Winchester walk with the Ilford Witness Dallmeyer Daron

The Ilford Witness is one of the most acclaimed cameras in the collecting world. Flints are lucky enough to have two in our upcoming sale. Commonly, these cameras we find are with the famous Dallmeyer Super Six 2″ f1.9 lens. However, early examples have slightly slower, but rarer Ilford Witness Dallmeyer Daron 50mm f2.9. And this is the one we will be taking a closer look at today.

The Daron is technically a 39mm Leica thread lens with a rangefinder coupling cam. Also, an interrupted thread enables the Daron to also work as a bayonet mount with the Witness.

Today, we took a visit to the historic Winchester to shoot with this classic lens to see why it is so desirable in today’s market.

Ilford Witness Dallmeyer Daron 50mm f2.9

Winchester Cathedral is one of the most beautiful medieval cathedrals in Europe. Fifteen centuries of English history lie behind the impressive Cathedral you see today.

This busy and popular bookstall housed in the Cathedral’s Inner Close.

The Art of Bollards Project was initiated by The Colour Factory artists in 2005 to inject some color and vitality into Winchesters drab and dreary street furniture.

One of many fine timepieces from Carter Marsh & Co., Winchester

In conclusion, the Ilford Witness Dallmeyer Daron displays excellent levels of sharpness wide open and renders the typical Dallmeyer Bokeh swirl. For this outing, we used the Sony A7R II digital camera and not the Ilford Witness body. Converting this lens was also incredibly easy, for instance, with a £20 adapter it can fit any camera.

The lens we used will be sold in our Fine Photographica auction on the 18th October 2019, with an estimate is £4000 – £6000. To learn more about lenses like this you can read more here.

For further information on consigning, please contact Jonathan Brown