History: The Gasc & Charconnet petzval lenses are well known and respected all over the globe, back then and also still today. This is a specimen of the Objectif A Diaphragme Retrecissant series, which can hardly be found nowadays on the market. This series shows a very unique approach on stoping down the aperture inside the lens, it has a turnable knob outside, which activates a set of shutter blades inside the main conus. I never seen this kind of mechanism before, only in books. Sadly the mechanism lacks some blades and is not working at the moment, but otherwise it is a very nice conversation piece. Besides that, the lens is still a great portrait petzval lens that will shoot great portraits.

Condition: This brass beauty comes in a nicec and authentic ondition. The brass shows only light wear and still a warm patina. The glass is in a good condition mostly, there are some cleaning marks here and there, which wont affect the image quality. The lens shows now haze or fungus and performs very sharp on the groundglass. A wonderfull piece of photographic history that shows that there were more concepts of stoping down a lens, even though the waterhouse slot did win the race in the end.

With its fast open aperture of F4 and a focal lengh of 300mm (or almost 12"), this lens will work anywhere from 5x7 to 8x10 formats.

It comes with a flange that doesnt fit completly but more then enaugh to hold the lens properly.



height: 19cm
width: 8cm
weight: 1400gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 20 eur
EU* - 30 eur
Worldwide - 80 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)

** the high cost is due the high insurance value

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.