R.H. Phillips 8x10 camera on eBay

At various times several APUGgers have asked where they might find a light weight R.H. Phillips 8x10 camera. There is one on eBay right now with a very short time left, nine hours as I write. It is poorly listed so you won’t realize it is a Phillips until you read beyond the headline.
8 X 10 LARGE FORMAT CAMERA, COMPLETE OUTFIT LIGHTWEIGHT 8 X 10 FIELD CAMERA, WITH LENS ETC. Item number: 7617238669 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7617238669

I have no connection with the seller and have not seen the camera. It appears to be an Advantage series which was built in the 1990s. The Explorer with none revolving back and the Compact II with 26” bellows followed in production. The Compact II is the current model.

This Advantage series has a revolving back and a 31” bellows. The camera weighs between 8 and 8.5 pounds. It appears to be in better shape than mine was when I got it on eBay two years ago. Dick Phillips recently added a bail to mine and tightened up some things that had bent or worked loose. The bail is an upgrade you might find interesting. It is nice to know the builder is still doing repairs as needed.

Hope this helps someone of the APUG family.

John Powers

The camera for sale isn't an Advantage, it's a Compact Series 8x10. I have one and like it very much. The design differs in at least a couple of important ways from the later Compact II - the back is mounted directly to the base so there's no rear extension or rear swing, only tilt. Focus is via a knob on the side rather a screw from the back. One benefit of the simpler design is that while, unlike the Explorer, it has a reversing back, it's still several ounces lighter than the Compact II - I think the seller has it about right in pegging it at 7.5 lb.

Nice camera. Im sure its going to sell for almost what they sell for new. Even tho it has a poor title, 800 people have still looked at it and it only takes 2 people to bid the price up high.

Thanks.

Ryan McIntosh said:

Nice camera. Im sure its going to sell for almost what they sell for new.
Thanks.

Click to expand...

........more than.

John Powers

The camera sold for around $3400 - a very good deal - the lens alone is worth around $1600....

The package included a "like new" 355mm f8 Schneider Multicoated Gold Dot Dagor. I've seen those go for over $2000 all by themselves. As discussed elsewhere, several Chinese large format photographers have really been bidding up the prices on Dagors lately. For example, an older, single coated Goerz AM Opical Gold Rim Dagor recently sold on eBay for over $2400 to a Chinese buyer. Give the current astromical prices for Dagors, if the winner of the Phillips 8x10 were to decide to put the lens back on eBay, he could potentially get >$2500 for it, perhaps as much as $3000. As ridiculous as that sounds, it would not be out of line with what Dagors have been selling for on eBay lately.

That would make his Phillips 8x10 a heck of a deal and leave him enough money to get two or three (or more) excellent modern 8x10 lenses to use with his new camera.

Seems like he got a heck of a deal to me - a great 8x10 camera and a highly desirable lens he can either keep for himself or flip on eBay to recover most of his costs.

Kerry

Well, the same seller has a Rodenstock 155 Grandagon N which is an absolute steal the the current price....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6580&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr3_PcY_BID_IT

Jorge said:

Well, the same seller has a Rodenstock 155 Grandagon N which is an absolute steal the the current price....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6580&ssPageName=MERC_VIC_ReBay_Pr3_PcY_BID_IT

Click to expand...

SSSSHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I've had my eye on that one. I'd love to have a 150mm Super Symmar XL, but was hoping to snag a good deal on the 155mm Grandagon.

Kerry