Back to Store

Dallmeyer 3B Portrait Petzval 290mm F3

€2800.00 EUR

Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout.

Important Notice: i will be travelling the next couple of months. The store will be open, BUT take into account that i wont be able to ship any packages untill march of 2025!



History: The Dallmeyer 'Series B' was by then one of the most known and highly praised portrait petzval lenses back in the early days. This didnt change untill today, where the wet plate community holds the B series in high regards.

The Serial No is 89.852 lens can be dated to the 1910s. 


It is the latest version Dallmeyer produced in their time. The two big advantages of this version are the reduced weight and also the front soft focus adjustment (the older version had this adjustment in the rear). 


One more advantage of the lens is, that it comes with an original iris aperture installed by Dallmeyer which is still working to this day.


Condition: The best part about this specimen, is that this beauty comes in an absolute collectors condition! The  lens shows the golden laquere shows only light wear, and a beautiful coating. The difussion mechanism is working well. The glass is very nice here, showing only the most minute cleaning marks. Overall its crispy clear and shows a fantastic bokeh on the groundscreen.


The 3B offers a focal lengh of 290mm and a starting aperture of F3. It will work best for 5x7 and 8x10 portraiture work. It is THE dream lens for those formats.



It comes with a fitting flange.




height: 18cm
width: 10cm
weight: 2000gr




Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 20 eur
EU* - 60 eur
Worldwide - 120 eur


*(the site offers only 2 shipping variations, DE and worldwide. buyers from EU please either contact me beforehand for a reduced EU cost, or after buying so i can send a refund over the difference)






Importent Note: This item comes from my private collection and is around 100 years old (antique). I try my best to describe all the faults and major damage which are relevant for the function of this item. But the actuall item can show signs of wear and also some cosmetic blemishes/damage which is not described in the auction text! When buying this item the buyer agrees to this terms.


Copyright © All rights reserved.
Using Format