To gamble or not to gamble, that is the question.

<p>Item: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Taylor-Hobson-4-inch-f2-Anastigmat-lens-Rare-Exotic-and-VGC-99p-start-no-reserve-/160904095390</p>

<p>I have one. Its a good lens but no better than a decent 105/5.6 plastmat type from f/5.6 down. I sometimes wonder how much the additional speed is worth. </p>

<p>I also wonder whether I'd rather have the lens or $2k. The major factor against selling it is sentiment. The man I bought mine from (for $30 delivered, times have changed) and I became pen pals. He was a good and interesting person. He died several years ago and I miss his e-mails, the lens is the last tangible memory.</p>

<p>But I know where there's a 4"/1.8 (the f/2's rarer brother) available, with a 12"/4 TTH telephoto as well, for GPB 1,500. I think that buying the pair as a speculation is too risky. Your opinions?</p>

<p>I think money is like water. There is plenty of it all over the planet but it is usually in the wrong places. And my wallet is a desert.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Tom, I can buy the opportunity. What isn't clear is whether it will pay me back, and then some.</p>

<p>Some years ago, after a couple of lovely, um, coups my wife decided that perhaps after all I knew what I was doing and authorized me considerable budget for speculating in lenses. The potential speculation she gave me money for turned out to be extremely risky -- when we got to talking price seriously the seller wanted much too much -- and since then no really good safe bets have turned up. </p>

<p>So, budget or no my wallet is effectively like yours. Full of sand and spiny plants.</p>

<p>Wow, what a price it turned out to be. My monstrous Dallmeyer Pentac was not even a fraction of that.</p>

<p>Damn sentiment. Sell, sell, sell. It is all going to be worthless at some point anyway.</p>

<p>I'll disagree with Tom. You can't put a pricetag on sentiment.<br>

I have a few bodies and lenses and such on the shelves as "souvenirs" and mementos from old photo buddies, prominent photogs I've met, some friendly P.Neters, and clients I've sold gear for. Each piece is a unique reminder of comraderie, good cheer, and lasting or dearly-departed friendships. I feel a certain reverence when handling and using this special equipment.<br>

Dan, you could easily make spending money for replacement lens by investing in a few wise choice pieces of gear for resale. I do it all the time. Plunk down a grand on a couple good ebay auction lots, turn around a resell for decent profit, do it again a few more times, and you'll have your new lens plus plenty of loot to take your Old Lady out for a night on the town.</p>

<p>A good friend gave me a nondescript 1930's Kodak folder. He told me it had belonged to his yongest brother (he was one of 17 children). The youngest brother died of TB in his teens but my friend said he wanted me to have his little brother's camera as he knew I would look after it. Tricky decisions these, where sentiment creeps in.</p>

<p>As to laying down large sums of money on lenses, you are on your own as far as I am concerned. I bought a nice Ross Telecentric for 18 GBP and sold it for 32 GBP so you see we are in different leagues. So good luck with the deal. All I would say is check the condition very carefully...</p>

<p>Thanks to all for the advice.</p>

<p>Gabor, I've made a little money buying lenses low and selling not quite so low. These days the opportunities for doing that are less common than they used to be. I'll never come across a surplus dealer with a heap of 38/4.5 Biogons buried in aerial cameras again.</p>

<p>Colin, I got my "good stuff" that has appreciated against all expectations years ago. The most I've paid for a lens bought on spec was around $200; it turned out to be a doorstop. Win some, lose some. And I bought nearly all of the good stuff sight unseen. The 2"/1.8 and 12"/4 TTH lenses I'm thinking about gambling on are in the UK, I'm in the US. Potential profits won't cover the cost of visiting them. As they say, fortune favors the brave. Sometimes.</p>

<p>Tom, re sentiment, you're right, it isn't a good reason for holding an asset whose value is likely to fall or that is just going to gather dust. But I do use my 4"/2 TTH occasionally and my closest substitutes for it (100/2.8 Uran-27, 95/2.8 Saphir) aren't as good.</p>

<p>DAn . A bird in the hand is better two in the bush:</p>

<p>I think life is too short to hold on to stuff that does serve a purpose. I think your friend's lens is better put to use in someone's camera than collecting fungus in your cabinet. If you're not using it it doesn't really mean much to you. Sell it and specifically spend the money on equipment you will use.</p>

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<p><a href="../photodb/user?user_id=2072756">Lauren MacIntosh</a> <a href="../member-status-icons"><img title="Subscriber" src="../v3graphics/member-status-icons/sub7.gif" alt="" /></a>, Oct 29, 2012; 01:03 p.m.</p>

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<blockquote>

<p>DAn . A bird in the hand is better two in the bush:</p>

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<p>A lens on the camera is worth two on the shelf?</p>

 

<p>I'm more of a shooter than a collector. If you aren't using the lens, I'd sell it. If you won't use the lens that replaces it, hmmmm. I too sometimes get personally attached to things.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>Folks, thanks again. I didn't ask what to do with the treasures I have. I asked whether the downside of buying a 4"/1.8 TTH and a 12"/4 TTH for UKP 1500 (I think that includes VAT, which I won't have to pay) for resale is high enough to justify the gamble. Also whether the upside, after transactions costs and all, is high enough to give a respectable return.</p>

<p>Since no one seems to have found them and bought them out from under me since I raised the question, I think the answer is a resounding "NO!"</p>

<p>By the way, Kent, once upon a time I found and bought twenty 38/4.5 Biogons. I sold eighteen of them, had Steve Grimes put one in a #0 shutter, and kept one against the evil day when something bad happens to the one Steve put in shutter. If I ever have to replace that one I won't be able to afford a replacement, will be able to afford having the last one put in a #0. There are good reasons for holding on to treasures.</p>

<p>I have any number of orphan cameras and lenses. People give me old film cameras because they know they will have a good home. If you sold your great lens to somebody who would use it, it would have a good home ande you'd have some more bucks in your pocket. Win, win.</p>