Caltar II-N Lenses on Sale at Calumet

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Just FYI...

I was just cruising by the Calumet web site at:

http://www.calumetphoto.com

when I noticed that several of their Caltar II-N lenses are currently on sale at VERY attractive prices. These Caltar II-N lenses are identical in specs and performance, and are in fact made in the same factory by the same people as the comparable Rodenstock APO Sironar-N and Grandagon-N lines. The differences being the labeling, who provides the warranty and the prices.

Here's some sample prices (B&H prices for comparable Rodenstock lenses provided for reference).

135mm f5.6 Caltar II-N $399.99 ($539.00) 150mm f5.6 Caltar II-N $399.99 ($559.00) 180mm f5.6 Caltar II-N $549.99 ($739.00) 210mm f5.6 Caltar II-N $599.99 ($715.00)

65mm f4.5 Caltar II-N $899.99 ($1199.00) 75mm f6.8 Caltar II-N $649.99 ($749.00) 75mm f4.5 Caltar II-N $899.99 ($1295.00) 90mm f6.8 Caltar II-N $699.99 ($919.00) 90mm f4.5 Caltar II-N $999.99 ($1300.00)

I don't work for Calumet. I'm only posting these prices here as a public service to the readers of this forum. At these sale prices, these Caltars represent some truly great buys in new large format lenses. I only posted the B&H prices as a reliable and easy to obtain reference (the only one I have handy this time of night). I do not claim these are the absolute lowest prices on the Rodenstock lenses - just the current selling prices from a well known reputable source. As you can see, the Caltar price range from just under $100 to nearly $400 compared to the B&H Rodenstock prices. These are truly some great bargains for anyone in the market for a new LF lens.

Happy shopping, Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 22, 2001

Answers

Kerry, thanks for taking the time to share that info. These great sales almost always seem to come along when I'm broke :>)

-- Andre Noble (andrenoble@yahoo.com), August 22, 2001.

Kerry and all -

Folks who are thinking about buying now should double-check B&H's current prices - they've just cut prices on selected Apo-Sironar-N, Apo-Sironar-S and Grandagon-N lenses, and I think some of the prices you list here are already out of date...

-- Oren Grad (orengrad@world.std.com), August 22, 2001.


Hi Oren,

The B&H Rodenstock prices I quoted were current at the time of my posting (I was checking them in another window as I was typing my post). I just went back to the B&H web site and double checked and there have been no changes to the prices I listed since I made my post last night. B&H did lower their prices slightly on Rodenstock lenses recently, but they are still considerably (~$100 - ~$400) more than the Caltar II-N sale prices I listed last night.

BTW, I just did some checking at the Calumet site and they actually seem to have slightly better prices than B&H on the Rodenstock branded lenses (but still substantially more than the sale prices on the equivalent Caltars).

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 22, 2001.


I said any local dealer can match any Rodenstock price on a lens sold by Calumet. You MUST call the dealer or VISIT the dealer to have the price matched. The dealers do not advertise the price or post it as the price being matched changes.

In short.

Any speciality store doing business with HP Marketing can match any Rodenstock price for their customers on a lens by lens basis. Taking or enlarging. You have to personally contact the store for the price matching and some personnel in some stores have probably ignored or forgotten this program exists.

Some that take advantage of it regularly are Ken Mar, Mid West, PhotoMark, Denver pro Photo, glazers, Samys, K&S, K&R, Bear Images, Sylvios and many others.

But YOU must show them the price to be matched.

Is this plai enough?

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), August 23, 2001.


Thanks, Bob, for that valuable info.

-- David Stein (DFStein@aol.com), August 23, 2001.


To be totally clear. Dealers match Rodenstock prices not private label lens prices.

-- Bob Salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), August 23, 2001.

Bob,

So, what you are saying is that authorized (HP supported) Rodenstock dealers will match gray market prices on Rodenstock lenses, but NOT the Caltar II-N prices being discussed in this thread. Is that correct?

BTW, I just got off the phone with Calumet. The prices I quoted above are sale prices. The sale runs through the end of the month. Also, as always, when buying a lens from Calumet, they include at no additional charge a lensboard and the mounting of the lens on the board for any Calumet/Cambo camera. That includes the Zone VI, all Calumet/Cambo monorails and the Calumet Woodfield (which takes a generic Linhof/Wista style board). So, if you have a camera that accepts one of these style boards, you get an even better deal.

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 23, 2001.


Yes.

Not private label.

That means not Caltar, not Sinaron, etc. Rodenstock branded lenses.

-- Bob salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), August 23, 2001.


Bob,

Thanks for the calrification:

"Not private label.

That means not Caltar"

Which then begs the question that if you don't price match Caltar lens prices, why are we even discussing this in a thread about Caltar lens prices? Oh well, I guess it's nice to know about the price matching policy on Rodenstock lenses, even if it has nothing to do with the subject of this thread.

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 23, 2001.


Because you said.

"the Caltar price range from just under $100 to nearly $400 compared to the B&H Rodenstock prices"

And that is not necessarily the price you can buy a Rodenstock labeled HP Marketing lens for.

-- Bob salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), August 23, 2001.



Abad I also said:

"I only posted the B&H prices as a reliable and easy to obtain reference (the only one I have handy this time of night). I do not claim these are the absolute lowest prices on the Rodenstock lenses - just the current selling prices from a well known reputable source."

I thought that made it pretty clear that I did not shop around for the absolute lowest prices on the Rodenstock lenses.

Nothing you have "added" to this thread changes the fact that at the current sale prices these Caltar lenses are great bargains. They are quality lenses comparable (idenditcal optically) to the APO Rodenstock-N and Grandagon-N offerings from Rodenstock. They are, in fact, made by Rodenstock in the same factory and differ only in labeling, who services the warranty and PRICE. That was the whole point of this thread - that these lenses are currently on sale at some extremely attractive prices - especially when you consider that Calumet also includes a free lensboard and mounting in their prices. I just posted this information so my fellow large format shooters could take advantage of these limited time sale prices. I didn't post it with the intention of getting into a semantics war with you, nor do I have the time to call every "authorized" Rodenstock dealer on the planet, check prices and play price matching games. And even if I did, the Caltars would still cost less (and include a free lensboard) at these current sale prices.

On the other hand, if you can find an "authorized" Rodenstock dealer selling a 135mm or 150mm APO Sironar-N for $399.95 AND throwing in a free lensboard and mounting, please feel free to post that info here.

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 23, 2001.


I've dealt with Calumet for longer than I care to remember--at least as far back as mid 70's. They've got decent customer service, so here's a plug for them and having these lenses at very nice prices!

-- Charlie Strack (charlie_strack@sti.com), August 23, 2001.

Kerry -

Weird. I have a current B&H catalog with prices of $465 for the Apo- Sironar-N and $1149 for the 75/4.5 Grandagon-N, which I confirmed on the web the other night. Go figure...

I agree that Calumet's sale prices are excellent. For sure, if you are looking for one of the Apo-Sironar-N or Grandagon-N types that are on sale and don't need the Rodenstock brand name on the lens (you still get it on the box!), the Calumet deals are well worth checking out. The prices on the 135 and 150 especially are a super opportunity for folks on a tight budget looking to try 4x5, because these are really, really beautiful lenses for a bargain-basement price.

Thanks for posting the alert...

-- Oren Grad (orengrad@world.std.com), August 23, 2001.


"Weird. I have a current B&H catalog with prices of $465 for the Apo- Sironar-N and $1149 for the 75/4.5 Grandagon-N, which I confirmed on the web the other night. Go figure... "

You did not read what I wrote.

You have to call or visit the dealer on a case by case basis. They will match the Calomet price if you ask.

Yje prices are not in any catalog since no one knows when the catalog is printed what calumet will do.

-- Bob salomon (bob@hpmarketingcorp.com), August 24, 2001.


Bob wrote:

"You did not read what I wrote."

Umm... Bob, I think Oren was replying to my posting about the B&H prices (see our exchange above).

"You have to call or visit the dealer on a case by case basis. They will match the Calomet price if you ask."

But according to your earlier post they will NOT the sale prices on the Caltar II-N lenses (which is, BTW, the subject of this thread).

"Yje prices are not in any catalog since no one knows when the catalog is printed what calumet will do."

My brain is still trying to parse this one. If Calumet has the Rodenstock lens I want, in stock, at a given price, why exactly would I want to call around to other dealers to try to get them to match that price??? Especially when Calumet offers a free lensboard and mounting on any lens purchased from them?? I guess I just don't understand all these pricing games. It's getting so buying a lens is more complicated than buying a used car. It seems to make no sense what-so-ever for me to first call Calumet (or visit their web site), get their price on either a Caltar or Rodenstock lens, and then start calling other dealers in hope of getting a worse deal (same price, but no free lensboard on Rodenstock lenses, higher price and no free lensboard for the Caltar brand lenses). Granted I wasn't a business major at college, but I did take three semesters of economics, and for the life of me, as a consumer, I just can't understand where the benefit is to me of spending the same (or more) money and getting less (no free lensboard). Not to mention wasting my time calling others to try and get them to match the price I originally got from Calumet. Wouldn't it be easier to just buy the lens from Calumet (either Caltar or Rodenstock), save some time (and possibly some money as well - on the Caltar brand lenses) AND get the free lensboard to boot?

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 24, 2001.



Oops, typo in my previous post. Should have been:

But according to your earlier post they will NOT >match< the sale prices on the Caltar II-N lenses

(left out the word "match")

Kerry

-- Kerry Thalmann (largeformat@thalmann.com), August 24, 2001.


Thanks Kerry. As usual, you have provided us useful information. Too bad I didn't remember that Calumet provides a free lens board with every lens. I just bought a Caltar 135/5.6 lens on an auction site for just a little less than new...sans lens board for my Cambo 45NX. Live and learn, I guess.

-- Tony Karnezis (karnezis@aecom.yu.edu), August 25, 2001.

Not to be contrary, but I have a pretty good idea that Calumet is still making a decent profit, even at these prices. (e.g. 30% on one of these lenses.)

Obviously, SOMEBODY has to purchase lenses new, so that others can buy them used! As for purchasing used, I've never had a problem.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), August 26, 2001.


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