History: The Wollensak Vitax lens is quite well known for its incredible image quality. The lens was introduced 1906 as the Royal Portrait lens. Besides its speed it offered the difussion adjusment knob, which not unlike the Dallmeyer 3 B lens changes the distance between the two rear glass elements. Since then it became a sought after portrait lens for studio work.

Condition: This black beauty comes in a nice condition. The laquere shows only light wear, and the brass parts are not bented. The aperture is known ot work tight in those Wollensak lenses, but it works. The diffusion knob works smoothly (which is rare, since most of the time they got broken or damadged over the time). The glass is in good condition, there are many cleaning marks on front and rear glass, but nothing that would change the image quality.

With its fast open aperture of F3.8 and a focal lengh of 400mm (or 16"), this lens will work from 8x10 to 10x12 portrait format (maybe even 11x14 if you really want to see alot of petzval character in your images).


It comes with the original flange and is ready to shoot!



height: 26cm
width: 12cm
weight: 2500gr

Insured and tracked shipping cost:

Germany - 20 eur
EU* - 60 eur
Worldwide - 120 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.