The $677 magic lantern lens

[BarryS]

More mysteries of eBay. I was watching an auction for a nameless magic lantern Petzval on a ratty Deardorff board and it ended up selling for $677!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=110359256547

In general, I've seen lens prices somewhat depressed by the economy, but am I missing anything or did temporary insanity set in? Granted the lens has an 18" focal length, so it's a little rarer than the 8-10" Petzvals, but $677?

[Jim Galli]

One bright day in the middle of the night,
two dead men began to fight.

Back to back they faced each other,
drew their swords and shot each other!

A deaf policeman heard the noise,
and came and killed the two dead boys.

[eddie]

amazing!. i get hurt on e bay selling and these guys make a killing with these things. i saw a UK seller get 1400$ for a non name petzval the other day!

this seller has a great collection of lenses! my friend has been to his house....many many great big pieces of brass and glass....oh! and rumor has it he has a P&S collection that is in double figures!

[goamules]

I know, it's sometimes freaky. Did you see the basic Afqa wooden 5x7 with some basic lens that sold for,....get this.....$2600 the other day! I about freaked, it was a classic bidder war.

[Terence McDonagh]

More proof that Jim Galli's true calling is as a salesman. Though it was not his sale, the price for a used petzval a few years ago was a paltry sum. Now they're pure gold.
With a couple of exceptions, the price for G Claron's has gone done since he stopped focusing (no pun intended) on them.

We could all ride out this recession if he just told us what his next new lens love will be. Though the SEC might investigate for insider trading.

[Alex Wei]

Petzval overtaken Heliar :)

I saw one 300cm heliar sold for less than 300 bucks and I was following this petzval auction also. what is going on out there?!

[dsphotog]

P.T. Barnum was right!...There IS a sucker born every minute!

[seawolf66]

P.T. Barnum was right!...There IS a sucker born every minute!
AMEN!!!!!

[Lachlan 717]

P.T. Barnum was right!...There IS a sucker born every minute!

Ironically, it wasn't Barnum who said this. It was a gentleman by the name of David Hannum. Lots of suckers who quote this have been suckered into believe that it was Barnum. Suckers...

On a more serious note, I have noticed that prices for most LF gear on eBay have jumped in the last month or so. Added to this is the apparent increase in the number of "Buy it now" offers.

Seems to me that a) people are trying to off-load gear to cash up and b) thinking that they're entitled to get what they paid for this gear pre-digital.

Many of my "Watched Items" are going to their conclusion without a bid. Thus, I think that this will right itself in time, going back to when the Buyer set the market price, not the Seller.

[Jim Galli]

Ironically, it wasn't Barnum who said this. It was a gentleman by the name of David Hannum. Lots of suckers who quote this have been suckered into believe that it was Barnum. Suckers...

On a more serious note, I have noticed that prices for most LF gear on eBay have jumped in the last month or so. Added to this is the apparent increase in the number of "Buy it now" offers.

Seems to me that a) people are trying to off-load gear to cash up and b) thinking that they're entitled to get what they paid for this gear pre-digital.

Many of my "Watched Items" are going to their conclusion without a bid. Thus, I think that this will right itself in time, going back to when the Buyer set the market price, not the Seller.

Not if Ebay has their way. They want to discontinue auctions and just have BIN. They want to be Amazon. They're doing everything they can to screw up Ebay. Bunch of imbeciles. Thank goodness for the classifieds here.

[Lachlan 717]

Not if Ebay has their way. They want to discontinue auctions and just have BIN. They want to be Amazon. They're doing everything they can to screw up Ebay. Bunch of imbeciles. Thank goodness for the classifieds here.

Come on Jim. You know that, if you kill the goose that's laying the golden eggs, you'll be able to get all of the ones still in her.

When economics, biology and ornithology mix and go wrong, name it eBay!

[walter23]

Not if Ebay has their way. They want to discontinue auctions and just have BIN. They want to be Amazon. They're doing everything they can to screw up Ebay. Bunch of imbeciles. Thank goodness for the classifieds here.

Why would ebay want that? From what I've seen bidding generally leads to higher sale prices than buy-it-now listings (the latter seem to need to be priced a bit low to get taken).

[Jim Galli]

Come on Jim. You know that, if you kill the goose that's laying the golden eggs, you'll be able to get all of the ones still in her.

When economics, biology and ornithology mix and go wrong, name it eBay!

...or Kodak...


Why would ebay want that? From what I've seen bidding generally leads to higher sale prices than buy-it-now listings (the latter seem to need to be priced a bit low to get taken).

It was on the national news (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93832301) this AM. Bunch of morons. I'm so disgusted with their new 'my page' that they crammed down our throats that I now do my ebaying on ebay.ca. If you hate the new page, the Canada Ebay site has the old one with all your searches. At least for now. Stupid is as stupid does.

[Steve M Hostetter]

.....

[Jon Wilson]

Another example recently was a new in the box fidelity 11x14 filmholder that sold on ebay for $285, BUT it did not have the darkslides......they had been removed and used for something else. That seems high to me....new in the box or not.

[Steve M Hostetter]

Jon ,, I paid over 2 bills for an old wooden holder with cracks in the flaps

[Jon Wilson]

Jon ,, I paid over 2 bills for an old wooden holder with cracks in the flaps

Boy, I am glad I got my 6 or 7 11x14 holders a couple of years ago when I did.
Now I just need the time to use the rig. Jon

[Lachlan 717]

Just as a heads up, I recently purchased a lens from "cia_love_animal" (see eBay listing 250381624758).

It was listed as "Antique Petzval Portait Brass Lens 300mm".

However, on arrival, it turns out to have a stainless steel barrel and focuses at infinity at 240mm, not 300mm.

It also had a horrible glue-like residue on the thread.

Luckily, the glass seems to be in great condition.

So, my advice is to ask as many questions of cia_love_animal if you are interested in buying from him/her.

I would also suggest asking for more images of the actual lens prior to bidding. On further inspection, I noticed that there were no shots of the barrel (to indicate that it was not brass), nor to show the gummed up thread.

Again, the glass is in good condition, so please don't shy away from this Seller; just do your due diligence.

Lachlan.

[goamules]

Here's another one, get your $650 ready to win a "probable Darlot" projector lens.... 110363660142 ...

Except I've never seen a Darlot with a chrome barrel, have you?

The Darlot magic lantern lens I had looked like this:

[Lachlan 717]

Except I've never seen a Darlot with a chrome barrel, have you?


Looks suspiciously like the one I am referring to.

Maybe Shen Hao is making "new" ones?!?!?!?

[sgelb]

I actually know the individual who purchased this lens. I ran into him the other day and he told me he bought a petzval on ebay. one thing lead to another and this site was up and shown. He was quite shocked when I showed him this thread!!!

did he overpay that much ???

[Paul Fitzgerald]

"did he overpay that much ???"

No, not really, it depends on his use for it. An 18" petzval on 4x5 or 5x7 would be overkill but a fine length on 8x10. An 18" f/7 that is only 5" long should not mechanically vignette on 11x14 and should have an interesting look to it. With a petzval he can always remove the rear cell and have a much longer lens, hope he has fun with it.

[ndavid813]

I have to thank all of you for this thread. It reminded me to do my due dilligence before bidding - I know I need to do that, but this just re-enforces it.

I wanted to get a Pentax digital spotmeter. and noticed that they seem to go for around $300 on e-bay auctions (aside from the buy it now always available for $629). Just to be sure, I checked Calument which has a new listed at $499 - they must have old stock. Just for fun I checked KEH for Used and saw one for $364. $64 is not an unreasonable premium to get a product from a reputable, known merchant. I then checked B&H and Adorama and ended up purchasing from Adorama for $299. It arrived yesterday and is in perfect shape, and Zone VI modified which I was not expecting. So I ended up buying from a known merchant and got more than I expected at less than I could have on e-bay.

BTW, I just saw a pentax digiatl spotmeter auction end at a final price of $570.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Interesting thread. I picked up a nice 18" Darlot ( it says it on the barrel) for $90.00! Yes, that is right. Mr. Galli knows the one. It had a massive glob on the element and everyone avoided it like the plague. It sure cleaned up nice and looks and works just fine on the 11x14. It is a big and heavy beast and believe it or not I really have not explored it yet.

Jim

[goamules]

I think a little research is what is lacking on some auctions. Did anyone notice that strange looking globe lens last week? I was going to bid, though the manufacturer was little known, and not known for making globes. The last day, I decided to ask the seller if he thought it was original, because he'd used the word "prototype" in the listing. I'm glad I did, he answered something about it looked like a modified lens, probably something some recent owner was playing with in the last 50 years. I bet it's not related to the globes of 150 years ago, and I declined bidding. It got up to over $400 if I recall....