goerz dagor 8 1/4 f 6.8

[bwchrome]

Hello all;

Need your help in determining the value of a lens that some of you may have some experience with. It came from a smaller camera but it will cover an 810 format.

Its is a goerz dagor 8 1/4 f 6.8 ser# 771***

Appreciate any input on its value.

regards

dw

[Don Dudenbostel]

Is it coated and what shutter? What are the cosmetic and optical conditions? Any cleaning marks and are the speeds accurate? Recent cla?

I see many seriously overpriced Dagors on ebay but the don't sell. I purchased a 9+ condition 8-1/2" Golden Dagor IN a compur shutter last month from B&H for $649 and a 12" late coated Dagor in a very nice Ilex shutter off ebay for $300. The 12" has a minor coating discoloration on the back element if you look at it just the right way and has no effect on the image. From my research its two digits under the SN where the Golden version started in production.

Hope this gives some real world indication of price.

Dagors are cult lenses but in reality they are no better than modern lenses with the exception of having a larger than average image circle. I think the current economic climate is forcing prices down to a more realistic level.

[bwchrome]

thanks very much for the reply!

the glass is in pristine condition as well is the shutter. i dont know how to tell if its a gold lens. there is some gold color on the end of one of the elements. the lens is not coated as far as i can tell.

the ebay prices are all over the place so i don't know really how much its worth.

regards

dw

[Donald Miller]

I bought this same length and F stop lens mounted in the same shutter five years ago for $225.00. I sold it a year and half ago (when I moved away from 8X10) without losing any money. I found the lens to render a very nice image on film.

[Don Dudenbostel]

Here's a link to SN's http://www.largeformatphotography.in...c-experts.html

Looks like yours is a 1948. Yours should be coated since it's post war. The coating on dagors is not very heavy particularly early coatings. The gold dagor has a gold aluminum ring around the front and the gold dot has a gold dot on the retaining ring. I would guess $350-$450 in good economic times but it might bring less at the moment. Actually the dagors are all the same formula, regular, series III, gold and gold dot. The gold and gold dot were strictly marketing tricks.

[bwchrome]

..actually i was thinking on keeping it and only looking to sell it if you were to tell me it was worth some ridiculous price. It came with a camera but i am selling that and keeping this lens.. it has a nice image quality for it's coverage.

Thanks for the assist again.

Regards
dw

[Mark Sampson]

It's best that you keep it, and use it. That way I don't have to try and buy it from you, and commit $ I can't spare. Enjoy!

[Lynn Jones]

Hi David,

Yours was made by AOC and they were excellent makers of Goerz lenses for many years as well as highly recognized microscopes, and their accessories. Goerz set up an American company approximately around WWI. After AOC stopped making AOC Goerz lenses you would be well advised to test before buying.

Goerz lenses maked Goerz Berlin, were made by B&J of Chicago, although rarely, some were actually made by the German Goerz, and were later coated and shuttered in Chicago. These B&J Goerz lenses were highly reputable also.

Dagors were wide field, covering 65 degrees and made specifically for view cameras.

Lynn

[Don Dudenbostel]

Interesting over the 30 years I've shot Dagors I've had four or five and have never had one shift focus until I purchased the recent 12". My previous series III that I used for studio product work for may years didn't. It was a coated series III that I'm guessing was coated sometime after WWII. It was my understanding that Goerz would take older lenses in for coating at one point. Actually I'm sorry I traded my old series III for a newer Symmar 300mm. The Symmar is great but has developed a serious haze between the elements and needs a major cleaning internally.

[Steve Hamley]

Don,

Adam at S.K. Grimes can clean it for you. It's about the same price as a shutter CLA, so while not peanuts, it is much cheaper than replacing the lens. And if you like the lens, it isn't too much for periodic maintenance.

Cheers, Steve