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My impression is that the overall market has softened compared to 5 years ago, but the strength of the market really depends on the make of the lens. Some lens prices seem to have fallen (verito),...

I have two (one that is in decent shape but needs a restoration to be usable and one that is a step away from a parts camera and is going to require a major overhaul) - they are impressive cameras. ...

Another option would be to go down to the local hardware store and get a roll of adhesive backed aluminum foil tape (made for ducts). I have used it in the past on projects that needed shims on...

I unfortunately do not own a kodak 305mm portrait, but based on the images produced by this lens that can be found on the internet, it looks like the 305 can get a bit smeary on the edges of 8x10...

Wayback machine to the rescue:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110827155048/http://www.deadbread.com:80/crumbs/23c.html

The idea behind the lenses are the same, but I would imagine that Kodak specified a different formula for the achromat.

If your tripod/head is the problem I would consider a tripod with a video bowl and half ball - it will give you limited movements without having to carry a tripod head along with you.

Did they at least tell you what the problem was?

My advice - open the shutter up and take a look. For years I avoided buying lenses in studio shutters because I heard how fragile and unreliable they are. In my experience any talk of their poor...

Thank goodness there are plenty of different makes and models of cameras out there to service all of those different opinions :)

I owned a Wehman 8x10 for a bit - I did not get along with it at all and sold it off in short order. I was impressed by the design (and it is a smart design), but in the end I was unimpressed with...

I have never seen a varium that was in a barrel - I think they might have been studio shutter only.

The price of this lens might not be indicative of a standard lens of this type. The barrel was engraved with “P&S Boston, Mass” (I assume this was a standard Gundlach lens that was distributed by...

Kodak used to made abrasive reducing paste which was used for removing density on silver prints. Perhaps this can be used for a similar purpose.

You state that even though you will primarily do landscapes, you do plan on taking some still lives and portraits. Do you plan on using any vintage lenses (heavy!) for portraits or are you sticking...

I have three of those Italian clamps (small, medium, xl). I would agree with you - they are a more robust design than the typical German models. The only downside is that they have a bit of a wider...

This may be a dumb question, but if it was repainted how on earth did they manage to not get any paint in the original engravings?

Is the goerz hypar a soft focus lens? I was under the impression that it was just a fast triplet (and better corrected than the varium/sigmar).

I had a Wehman and wasn't too fond of it - replaced it with a Phillips and love it (I managed to get lucky and get a well used one for about the price I sold the Wehman for). The phillips was the...

Judging by the serial numbers that I have seen there were less than 600 Philips cameras made in total - pretty rare. Scarcity coupled with the fact that they represented a revolutionary large format...

When I think of "collector" I think of somebody who purposely accumulates a certain type of doodad in excess of any rational need. I don't think the motivation behind the collecting (or whether or...

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. One of the longest running threads on this forum is dedicated to exclusively values of old soft focus lenses. The data that mined from this...

I would say they/we are not so much fickle as superficial. If this were not the case there would be no premium given to cookes in "clean" condition (vs a well worn but fully functioning barrel that...

I would say that the presence of the "knuckles" adds a premium. In the niche world that is vintage lenses the cooke knucklers are iconic. Kind of like how factory hood scoops, spoilers, gaudy...

A big ol' cooke knuckler sold recently in the forum classifieds (18" f5.6 VIa). It looked to be in pretty amazing shape - it was listed for $2800

That final price is crazy town. But...I'd be more shocked if the winning bidder actually paid up.

As far as I know the explorer never came with a rotating back. The compact was the model with the rotating back.

One more word of advise - many enamels take quite awhile to cure to full hardness...the longer you wait before assembling/using the better. The rustoleum you were having trouble with might prove to...

For what it is worth the factory paint on my phillips isn't all that durable - I'm sure you could do better.

One of my other hobbies is rebuilding old woodworking equipment and I have had very...

I would look into an imagon - the smaller sizes are easy to find and relatively cheap (and many have shutters). They are not made of brass and not popular with collectors, which is good - you will...

Igor camera just sold a 7 1/4" Gundlach achromatic portrait meniscus lens for $695 in excellent + condition.

As Eddie has said - if you want to find out what the lens is worth put it on ebay as an international auction. If you can't stomach a potential loss slap it up there as a BIN w/ best offer option...

Not true - the majority take a lot of pride in what they produce. What they can't stand is the watered down stuff that passes for milk in the store :rolleyes:

...in any case, it doesn't belong...

The early Steichen works are pretty amazing - they kind of blew my mind when I first saw them.

Robert Demachy is also a champ for early pictorialist work.

Both of them used Gum for a good...

Agreed - they are a joy to use. I have an old oconnor and since getting it I rarely use my gitzo anymore. The setup is MUCH faster - the only penalties being a bit extra bulk and a shorter overall...

The human ego being what it is, I'd guess he'd be pretty pumped. The wide reverence of his name would allow him to slap it on all kinds of tweaked lens designs in an effort to cash in before the...

...and to celebrate he made haste to the nearest bordello

...Just overlook the small faults and be mellow

#3 eidoscope via the LFF classifieds (looked to be in very nice shape) - $699

Keh just sold a kodak portrait 305mm/4.8 in shutter (bargain condition) for $325