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View Full Version : Platinum plated Burke & James ?



SocalAstro
4-Sep-2010, 19:18
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-ORBIT-BURKE-JAMES-Mono-Rail-Camera-RARE-/320585944852?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item4aa4694f14

Unless this camera is platinum plated or has bits and pieces made of Osmium, the seller is smoking rope!

-Leon

Nathan Smith
5-Sep-2010, 06:08
Yeah, I see things like this on ebay from time to time. Some of them try high prices just to see if it'll fly. THIS one is so out there that it's hard to imagine what he's thinking though!


http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-ORBIT-BURKE-JAMES-Mono-Rail-Camera-RARE-/320585944852?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item4aa4694f14

Unless this camera is platinum plated or has bits and pieces made of Osmium, the seller is smoking rope!

-Leon

D. Bryant
5-Sep-2010, 07:30
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-ORBIT-BURKE-JAMES-Mono-Rail-Camera-RARE-/320585944852?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item4aa4694f14

Unless this camera is platinum plated or has bits and pieces made of Osmium, the seller is smoking rope!

-Leon

But the ad states Vintage!

Don Bryant

lecarp
5-Sep-2010, 07:40
It must be those sumptuous red knobs!

MIke Sherck
5-Sep-2010, 07:51
Never afraid to ask too much for one of his prize collectibles, he says. Rare and one of a kind, he says. Desperately hoping for that one prize sucker, I says... :)

Mike

Louis Pacilla
5-Sep-2010, 09:17
Man I sure am glad you guy's pointed this out. I was just about to use the Buy-Now feature for the VERY RARE Orbit . You sure $3797.00 is to high??? Really? The hell with I'm going Buy Now:)

You'll all be so envious. :eek: Yea man.

BTW- WTF. Really? why $3797

AgentX
5-Sep-2010, 09:20
Hey!!! I called dibs last week!

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showpost.php?p=622312&postcount=9


Just need to sell some prize collectibles to afford it...I have a Magic 8 Ball I'll let go for a mere $1355, if anyone's interested.


Edit: to shy away from the sarcasm for a brief moment, the seller's other items don't seem as outlandishly priced, so maybe he is genuinely confused about the value of his stuff? Then again, his embedded disclaimer (not afraid to ask for too much, prize collectible, etc) tends to indicate he knows he's pulling a fast one...

Edit II: At least the stuff he was selling last week wasn't overpriced. But if he wants that much for a "vintage" Fossil leather bag, I guess he's just a wishful thinker or skilled scammer.

Paul Bujak
5-Sep-2010, 13:11
But it is in, what do they call it... 'Minty' condition!!!?

dsphotog
5-Sep-2010, 13:42
Misplaced decimal point?

AgentX
7-Sep-2010, 17:51
Silver-plated Calumet cc400--only $1100!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Calumet-CC-400-View-Camera-/350390759415?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item5194eaaff7

Lynn Jones
8-Sep-2010, 08:21
OK Leon,

B&J made 400 of these to fulfill a federal contract using Kodak Master View Mil Specs. However, they used virtually none of the Mil Specs, the tooling was temporary in nature and the feds rejected the entire shipment. B&J had to sell them with a list price of $136.00 and a low net for retailers of about $92.00 while Calumet was making and updated version of the Master View for $89.95 to the user. To say that the Orbit was a poor seller was an under statement.

Calumet bought the Kodak Master View from Kodak with all the tooling (incredible value) and rights to reproduce in late 1955. This camera had many horrible problems which was why Kodak sold it (they lost money on every sale). Calumet sold the camera in very limited edition for around $155. In 1964, Booko, Ryan, Jones, and Renc went to work on this, made it into a truly precision camera, lightened the weight and reduced the price to $89.95 and the owner stated, make this a better camera profitably for that price, and we did.

The government held the Mil Specs for the Master View and Kodak had made two 400 piece batches for for them in WWII, but since Calumet owned the product now, the feds solicited another order for 400, Calumet said not if Mil Specs were involved due to the ridiculous specifications, this is why my old friend, George Drucker, owner of B&J took the order, ingnored the specs and got all of his cameras rejected.

The Orbit is, in fact, a good camera, better than the Master View, not a good as the Calumet. In as good a shape as the photograph shows, for the camera alone, the price should be somewhere in the $100. bracket. Regarding the lens, who knows, I can't identify it.

Lynn