History: 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.

The most interesting part here, is the sheer size and focal lenght of this beast. I did encounter Xpress lenses up 12" in the past but this is the very first and only featuring a 530mm (or 21") focal lenght. It is the No 10 of the series and the largest Xpress lens ever produced.

It will work very well for 8x10 and up to 14x17 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 only minor wear to the lens overall. It is coated with a golden laquere which still protects the brass beneath. Lens comes with a working iris aperture, which moves from F4 to F45. The glass is mostly in a good condition also, there are some scratch marks on the front element, but after testing the glass on the groundglass, it didnt affect the final image at al. Besides that there is no haze or fungus.

The lens comes with a fitting flange.



height: 11cm
width: 14cm
weight: 4000gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 20 eur
EU* - 40 eur
Worldwide - 90 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.