9 front.

My guess is that the tapered bellows that Cambo sold for its SF conversion kit (6x9 front to 4x5 rear standard) would work perfectly. You could always call Calumet in the Chicago area and ask to speak to Jose (if he is still there). He is (was?) the repository of a lot of knowledge about Cambo cameras and accessories.

But, this might be a pretty expensive solution. 4x5 Calumet 45N, 45NX, and Cambo SCs go for pretty cheap these days. Check E-Bay. A whole 4x5 camera is probably cheaper than buying a rare Cambo tapered bellows.

[Darryl Baird]

I watch the e*b*a*y auctions for the SF, Master and Legend cameras. They are more expensive than older models, but since they use the same monorail, have largely interchangeable components. My smaller 2x3 SF mates to the 4x5 SF back, the two tapered bellows (bag a reg), AND can mate to the 8x10 legend. I've used a spare rear standard as a bellows extender to make a 40'+ bellows by using all three standards on the monorail together. Jose is indeed still at Calumet... busy fellow.

I've attached a brochure of Cambo Accessories... lots of good info here.


The Cambo SF series is different than the SC in that it uses the modern Cambo monorail as opposed to the old 1" square monorail used for the SC. The SC came in many sizes, and I believe that I have seen a bellows that went from a 4x5 back to 6x9 front.

My guess is that the tapered bellows that Cambo sold for its SF conversion kit (6x9 front to 4x5 rear standard) would work perfectly. You could always call Calumet in the Chicago area and ask to speak to Jose (if he is still there). He is (was?) the repository of a lot of knowledge about Cambo cameras and accessories.

But, this might be a pretty expensive solution. 4x5 Calumet 45N, 45NX, and Cambo SCs go for pretty cheap these days. Check E-Bay. A whole 4x5 camera is probably cheaper than buying a rare Cambo tapered bellows.