A 50mm lens search

[Gargantua]

So, I've started my search for a 50mm lens now that I have a G690 body. It's probably been covered before in few places, but being that it's rarest of the bunch, about how often do these things generally appear for sale? Should I expect maybe once a year, or more like once in a lifetime? The longest I've had to wait for a lens to come up was two years for a used Rubinar-K lens, even though it's not all that scarce. What kind on price would I anticipate? I imagine on ebay it could turn into an all out battle.

[Abbazz]

If the data on Walter Aigner's homepage on eBay is up to date, there have been five 50mm lenses offered for sale on eBay during the last 12 months (vs. only 2 150mm lenses). Price is usually in the $1000-1500 range, depending on the condition of the lens.

I bought one "Buy it Now" on eBay 3 years ago from a Swedish seller for 800 Euros (the Euro was much cheaper then). Then I got another one for 1200 euros with a GL690 body from the online classified ads on the website of French magazine "Chasseur d'Images."

Cheers!

Sébastien

[Gargantua]

Thanks for the info. It makes finding one look quite doable. I don't think I would have been able to find that page on my own.

[Abbazz]

It's a waste of time to look for the 50mm lens in American stores, as I think the 50mm lens was never imported into the USA. You have to focus on second hand dealers from Japan (Yahoo auctions -- if you're not in Japan, use a proxy like Photoguide Japan or Japan Auction Center), Australia, New-Zealand and Western Europe.

Good luck,

Sébastien

[Peter Evans]

I don't know about Yahoo auction but I can tell you that you'll virtually never see any lens other than 100mm in any store in Japan. Contrast that with alleged rarities such as the (Konishiroku) Pearl IV: over the years, I must have seen half a dozen of these (and no, I'm not confusing them with the much commoner III), while I've seen a grand total of zero (0) non-100mm lenses.

[Gargantua]

So far I've been seeing a lot of bodies with 100mm lens on the Yahoo Auctions. Certainly more that I see coming up on ebay. Yesterday I spotted two separate auctions of bodies with 65mm f5.6 lenses there. I considered it, but decided to save my money for the 50mm lens. They sold for about $245 each.

[Abbazz]

Yesterday I spotted two separate auctions of bodies with 65mm f5.6 lenses there. I considered it, but decided to save my money for the 50mm lens. They sold for about $245 each.

$245 is very cheap for a body with the 65/5.6 lens. You could have bought them both and sold the two bodies for the same price you bought the whole sets. Those 65/5.6 lenses are more scarce than the 65/8 and the extra stop is nice to have, even though wide angles on medium format are mostly used at F/11-16.

Cheers!

Sébastien

[Fernando Libenson]

For those of you guys who might be interested, a couple of 50mm lenses have showed up on the big auction site; one of them along with a pretty battered GL690 body. It's awesome how prices of this item have gone up in recent years. I'm tempted to sell mine (just kidding). http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... Categories
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... 8584059427

[Abbazz]

For those of you guys who might be interested, a couple of 50mm lenses have showed up on the big auction site; one of them along with a pretty battered GL690 body. It's awesome how prices of this item have gone up in recent years. I'm tempted to sell mine (just kidding). http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... Categories
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... 8584059427

Thanks for the HU, Fernando. $2,750 for a GL690 with the 50mm lens seems a bit excessive indeed!!!

Cheers!

Abbazz

[Texsport]

I found my 50/5.6 in Australia.

There's one for sale on eBay right now, the price indicating its rarity.

Texsport

[Abbazz]

There's one for sale on eBay right now, the price indicating its rarity.

$2,999... Wow, it must be quite rare indeed!

Cheers!

Abbazz