help pricing and older angulon 90

[gflanslo]

My local camera store received an older angulon 90 in compur shutter and asked if I could help them price it. The shutter is sticky but the glass looks very nice. The serial number indicates the lens was manufactured in 1954. Would $75 be too much to ask for this lens?

[Ole Tjugen]

That depends...

The weakness of the Angulon lies in storage conditions! Only the outer element of each cell is supported by the barrel, the two inner elements are only supported by the balsam holding them to the outer element. That means that under some circumstances, like being stored "on edge" in hot temperatures, the inner elements may slip leading to poor centering. I believe this may be the main reason of the large variation in quality of Angulon lenses, rather than quality control.

If I didn't have one already, I would be perfectly willing to pay $75 for a 1954 Angulon - even more for a cool-climate one or one I had tested myself.

[gflanslo]

thanks for the input Ole. I know the owner was a collector and had this lens stored for decades...probably the reason for the sticky shutter. So while the lens was in a warmer climate, central coast CA, the lens wasn't out of the cabinet much.

I guess I could do some long exposures to test out the lens since the shutter is bad. Since there aren't many people in SLO who shoot LF I might sell this on the forum or buy it for myself.