Planar 165mm f/3.8 Serie 1a No.11 value?

[monkeymon]

Anyone have any idea of the value of a lens like this?

I can only find some information on it, and the only value i found was some russian ebay look-alike, asking for almost 7000$ for it.

It's made in 1920, and is the original carl zeiss jena version. not a licensed one. Or is the E.Krauss more valuable than the Carl Zeiss? The Krauss ones i have seen, but have not come up whit zeiss ones.

And it's of course a 160mm, not 165mm...

What also interests me, is why there is a different serial number on every part? there's one in the barrel, one in the front group and one in the rear group? Witch one of these is the actual serial number i can use to date this lens?

[monkeymon]

It seems this is pre 1900 lens whit the serial number of 36xxx , the others were DRP numbers.. some sort of part numbers? for the focusing mount & lens type.

So possibly from the year it was launched, 1897?

[goamules]

The problem with things that are so rare that no one has heard of them, is there is no demand. A 165mm Zeiss lens that is "unusual" and "fast" might go for between $100 - $500, probably towards the lower end.

The Vade Mecum has a long writeup about them.

[goamules]

Some delusional person is trying to sell one on ebay now for $9,000. 221523865217

I can probably dig up a "rare" lens or two and try to get big money. But no one will notice, because most people don't want rare. They want either hard to find, i.e. extremely fast or extremely large coverage. (a F3.8 is very close to an F 4.5 Tessar, or an F3.5 Cooke Triplet.) Or they want a lens that has caught on and become a cult item, like a Pinkham and Smith, or a Dallmeyer 5B. "Rare" without "hard to find a comparible" or "cult itme" doesn't mean big money.

[mdarnton]

That does seem to be the problem with Ebay, doesn't it? Any time someone finds something they've never heard of they call it rare and put a high price on it, where usually the case is more like uncommon, undesirable, and unwanted. There was an 8x10 B&J view on for weeks for around $4000, and I think the person figured because it was grey it was miltary and worth a whole lot.

[monkeymon]

The problem with things that are so rare that no one has heard of them, is there is no demand. A 165mm Zeiss lens that is "unusual" and "fast" might go for between $100 - $500, probably towards the lower end.

The Vade Mecum has a long writeup about them.

Good luck trying to get 160/3.8 zeiss planar for a 100-500$ .. even the e.krauss planars sells for 1000-3000$

and most people who have had any kind of camera, know and have heard about Zeiss Planar.. that is probably why they have some value? Probably the most known lens in the world?

i'm pretty practical when it comes to lenses, but even i get a smirk on my face when i own one of the first zeiss planars ever made.

now i just need to figure out, how much people are willing to pay to have the planar smirk on their face

[goamules]

Oh...It's YOU trying to sell the 165mm lens for $9,000! Sorry, hope I didn't mess up your sale. Let us know how it goes.

[monkeymon]

Oh...It's YOU trying to sell the 165mm lens for $9,000! Sorry, hope I didn't mess up your sale. Let us know how it goes.

Hah, no problem. I know the 9000$ i started whit was too much. I just listed it at something and put the offer possibility.. as i did not know what would be a sensible asking price.

The only price i found, was this price in Russia for 7000$.. so now it's listed whit that price, whit offers accepted.

[Steven Tribe]

To say that Planars in their "first version" were not a great hit, is an understatement!

Their low volume, including the Ross version, reflects how "well" they were received by the amateur photographers of the 1890's.

Early Zeiss lenses, made with focussing mounts for the Ango type 9x12 and 10x15cm cameras with fixed distance between plate and lens board cameras - and with focal plane shutters, do not bring out a lot of buyers. Value is in 100's, not 1000's of USD.

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

Lens and Repro had a very early Zeiss Planar for sale for less than $1000 for many years, and they never sold it at that price. They also had clientele who were willing to pay a premium price.