History: A very interesting Portrait petzval for the 8x10 format. Lens is only engraved with 'L. W Kranz - Braunschweig'. Kranz was a leading employee at Voigtländers Workshop in Braunschweig, he built one of the first small Daguerrotype cameras for Voigtländera and alos helped to slove the chemical focus issue. Later in the late 1850ies as Voigtländer started to move its production to Vienna, Kranz stayed behing and opened up his own workshop for optical equipment in Braunschweig. His knowledge and craftsmanship guaranteed the same quality level as Voigtländer did.


Kranz opened up his workshop in 1860, the Serial number on this lens is 1.548, even with a smaller production rate compared to Voigtländer, it is still safe to say that the lens must have been made in the early 1860ies, making it almost 160 years old.

Condition: the lens is in very good condition, showing only some amount of wear to the lenshood, but still a fine and authentic patina. The rack & pinion is comple and working. The glass is in really really good condition, it shows some cleaning marks as always and a mini small chip on the edge of the rear element (barely visible), but overall it is very clear and doesnt show any signs of seperation, haze or fungus. All in all i tested this baby on the ground glass and the image was very nice with a very sharp center. 

This lens has about 300mm focal lenght (12") and an open aperture of F3.6. It will cover 5x7 and 8x10 format with a nice petzval character especially at portrait distance.

Lens comes with an authentic lenscap and a fitting flange!

height: 20cm
width: 9.5cm
weight: 1800gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 10 eur
EU* - 30 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.