Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 11

Thread: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

  1. #1

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Adelaide, Australia
    Posts
    175

    Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    Hi Folks,

    Today I did something silly. I did a Tin Type workshop..... It was Awesome!

    Anyhow, I am quite keen on getting my hands on a Brass lens. Yes, I know, what a cliché......

    In my searches tonight, I have found a Aldis Projection lens for sale. I know not a lot about brass lenses, except for maybe this falls into the "no name" category. From the pictures I have seen, it appears to have 8 Inches stamped on the front.

    Does anyone know anything about these lenses?
    Cheers

  2. #2

    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    6,245

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    We steer clear of valuations these days, which is really what you are asking!

    Aldis (And Wray!) suffered from Dallmeyer and Ross being well established, so they had to compete with their pricing. But they made good lenses. Many anon. projection Petzvals will fit your needs as well. Note that Petzvals do not have great covering power and you will need to know their speed as well as their focal length to be able to judge whether it will suit your planned use.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Adelaide, Australia
    Posts
    175

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    OK. Its a shame about the no valuation thingy (and I now have memory of being told this in the past - OP has now been edited) Its going to be a bit of a crap shoot (I always end up paying too much).

    Anyhow, I am not sure whether I am going to get that information. Its listed on the suckers Auction site with scant all info. I hope the seller can fill me in!

    As for application - 4x5 is what I am realistically going to use it on and probably for table tops and portraits. I'd like something closer to 300mm, but on a Toyo 45A, its a bit of a bellows stretch, so 200mm (if that is what it actually is) would probably be better.

    If you are interested, this is the listing:
    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brass-Pet...0AAOSwWBJXA0RI

    (and now all the Australian member are going to bid on it and price it out of my range.....sigh)

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Denmark
    Posts
    6,245

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    Oh dear! Links to on-going auctions is very very naughty and the last post will be removed by the mods. If not all of this thread.

  5. #5
    Moderator Ralph Barker's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Location
    Rio Rancho, NM
    Posts
    5,034

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    Links to an example are OK.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Adelaide, Australia
    Posts
    175

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    As they say, a fool and their cash are quickly parted. I am just trying not to be the fool.

    If this thread has to be deleted, then so be it.

  7. #7

    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    1,127

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    If you're patient you can always find a deal on a photographic ( as opposed to a magic lantern projection lens ) on ebay
    or even Craigslist ( never had any luck there ). Impatience will make you a fool with your money
    I've picked up some very nice photographic petzvals and RR's only because they didn't have a nice patina or were shiney new looking
    but they cleaned up very nicely.

  8. #8
    Recovering Leica Addict seezee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Oklahoma City metro area
    Posts
    429

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    Moderators, delete if not allowed.

    I've bought 2 Petzvals from this guy; both have been as described & the seller is a good communicator. He lists Petzvals quite often; I'd watch his sales & if something interests you, ask him any questions you have. You will have to be patient, as Jim C. says, because he's in Poland so it takes a bit longer to ship.

    BTW, the 2nd lens I got from him has in internal iris with more blades than I've ever seen in any camera optics. Anyone else have one of those?
    "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig."

    seezee at Mercury Photo Bureau
    seezee on Flickr
    seezee's day-job at Messenger Web Design

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Adelaide, Australia
    Posts
    175

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    Thanks folks.

    I just find buying gear like this fraught with danger. As we know, the evil site has become phishing site. And it is harder to buy things in Australia. You need to know a guy who knows a guy kind of thing.

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    4,431

    Re: Clueless in Australia (about brass lenses)

    You're making too big a deal of it with words like "danger" and "evil". Lighten up, study this site and others for 2-3 weeks, and you'll know all you need to buy a good 4x5 wetplate lens. It's not like you're buying expensive diamonds from a cartel. They're lenses, and discussed in thousands of threads here and all over the internet.

Similar Threads

  1. clueless home developer
    By chij in forum Darkroom: Film, Processing & Printing
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 15-Jun-2011, 03:31
  2. Help In Starting LF. Clueless. :(
    By Rain Dance in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 12-May-2011, 11:58
  3. Completely clueless about my camera. Please help.
    By missbegotten in forum Cameras & Camera Accessories
    Replies: 35
    Last Post: 25-Feb-2009, 13:11

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •