My wife, Paula Chamlee, and I got to Chicago, a city we have been commissioned to photograph, and on September 24 our van was broken into and my lenses were stolen. Fortunately, Paula's lenses were in the car our assistant was driving out and he had not yet arrived.

The lenses and lens shades, filters, Pentax 1 degree light meter, etc., were in an older Tamrac backpack.

Here is a list of the stolen lenses. If anyone sees any of these things, please notify me immediately. My email address is at www.michaelandpaula.com.

35" Red Dot Artar in Ilex #5 shutter serial number 812262
30" Red Dot Artar in Ilex #5 shutter serial number 791676
24" Red Dot Artar in Alphax shutter serial number 829585
16.5" Goerz Dagor in Ilex #5 shutter serial number 755927 or no number. We had one lens where the serial number was painted out and this could have been it.
14" Goerz Dagor or Goerz Double Anastigmat in a Compound Shutter serial number 915881 (I am not sure if it was a Dagor or Double Anastigmat—(I don't pay close attention to equipment). This is a very old uncoated lens and was the only 14" Goerz lens that covers 8x20.

Reward offered. Many thanks.

Michael A. Smith

Ouch! Sorry to hear about this. I suspect they'll be virtually unsellable unless the thief can find a buyer who knows what they are, but they'll be pretty easy to trace on eBay. One hopes they don't just get tossed out in a dumpster somewhere.

Is there any way that you can check out the pawn shops in the area where your lenses got stolen? You might get lucky.

Sucks. Odds are that the thieves will unload them to a middleman, who won't know quite what they are, but that they are worth something. Watching at the pawnshops and *bay stands a decent chance of paying off. The cops usually have a "hotlist" of stolen items that they distribute to pawnshops. You should make sure your lenses are on it.

What part of town??..Evan Clarke