I was wandering around an antique shop, where I bought a beat up aluminum Dallmeyer 6d, and the guy showed me a giant lens that had no makers name that I could find. It was about a foot tall (300mm) and maybe 9 or 10 inches across the front (250mm). It felt like it weighed about 20 pounds (9 kilos). It had a working diaphragm. It says 36" (900mm) f6.3 on the lens rim across fro the serial number. He wanted $600 for it. Here are a couple of pictures.
Last edited by Tim Meisburger; 1-Apr-2012 at 01:47. Reason: added focal length and speed
Beware!
This is the dangerous "Big Bertha" from WWII.
Forget whether it is a Ross or Dallmeyer design. These were made at decentralised small workshops because of Luftwaffe problems at the time.
The 14a/***** number will give you hits in VM or google.
In my view, they are absolutely of no use in the mainstreams of photography.
Quality control was not at its best at that period. Popular sales object in ex-RAF lenses sales in the late 40's.
About as useful as condenser lenses or film pack holders!
Yes, 14a/2443 IS big bertha, telephoto design by Dallmeyer. VM says they were used for sports events in the early days after the war.
Last edited by Steven Tribe; 1-Apr-2012 at 02:11. Reason: VM check
To add to what Steve has said, these were also made by Wray. My understanding is that they are designed for use with a strong yellow filter and will not give decent results without one. Basic telephoto design. Possible you could make some use of it in black & white work but no way I'd pay $600 for one. These come up on eBay all the time and sell for modest amounts. If you want a long, fast tele. Look for a dallmeyer anastigmat.
Stephen, in my view, 100% of the lenses that appear on these pages have no place in the mainstream of photography-
Have you used one of these lenses?
Here's a picture of mine, taken last week-
It' a 36" Telephoto, the length and aperture scale are engraved on the lens-
your wide angle pictures and description make it seem bigger than it actually is-
Very sharp, large circle of illumination for a telephoto, about 450-500mm at infinity.
Would be quite useful as a portrait lens for ultra large, or wet plate, I'd say-
because it's a telephoto, it only draws about 550mm at infinity.
I bought mine because I wanted a surrogate large, heavy lens, to hang out of a prototype front end of a ULF camera, which I haven't built yet.
If I can do that, I'd say I would be able to hang anything at all off the front of it-
There's more here-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joseph-...7625401037924/
Okay. Thanks guys. I'm glad I didn't buy it! I don't have a camera anyway with 36" of bellows anyway. When I get home I'm going to be trying to disassemble and clean all these beat up lenses I've been buying, beginning with this aluminum Dallmeyer 6D, and I'll be back looking for help with that.
Best, Tim
Thanks Joseph. Good to see that honking beast on a camera. Maybe it was smaller than I remember, but it was pretty damn heavy! I was hoping it was valued by weight, and I could buy it for 600 and sell it for 6000...
More likely, buy it for 600 and sell it for 60! It could be that astronomy people would find it useful?
Sorry, Joseph! You are absolutely right about the "100% of all lenses that appear...." comment. You seem to have balanced the beast nicely over the front standard and tripod.
Tim, the lens is a telephoto, doesn't need 36" of extension to focus to infinity.
As has been mentioned, $600 is a silly price. I've been watching one for several years now, have never wanted it enough to buy even though the asking price is down to UKP 75. Here it is, if anyone wants to watch: http://www.spitfirespares.com//Pages/misc3.html Its at the bottom of the page.
Yep, that's it. If I could buy this one for $100 I would. But if I bought that one shipping would be $400!
whatever ones personal views on 'the qualities' of this lens........................
I'd be interested if someone could chime in with their opinion on the format covered, 20 x 24" was 'loosely' mentioned to me last year
regards, andrew
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