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early (Voigtländer?) Portrait Petzval 290mm F3.6

€1100.00 EUR

Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout.

History: A very interesting Portrait petzval for the 8x10 format. As with many early lenses it doesnt feature an engraving on the barrel. The first guess would be a french maker (who didnt engrave every lens), but there are also some clues that this might be rather made by a german maker: the glass lacks any markings (many french makers marked the side of the glass elements with lead pencils), also the barrell design looks more Voigtländer then Darlot or Casc&Charconnet to me. Even the rack&pinion mechanism, reminds me more of german then any french maker. It might be a Voigtländer indeed, but the only chance would be that the engraving was cut out with the retrofitted waterhouse slot, i had such en find once before. If its not a Voigtländer though it might be an Emil Busch or some other small german manufacturer.


Condition: the lens is in a nice and authentic condition. The brass of the lens was not polished and comes with with some wear but also a warm golden patina. The rack & pinion is comple and working, though rather jumpy at times. The lens was made before the waterhouse era, and an opening was retrofitted later (no stops included). The glass is mostly in a good condition, it shows only light cleaning marks and some edge chips in the rear element (see picture). Overall it is still clear. While testing it showed a sharp center and quite some character towards the edges of the image field.


This lens has about 290mm focal lenght (11.5") and an open aperture of F3.6. It will work best for 5x7 and 8x10 format with a nice petzval character especially at portrait distance.


Lens comes with a fitting flange.





height: 19cm
width: 10cm
weight: 1900gr





Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 10 eur
EU* - 20 eur
Worldwide - 70 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.

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