Wollensak Vitax #3?

[mattk]

Have the camera for it and fooling around with portraits on the 8x10. I went and looked at one on a Century studio in good condition. He wanted 750 for the camera/stand and lens. Lens is very good shape. What is the going rate for these? I can' t seem to find a recent sale.

[Barry S]

Wollensak's numbering system for Vitax lenses changed at some point, so an earlier Vitax #3 was a 16" lens and the later Vitax #3 was a 10" lens. The 16" lens is probably worth a bit more. I'd say the deal he's offering you is very fair because you could pay that much for the lens alone. I love the Vitax lenses and the 16" makes a fine portrait lens.

[jnanian]

hi matt

poke around on cameraeccentric.com where it says wollensak lenses.
i have a 13.5" vitax and it is listed as a #2 in one of the catalogs ...
there are a pair of 13.5" vitax lenses now on eBoo and their buy it now price is at 750.
as barry said, they are beautiful lenses and the lens alone could easily sell for a large sum.
the portrait stand i have seen sell for between 100$ - 200$ .

it seems like a deal both the stand and lens for that price, but without seeing the condition of either
it is hard to say if it is as good a deal as it seems. the vitax has a defocus knob, and often times
they are broken off, removed or frozen. if the person selling the lens will let you look at it ... and play with it
make sure the knob moves freely from 0 to 5 ( i think 5 ) and look in at the rear group to make sure it is actually
moving things around. also bring a long throw ( sometimes the cheapest shutter releases with the small screw piece ) shutter release and make sure the studio shutter actually works as well. there is an "open/close" lever that opens
and closes the lens to focus, and when in the closed position, if you screw the release in and plunge it,
you should see the shutter open and close.

have fun!

[Nick Zentena]

I paid $300 but I had to take the camera to Those cameras aren't that easy to sell. OTOH the seller was mostly into smaller things. Tried to sell me a small format Zeiss lens for more then my car cost.

[Brian Bullen]

Matt, I think it's a pretty fair deal. Camera and stand in good condition $375 and a classic large portrait lens for $375. I'd grab it up before someone else does. By the way if it's Jim from the F-Stop swap, he's a decent guy. I bought 2 of my nicest lenses from him.