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View Full Version : Is this preposterous, a scam or what?



Asher Kelman
4-Feb-2012, 09:55
I saw this lens, $7,000 starting price, $10,000 "Buy it Now" (http://www.ebay.com:80/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180805165894&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123r) a Carl Zeiss 135mm f3.5 T* lens in a Linhof mount with Compur 1 shutter! So is there something special about this lens that it might be worth even $2,000? If it gets 60 lines/mm or something wonderful, then maybe it could be of special value.

Asher

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
4-Feb-2012, 10:05
Umm, yeah, it is a pretty special lens, a collector's item. The only multicoated LF lens made by Zeiss made in a very limited production run. $7000 is optimistic, but I would guess current value is about half of that.

Gem Singer
4-Feb-2012, 10:08
The seller is wagering on the fact that this is an extremely rare lens, possibly bringing a high price from a lens collector.

It's value is what a buyer is willing to pay for it.

ic-racer
4-Feb-2012, 10:52
The ebay ad reads like the seller actually used the lens. I guess the performance was not that great. Who would sell a real sliver bullet.

Dan Fromm
4-Feb-2012, 10:57
Who would sell a real sliver bullet.

I've done it. Eighteen of them, to be exact, still have two.

E. von Hoegh
4-Feb-2012, 11:05
Who would sell a real sliver bullet.

I will. Specify purity (fine, sterling, coin, or.800), caliber, weight, and profile. They're custom made, therefore expensive.:)

BrianShaw
4-Feb-2012, 11:19
This should be an easy decision for which you should need no advise from us. If you have to ask you can't afford it. If it looks too good to be true, then it probably isn't. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... :D

Brian C. Miller
4-Feb-2012, 13:47
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck... :D

Then it probably tastes like a duck. And it won't matter if you shot it first with a silver bullet or bismuth.

No hoax, but not worth the price. (It may have been that much new, though)

Asher Kelman
4-Feb-2012, 14:12
Anyone know detail about the lens. Is it just rare or has some special technical qualities?

Gem Singer
4-Feb-2012, 14:41
Made by fabled Zeiss Optical. Mounted in a fine Compur shutter makes it unique.

The f3.5 speed and the "T" coating gives it special technical qualities.

I'll bet somewhere in the world, someone will be willing to pay the extremely high price.

edp
4-Feb-2012, 14:43
One of Kerry Thalman's 'future classics'.

http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/future.htm

I wonder if we're in the future yet; it's 12 years since the last update.

Asher Kelman
4-Feb-2012, 14:46
The 21mm T* lens for the Contax was, at its peak $4,000 and I gladly paid that as it was a form of currency and could easily be resold. No lens bettered it. However this must be very special to someone for $10,000.

I'd love to know what it was designed for originally that they made, according to the ad, just ~ 100 copies.

Asher

Brian C. Miller
4-Feb-2012, 14:49
While a Google search didn't result in a test of the Zeiss, I did come across a 135mm Lens War (http://oomz.net/135/) page for 35mm lenses, along with Kerry Thalmann's Future Classics (http://www.thalmann.com/largeformat/future.htm) page, which does discuss the Zeiss lens.

The 35mm test shows that pretty much all the lenses are sharp after being stopped down. Kerry says that the lens is a stop faster than usual with a nice bokeh. I'm guessing that if you ever get one of these for a "reasonable" price, then it will work very well for you. But really, this is a "mystique" lens.

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
4-Feb-2012, 17:38
KEH had one for sale a few weeks back. As I recall they were asking $3500 for it.

This may well be a great lens or even a lemon, but that isn't the point. This is a collector's item, and price for it has primarily been determined by what Japanese collectors, who I believe were the original customers, were willing to pay.

Eric Rose
4-Feb-2012, 17:51
Probably his wife told him he had to sell some stuff. Put it on eBay at inflated prices, nothing sells, then he can go back to the wife and say he has to keep it.

BrianShaw
4-Feb-2012, 17:55
Hey... now there's a good idea. Thanks Eric I never would have thought of that myself.

photobymike
4-Feb-2012, 17:56
Yep seen seen it and laughed .... large format is getting expensive to buy lenses these days huh... i bet most people would take 10 thousand if someone was willing to pay it... Me personally i sell on ebay to so i can afford to take pictures. The operative word is sell ... some people collect and use ebay to boost the worth of there collection.... There are some people that would use ebay to establish worth on a collection that was either stolen or burned so they can scam the insurance adjuster. And that auction is the way they do it. Check out how old the feed back is on this seller....

Ebay sales are kind of flat as far as my sales lately. Stuff is not selling as well as it did in the past. Anyway I would be very surprised if this auction had a good finish....

Drew Wiley
4-Feb-2012, 18:15
Some of these "collectable" lenses seem to stay on the auction site for a long, long
time until someone just gives up trying. I wonder just how many collectors of view
lenses are left in the world. The next generation probably won't think of them as anything but arcane antiques. I'd like to have a spare this or that, but that's because I use the things all the time.

Two23
4-Feb-2012, 19:55
Hey... now there's a good idea. Thanks Eric I never would have thought of that myself.


You just haven't been married long enough.



Kent in SD

thrice
7-Feb-2012, 00:37
I have the older version with the amber coatings.

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/E100G004.jpg

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ektar-Larissa-21.jpg

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ektar-Larissa-2.jpg

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ektar-Larissa.jpg

All wide open, and here's a crop of the second image above:

http://aeos-photo.com.au/blog/files/Ektar%20Larissa%202%20crop.jpg

Mine cost $195 including CLA.

CP Goerz
8-Feb-2012, 08:14
This is the way Ebay is going...no auctions just 'amazing' for sale prices that linger on...and on....

As for Bokeh*, just what large aperture/focal length doesn't have wonderful bokeh?




*- Japanese for bullsh*t.

Edward (Halifax,NS)
9-Feb-2012, 06:48
I have the older version with the amber coatings.

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/E100G004.jpg

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ektar-Larissa-21.jpg

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ektar-Larissa-2.jpg

http://www.aeos-photo.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Ektar-Larissa.jpg

All wide open, and here's a crop of the second image above:

http://aeos-photo.com.au/blog/files/Ektar%20Larissa%202%20crop.jpg

Mine cost $195 including CLA.

If you had the $10,000 version Larissa would have probably dropped the dress.

goamules
9-Feb-2012, 06:59
Some of these "collectable" lenses seem to stay on the auction site for a long, long
time until someone just gives up trying. I wonder just how many collectors of view
lenses are left in the world. The next generation probably won't think of them as anything but arcane antiques. I'd like to have a spare this or that, but that's because I use the things all the time.

I've always believed the market for antique lenses is very small. Just a handful of buyers worldwide. But it's the same for many antiques. 97.4% of the next generation will care only about the current fads, fashions, hobbies, music, foods, etc. Just like the current generation. But for the 2% who study, collect, and use any antique, it's a real passion. When prices seem to go up with any type of collectible, a lot of speculators come into the field more to ride the wave.

redu
10-Feb-2012, 06:29
Here (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mint-Linhof-Zeiss-Planar-135mm-f-3-5-4x5-black-paint-/310309552565?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item483fe401b5#ht_6952wt_1037) is another one with the same Planar design but not the T version. The older crimson (single..?) coating i guess. Considerably cheaper. Still i think for LF a speedy 135mm hasn't got the use worth spending that much.

redu
10-Feb-2012, 06:32
Well i guess it's not that rare (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Carl-Zeiss-Planar-T-135MM-F-3-5-fit-Linhof-4x5-/250789221270?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item3a6433d396#ht_10460wt_1037) as mentioned in the listing in the first post.