WOW!!!!

What an enigma.......I mean just how it got the Pinkham engraving. I can't figure the F1.5-128 on this barrel.

You think Smith just slapped on this engraving and called it a Pinkham??? And I wonder if wishfull thinking will Jack up the price in the stratospher....
........can't wait to see what happens.

To be continued

Tragically I think you are correct that the price could easily go "very" high. As I am a confirmed bottom feeder P&S lenses don't come up all that often in my price range. Oh I also hope the "lucky" buyer takes noice of the less than 100% feedback considering he may be parting with over $2K

Ah well watch and learn.

Steve

I think Bausch & Lomb may have even done the engraving for it's customers that sold these. It's actually a fairly early lens. 1895 to 1905-ish which puts it ahead of the whole Smith lens era. I've seen Se - Ro - Co with the identical engraving which makes me think it may have been done at B&L for it's customers. Hyatt in St. Louis was another retailer that sold lots of these. I had a real fancy one for a long time that was Eastman Kodak. It was highly polished and had much prettier engraving which leads me to believe there were different finish levels available from B&L. And I've even seen one that actually had the B&L markings on it. Pinkham & Smith was a retailer of all kinds of optical goods so it's quite narural that they would have bought and re-sold these. People think they're magic because they say Pinkham. Nope.

Did you see the Vitax for $1580? It's a buy-it-now item. Just relisted today. Igor had one for around $525 once. I should have grabbed it. Haven't seen them for less than that.

lol, maybe it is worth $2200. That seems to be what people are paying for any old Petzval!!!! Insanity reigns.

The barrel at the back is black, is this standard for this type Petzval, or peculiar to a particular maker???

J

Hi J, No, that extension was made by someone like Grimes in order to not have the lens stick inside the camera where a Packard shutter would be. It didn't come with that originally. J

Hey

"I'll bet a Hamburger and Beer that it goes over $2200. It's a $300 lens."...

Well, it isn't a $300.00 lens anymore, this thing is up to $360.00.....

I'm going to enjoy watching this........

OK, a "Burke and James" petzval just posted by Goeff Berliner.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110363654729&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

See any similarities? It's identical (almost) to the Pinkham. Bigger because it's the f4 series, but script, finish, aperture control, all Bausch & Lomb.

Geoff's hoping for another $677 magic lantern lens sale ;-)

The 'Pinkham'.....if I can call it that, is $900.00 and counting w/18 bids. The Petzval you posted Jim is going to a great comparison between two lenses whose only significant difference will be that one is engraved as a 'Pinkham'.

BTW Jim, I've had trouble w/my mailbox, let me know if you got my last email.

Take care
J

Hey Folks

I simply don't believe it!!!! This Petzval w/Pinkham engraving has gone for $2247!!?? My gut tells me that whoever won the final bid and the folks he had to outbid to get to this final amount feel the lens was worth it.

I wish I could see how this story unfolds and whether the buyer ultimately feel satisfied w/this lens and its future performance.

Ironically, the folks who lost the auction are the big winners as far as I'm concerned because they'll ultimately come upon another Pinkham which turns out to be more than just a Petzval.

My Petzval which I consider a dynatmite lens is a longer focal length, and I won the bidding on that auction for $189.00, about 2 or 3 yrs.

Wow!!!

So....whoever took my bet, you owe me a hamburger and a beer. Nailed it. Some collector will put that in his temperature controlled lens cabinet and it won't matter one whit what kind of picture it makes. Wow am I glad I've got what I've got!!!!!!!!!!

To complete your education, here's one that says Hyatt, another retailer like Pinkham & Smith but of St. Louis.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120394144963&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

Same engraving etc.