From time to time you will see a lens appearing here, which is rarely sold at all. You can look up ebay history and i doubt that you will find a Dallmeyer 4B beeing sold there. So this might be the only chance to grab one of those really rare birds.



History: The Dallmeyer Fast Portrait B series is well known for its incredible image quality.  For decades those lenses were the top of the top for reknowed portrait studios.  As most of us know the 3B is probably one of the best portrait petzval lenses ever made, it still can be found on ebay or my shop every now and then. The reason why the 4B (the largest of the B series) doesnt show up on ebay or here, is because over the nearly forty years production span, only 242 were made up untill 1902. Looking at those numbers it is nearly as rare as a Dallmeyer 5A.

The serial number is: 55.540

Which puts its in the year 1895.

Condition: This early brass beauty comes in a collectors condition.  The brass shows only minor wear and a nice nice golden glow. The rack & pinion  is missing (!) but that is rather only a aesthetical issue, since there is no real use for it anyway. The soft focus mechanism in the rear is complete and works smoothly. The impressive glass elements are in a fantastic condition too, there are only minor cleaning marks here and there and a hint of edge seperation, but nothing that would affect the image quality the slightest. There is no haze, chips or larger damage to them.

With its fast open aperture and a focal lenght of 430mm (or 17"), this lens will work from 8x10 to 11x14 format. The image on the groundlgass is absolutely stunning!


It comes with the original flange and even the authentic lenscap.

height: 29cm
width: 12.5cm
weight: 4000gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

EU* - 100 eur
Worldwide - 200 eur

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.