Ensign autorange 820 Alert

Very rare, according to the Peterson fieldguide to cam spotting - they don't come up so often anymore. She's sitting perched here

No cash ourselves right now, but go ahead and save this one from standing defunct in a showcase somewhere in a rich man's house.

Cute. But not as rare as the seller claims. Look for 'em on www.ebay.co.uk

And the Ensign Autorange was built in several versions from the mid '30s on, not only in 1957.

Dan Fromm said:

Cute. But not as rare as the seller claims. Look for 'em on www.ebay.co.uk

And the Ensign Autorange was built in several versions from the mid '30s on, not only in 1957.

Click to expand...

Yes, I'm aware that the information in the ad is wanting in some aspects. But what is rarely coming up for auction these days is this specific model: the 820 with the ross expres lens. Last year I saw one of these on eBay going for over $1000 ! This may explain why the IMHO less interesting little brother, the ensign selfix special with UCRF is getting prices that are a little too high fwiw.

medform-norm said:

Yes, I'm aware that the information in the ad is wanting in some aspects. But what is rarely coming up for auction these days is this specific model: the 820 with the ross expres lens. Last year I saw one of these on eBay going for over $1000 ! This may explain why the IMHO less interesting little brother, the ensign selfix special with UCRF is getting prices that are a little too high fwiw.

Click to expand...

Come on, Norm, the 105/3.8 Xpres was fitted to many, not all, post-WWII 820s. And all of the Ensign Autoranges were unit focusing. Selfixes have front cell focusing. That said, yes, late Autorange 820s aren't common.

Dan Fromm said:

Come on, Norm, the 105/3.8 Xpres was fitted to many, not all, post-WWII 820s. And all of the Ensign Autoranges were unit focusing. Selfixes have front cell focusing. That said, yes, late Autorange 820s aren't common.

Click to expand...

Dan, I'm not disputing your vast knowledge on the topic - as it obviously is - I just noticed these late 820's are a hard find today, just like the Teleroy, the Superpontura or the superbly made pre-war Prominent folder. I held one of these Voigtländer dreams in my hands some months ago at a fair and was amazed by the brightness of the viewfinder/rangefinder window. And such nice details too in the finishing, a nice bit of craftmanship.

Norm, I'm glad we agree that these rare beauties are beauties. My own fantasies in that direction, almost certainly never to be realized, are the DeMaria-LaPierre Telka III and the Kershaw Peregrine III. There must be something appealing about III.

Cheers,

Dan

About vast knowledge, I lack that BUT I spend too much time looking for a couple of lenses on eBay. I have to eliminate "Ensign" from searches for Ross lenses because there are so many listings for Ensigns with 'em.

Dan Fromm said:

Norm, I'm glad we agree that these rare beauties are beauties. My own fantasies in that direction, almost certainly never to be realized, are the DeMaria-LaPierre Telka III and the Kershaw Peregrine III. There must be something appealing about III.

Cheers,

Dan

About vast knowledge, I lack that BUT I spend too much time looking for a couple of lenses on eBay. I have to eliminate "Ensign" from searches for Ross lenses because there are so many listings for Ensigns with 'em.

Click to expand...

Dan, it's pleasant to hear there are others here who enjoy Ross lenses, we have hunted down some nice ones in the past year. What type of Ross lens is it that you are looking for/hooked on?

Plus: there's a nice Telka III a set on eBay right now, in case you hadn't seen that yet. It comes complete with filters, sun shade and leather case. Hmmmm, less than 1 day to go and no more than 66 euros. This could be a Telka with your name written on it.... Visit her here . In case your French is a barrier, we can help out.

medform-norm said:

Dan, it's pleasant to hear there are others here who enjoy Ross lenses, we have hunted down some nice ones in the past year. What type of Ross lens is it that you are looking for/hooked on?

Plus: there's a nice Telka III a set on eBay right now, in case you hadn't seen that yet. It comes complete with filters, sun shade and leather case. Hmmmm, less than 1 day to go and no more than 66 euros. This could be a Telka with your name written on it.... Visit her here . In case your French is a barrier, we can help out.

Click to expand...

Norm, for a while I was hot in pursuit of ex-RAF aerial camera lenses. Ross was a major supplier. I wanted them to use on my 2x3 Graphics. At present I use a number of ex-MoD lenses: 38/4.5 Biogon (ex-F135), 1.75"/2.8 Elcan (ex-F95), 47/5.6 Super Angulon (from a Shackman camera made for the Admiralty), 4"/2.0 Taylor Hobson (ex-F95), and 12"/4 Taylor Hobson (ex-Agiflite).

I have two Ross lenses, a 105/3.8 Xpres on my Selfix 820 and a 5"/4 WA Xpres. The WA Xpres isn't easy to adapt to a Graphic; I've hung it in front of a Nikon, central sharpness is ok, not great, but oh! the flare. There have been some large Ross aerial camera lenses on offer, all too long for my little cameras. The longest lens I use on them is a 480/9 Apo Nikkor.

To the extent that I have lens addictions, I'm hooked on Taylor Hobson and Boyer lenses. But I don't have it bad. For example, after I'd run a shootout, I sold my 7"/4.5 Aviar (coated, nice lens) and kept my 180/10 Apo Saphir.

Thanks for the tip re the Telka. Its beautiful and on the way out of my price range. I have to confess that for 2x3 I've standardized on my Graphics. Price and the Graphics are among the reasons I'll never have a Telka or one of the better grades of Kershaws. I respect them, but since I won't use 'em I can't bring myself to try to buy.

Thanks also for the offer to help with French. My schoolboy french is good enough to read the Telka's listing and the Q&A below. That 180 Apo Saphir came from a fellow in Aix with no english at all. My second buy from him, the first was a lot of enlarging lenses, three Saphir Bs and a Luminar, that involved a lot of correspondence. Yes, the Luminar isn't an enlarging lens, but I've bought two offered as enlarging lenses.

Regards,

Dan