Some Soft Focus Lens Sales Information

[Jim Galli]

In reading the Seller's description, he stated essentially that since this was an early production lens versus the later production lens it would be "softer". This was attributed to the photography communities demand for sharper portrait lens as the years passed. This struck me as odd for as far as I recall, Wollensak would change their lens names or series designations instead of changing their glass and leaving the name/model on the lens the same. Am I mistaken in thinking this for the Wollensak Soft Focus Velostigmat?

Jon, you read it on the internet, so it must be true. Now we know that "early" Velo's are more desirable than late Velo's.

[goamules]

Jon, you read it on the internet, so it must be true. Now we know that "early" Velo's are more desirable than late Velo's.

Ha!

[Mark Sawyer]

Just to clear it up for anyone running across this, the Velostigmat II with the optional diffusion ring isn't really a soft lens unless you modify it. And no, the earlier ones were not softer than the later versions. This one went for a lot because it had the much sought after ebay-seller-hype.

[Jon Wilson]

Jon, you read it on the internet, so it must be true. Now we know that "early" Velo's are more desirable than late Velo's.

LOL you are killing me Jim. Thanks I appreciate the laugh!

[cyberjunkie]

And no, the earlier ones were not softer than the later versions. This one went for a lot because it had the much sought after ebay-seller-hype.

If the final price is so affected by the oversize blurb of some vendors, i think we can safely assume that MANY buyers don't do their homework before buying...
Other way some dubious assertions would work against te seller.
Probably we should condone a safe, almost physiological, amount of hype, especially from pro sellers, but i really can't stand some practices.
Probably i will stop searching both title and description, because the same seller is a champion of keyword spamming!
I see the same auction coming up a dozen times.... that's really too much.
I have seen the same projection triplet mushrooming on each and every of my memorized SF searches.

[Paul Fitzgerald]

" Jon, you read it on the internet, so it must be true. Now we know that "early" Velo's are more desirable than late Velo's."

Just like early(w/hood), late(wo/hood) and modern(Dynar) Heliars

"In reading the Seller's description, he stated essentially that since this was an early production lens versus the later production lens it would be "softer". This was attributed to the photography communities demand for sharper portrait lens as the years passed."

There actually are early and late(post WWI) Velostigmats and they ARE different. Wollensak moved their factory so the threads and spacing are different, they may not thread together. They also changed the optical fomula so you can not mix&match early and late cells. I think the change was do to patents after the war.

[Mark Sawyer]

There actually are early and late(post WWI) Velostigmats and they ARE different. Wollensak moved their factory so the threads and spacing are different, they may not thread together. They also changed the optical fomula so you can not mix&match early and late cells. I think the change was do to patents after the war.[/QUOTE]

Wollensak changed housings, spacings and grinds a number of times on the Velostigmat Series II, and on some of their other lenses. But I have earlier and later diffusing Velostigmat II's than the one in question, and the diffusion effect on all of them is the same, virtually undetectable after refocusing. With the "uncorking" option, it's not that big a deal, as the new user can have wide range of softness to choose from. But the information about earlier versions being softer is erroneous by my direct experience.

[Emil Schildt]

Dallmeyer 3.B

$2,339

Item number:130834533400

[pierre506]

Brass Dallmeyer 3B
$2325
251215132861

[Jim Galli]

Well, I didn't get the Kino Plasticca but I surely cost Mr. Berliner an extra $390 bucks in his quest.

$723.78 for an 85mm f2.7 Oscar Zwierzina Plasticca + $45 to ship from Russia. I was serious but Geoffrey was more so.

I wanted to dangle it in front of the Nikon, of course.