Nikon 13mm f/5.6 went for $24,500. Why?

JohnnyWrench · Oct 16, 2014

I don't get it...

Nikon 13mm F5 6 "Holy Grial" | eBay

Edit: And at that bid the reserve wasn't met?!?!?

480sparky · Oct 16, 2014

Why? Because someone had 24½ Large in discretionary income and wanted that lens.

It's also been de-clicked.

That's why.

snowbear · Oct 16, 2014

This doesn't say how many were made
Nikkor 13mm superswide
"Note: This lens is only available by special order."

D-B-J · Oct 16, 2014

Isn't that the lens that can see behind itself?

bc_steve · Oct 16, 2014

I think that was a 6mm or 8mm

D-B-J · Oct 16, 2014

bc_steve said:
I think that was a 6mm or 8mm

I swear I saw a video of it but I couldn't seem to find it today.

480sparky · Oct 16, 2014

runnah · Oct 17, 2014

480sparky said:
Why? Because someone had 24½ Large in discretionary income and wanted that lens.

It's also been de-clicked.

That's why.

Yeah but you could buy an entire line of prograde cine lenses for that price.

I wonder if it's because of its "famous" backstory?

480sparky · Oct 17, 2014

The high bidder is a 38-year-old housewife and mother of 6 in Akron, OH., who bought a D50 with 125,000 clicks off Craigslist two weeks ago and want to get a unique shot of the kids for Halloween.

Honestly, fretting about why this is 'worth' $24½k+ isn't worthy of spending any more time on than the thread about why people buy $8000 DSLRs to take 20 snapshots on a 4-week vacation.

JohnnyWrench · Oct 17, 2014

I don't think anyone is fretting about the price. Just genuinely curious. This wasn't a situation were this was a no reserve auction and 2 rich guys got into a "who's wallet is bigger" type contest. This was a reserve auction with a reserve north of $24,000 so the seller obviously knew it was extremely valuable. To me, that value isn't immediately obvious and I thought someone here might know. So far, no one does.

hamlet · Oct 17, 2014

If this lens is kept in good condition, it will only appreciate in value since this is a rare collectors item. The person who bought it will have years of fun with it.

Derrel · Oct 17, 2014

480sparky said:
The high bidder is a 38-year-old housewife and mother of 6 in Akron, OH., who bought a D50 with 125,000 clicks off Craigslist two weeks ago and want to get a unique shot of the kids for Halloween.

See, I KNEW it was somethin' like that! Those crazy Ohioans!

Rockwell says around 350 of the 13mm f/5.6 were made, in three versions, AI-s being most common with around 300, 10 in Ai, and 40 or so in the first or what is now called "pre-Ai" mount.

He has an article and some stats and photos here: Nikon 13mm f/5.6