History: The Ross lenses are very well known and respected, especially the Ross Cabinet portrait petzvals are among the fines optics ever made. This specimen is not a petzval layout lens, but is still very fascinating, or maybe even more because of that.

The Ross Xpress Patent lenses are a layout family of their own. They were introduced in the late 1880ies and offered a 5 element glass layout like the later Heliar. There are rumors that Harting used this as an inspiration for the Heliar layout later in the early 1900ies. This and the luminosity of this quite well corrected layout make it for such an interesting specimen. Looking on the groundglass i see quite some similarities to the more famous Heliar.

Another fact that makes this lens so desireable is that its the No. 9 from the catalouge, which was the second largest of the series. With its 420mm (or 16 1/4") it will work very well for 11x14 and even 12x15 formats. And with a wide open aperture of F4.5 it also works very well for selective portrait work, as well as for landscapes.

Condition: The brass looks very good here, there is minimal to no wear. It is unpolished and still shows the fatnastic patina. It is coated with a golden laquere which still protects the brass beneath. Lens comes with a working iris aperture, which moves smoothly from F4 to F45. The glass is a great condition also, showing only minimal cleaning marks and specs, without any haze or fungus.

With its focal lenght of about 420mm and an image circle of about 600mm it will cover formats up to 30cm x 40cm. 

The lens comes with a fitting flange!



height: 9cm
width: 12cm
weight: 2500gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 10 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)

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.