Nikkor 13/5.6

[perkeleellinen]

Recently a 13/5.6 lens was sourced for Grays of Westminster in London. According to this page it sold for £25,000! There are some nice pictures of it on the brokers site.

[John Austin]

Phuq!!!

[mikecnichols]

Wow!

That's about $38,749.50 for us Americans!

[waltereegho]

It'll probably disappear in the closet of some collector, never to see the light of day again.

[benjiboy]

If I had one I'd be able to see my feet for t he first time in twenty years .

[frobozz]

Wow, I had never seen that one before! It's weird - Canon makes a 14mm lens that has nearly that wide a view (114 degrees instead of 118, also rectlinear) but is a much more usable 2.8 aperture and doesn't have anywhere near that ridiculously large a front element....or anywhere near that ridiculously large a price tag! I mean it's pricey (the FDn version usually goes for over $1000) but it's still possible for a mere mortal to buy one and use it.

The Nikon lens I still lust after is the 6mm/2.8. But I've never had a spare $30,000 around to buy one :-(

Duncan

[OldBodyOldSoul]

According to photosynthesis only 353 were made.

[Aja B]

It'll probably disappear in the closet of some collector, never to see the light of day again.

altereegho, I see comments like this frequently but am unsure of the basis and implication. Would you be so kind as to explain?

[OldBodyOldSoul]

I think it's obvious what waltereegho means - people who spend $38000 on a lens (in this case) don't do it because they know they will recuperate that money through its use, but because of (what they perceive as) prestige that comes with owning one.
I am sure there are people who will splurge that kind of silly money on a lens, and then actually use the it but they have to be in minority. It's simple - there are many more very rich collectors than very rich photographers. On top of that, some of those very rich photographers have become rich by actually being good photographers, which means they know how to value the equipment they use.

[Colin Corneau]

Score of the year, if not the decade, for Bellamy. Cool story