The Meaning of Lens Ratings on Collectiblend

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DrTrabold
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Joined: Wed Aug 09, 2017 12:42 pm

The Meaning of Lens Ratings on Collectiblend

Postby DrTrabold » Thu Aug 31, 2017 11:43 pm

When looking for the value of lenses on the site, previously sold items have a condition rating attached to each sale: A, A-, B+, etc. Can anyone tell me what those ratings mean in detail? Also, what do "Average," "Very Good," and "Mint" mean when a lens is given an estimated value? The terms themselves, without some sort of definition of each, mean nothing to someone like me and, I'm sure, to others as well. I have about seventy of my grandmother and grandfather's large format (20: mid to late 19th c.) and smaller (50: early 20th c.) lens on and off shutters I'd like to learn what condition each is in on those rating scales, and hence, the estimated value of each. (I've sadly found only about six or seven of the twenty large lens I have even listed on the site.) I have about ten old wooden bellows and box type cameras, too. How do the ratings compare for them?

When dealing with used books, ratings (mint, very fine, fine, very good, ... reading copy, etc.) are a pretty standardized thing among booksellers and terms are defined on most sites and easily accessible to anyone. Is the same true with the ratings on this site with regard to lens (and camera) appraisals? If so, are the terms defined somewhere on the site? An easily accessible page or two (if not there already) that explains these ratings in detail would be a nice thing, I'd think, and probably save an awful lot of e-mail tag.

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