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View Full Version : How much is a Rosewood Wista 45DX worth?



adweed
12-Dec-2011, 23:39
I'm contemplating selling my rosewood Wista 45DX but I have no idea how much it's worth. I bought the camera new with the Wista leather case, a 150mm Rodenstock, two lens boards, and I never used any of it.

I purchased the camera when was going to Brooks Institute of Photography for motion picture production, and I bought the Wista when I completed the still part of the program. I had been using a Cambo monorail up to that point and thought I would still want to shoot LF. The camera has lived in its case on a shelf in my cupboard and the only "use" it has gotten has been when I've occasionally taken it down to look at it. I still have a bunch of Wista's sales brochures with a nice letter they sent me, the camera's user guide, and even the original sales invoice from when I bought it.

I am clearing out the stuff that's not getting any use. What is a rosewood Wista 45DX in like new condition worth these days?

Bob Salomon
13-Dec-2011, 07:28
The current retail price for a Wista DX rosewood is $2905.99. The price went up on October 1st of this year which was the first Wista price increase in 10 years!

William Whitaker
13-Dec-2011, 08:10
Wow. The Wista DX rosewood 4x5 was my first LF camera. I purchased it new from Phil Levine in 1982 for somewhere around $500. Should've stuck it on the shelf!

Btw, the Wista DX is a very nice camera. At the time I bought mine, I'd been tempted by a used Deardorff 4x5 Special which had a back that didn't fit very well. The salesman brought out the Wista and the fit and finish was amazing by comparison.

Brian Ellis
13-Dec-2011, 08:15
Are you asking about the price of the camera alone or the price with lens included?

If you're asking about the camera alone, most of the Wistas that have sold on ebay lately have been metal. The only wood one I know of offhand was this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/wista-4x5-field-camera-cherry-wood-/180761099043?pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item2a16337b23 - which as you can see sold for $550 with two lens boards and a lens shade included. I don't know how it compares to yours in terms of condition or features because the seller doesn't say exactly which model it is and doesn't provide any details about condition.There was a DX for sale here back in February that had a bunch of accessories and an asking price of $825 but there's no indication that it ever sold at that price.

FWIW, my guess is that a used 4x5 wood Wista of any model in any condition would sell these days for no more than maybe $800 and probably somewhat less. Perhaps others here have more information about actual sales and can give you more accurate information.

If you're asking about the camera with the lens included then just go to completed sales in ebay and do a search for your lens to get an idea of how much it would add to the price. 150mm is a common focal length and Rodenstocks are popular LF lenses so you should be able to get a pretty good indication there of the value the lens would add.

Joseph Dickerson
13-Dec-2011, 09:12
The Wista cameras were usually done in cherry wood, which many take for Rosewood due to it's reddish hue. However, Wista did offer cameras in Ebony, and Rosewood, at a premium price. Are you sure yours is actually Rosewood?

If I remember the DX was the top of the line and had an interchangeable bellows and maybe a Graflock back.

See if the Rosewood model is still offered new. If yours is in good shape, and it sounds like it is, I'd think you should be able to ask at least 50% of the new price. Perhaps more as the market for used wooden fields seems pretty healthy right now. My Shen Hao sold in a couple of weeks.

The lens and boards would add another $200-300 depending.

I think Brian might be low on his estimate but doing some research on ebay, KEH, Mid West Photo, et al is definitely called for due to the relative rarity of a Rosewood Wista.

Good luck,

JD

Bob Salomon
13-Dec-2011, 09:32
The Wista cameras were usually done in cherry wood, which many take for Rosewood due to it's reddish hue. However, Wista did offer cameras in Ebony, and Rosewood, at a premium price. Are you sure yours is actually Rosewood?

If I remember the DX was the top of the line and had an interchangeable bellows and maybe a Graflock back.

See if the Rosewood model is still offered new. If yours is in good shape, and it sounds like it is, I'd think you should be able to ask at least 50% of the new price. Perhaps more as the market for used wooden fields seems pretty healthy right now. My Shen Hao sold in a couple of weeks.

The lens and boards would add another $200-300 depending.

I think Brian might be low on his estimate but doing some research on ebay, KEH, Mid West Photo, et al is definitely called for due to the relative rarity of a Rosewood Wista.

Good luck,

JD

Wista also makes cameras from Quince wood as well as ceherry, ebony and rosewood. At the present time rosewood cameras are available from Wista in 3 different models; the 45 DX, the 45 SW and the 45 II. The DX has rear shift and a Fresnel. The SW has the same + an interchangeable bellows and the 45 II does not have rear shift or the interchangeable bellows but does come with the Fresnel.

Price for the DX I answered previously in this thread. The II is $100.00 less and the SW is $150.00 more then the DX.

In the DX series Wista currently supplies the rosewood, the Quince wood and the Ebony. In Cherry the model currently available is the III with Graflock back and rear shift.