What is the rarest piece of glass you own? - /p/ (#4439378)

Anonymous
6/24/2025, 5:46:02 PM No.4439378
SMC_Pentax-M_35mm_Catalog_Contrib
SMC_Pentax-M_35mm_Catalog_Contrib
md5: 9e631ed1a07d45e83103fdad2579dc71๐Ÿ”
Picrel is not mine, but a Pentax SMC-M 35mm F1.4 that nobody has ever been able to document in the wild, but one forum posts alludes to someone holding one at one point and packaging being sold on ebay 2 decades ago. My rarest lens is probably the Fuji EBC-W Fujinon-W 35mm f1.9, nothing spectacular in terms of value, but hard to find.
Replies: >>4439431 >>4439472 >>4439477 >>4439480 >>4439481 >>4439790 >>4440177 >>4440417 >>4448430 >>4450098
Anonymous
6/24/2025, 6:34:12 PM No.4439386
>owns rare glass
>shows stock photo
yeah I think sage
Replies: >>4439388 >>4439896 >>4440417 >>4451729
Anonymous
6/24/2025, 6:41:23 PM No.4439388
>>4439386
It is the only known photo of the lens, fgt.
Replies: >>4439390
Anonymous
6/24/2025, 6:46:33 PM No.4439390
>>4439388
>What is the rarest piece of glass you own?
>Picrel is not mine, but a Pentax SMC-M 35mm F1.4
makes it sound like the pic isn't yours but you have one of these
nigger
Replies: >>4439765 >>4439896
Anonymous
6/24/2025, 7:26:58 PM No.4439400
PXL_20250624_172029791
PXL_20250624_172029791
md5: 76ba730f68070d6d1406f12beab01e8d๐Ÿ”
Probably my Tamron SP 51A 70-150mm f2.8 soft portrait zoom.

Surprisingly decent (for it's age) as a f2.8 zoom when the soft focus is set to 0.
Replies: >>4439404 >>4439480
Anonymous
6/24/2025, 7:36:43 PM No.4439404
>>4439400
Cool. Didn't know it existed. I would probably overlook it if I saw it for sale thinking it was one of the more common tamron zooms.
Anonymous
6/24/2025, 10:01:05 PM No.4439431
>>4439378 (OP)
yeah i also have that, i have three actually. not gonna post a photo tho since you didn't
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 12:52:27 AM No.4439472
topcon
topcon
md5: 781e996ca227bee30c997315dd9c8277๐Ÿ”
>>4439378 (OP)
I had a Topcon 85mm f1.8

But I sold it because I needed to pay for other things and there are other, more affordable options obviously at the 85mm focal length and seem to perform fine.
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 1:06:54 AM No.4439477
>>4439378 (OP)
Probably the Pentax SMC Takumar 24/3.5.
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 1:50:15 AM No.4439480
IMG_0264
IMG_0264
md5: 660ff2d75de31c1d1a553e4916736f6e๐Ÿ”
>>4439378 (OP)
tammy big green 300 f/2.8

>>4439400
kinda mogged
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 1:53:21 AM No.4439481
>>4439378 (OP)
I own a 1 of 1 lens but wont post it because it is doxxable
Replies: >>4439483
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 1:56:48 AM No.4439483
>>4439481
I own 2 of 2 of a lens, but I also won't post
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 2:04:02 AM No.4439487
PXL_20250528_000109411.NIGHT
PXL_20250528_000109411.NIGHT
md5: bfe1569777f4f7e162017ffa8c399764๐Ÿ”
I only own one lens and it's not that rare.
Replies: >>4439507 >>4440115
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 2:40:55 AM No.4439507
>>4439487
Nice! Have any photos to share?
>Bess r2
Why are these things over 1k on ebay? Makes me a little sad. Maybe this particular body was always sought after, idk, but I wish old gear was as cheap as it used to be.
Replies: >>4439508 >>4439546 >>4439726
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 2:42:30 AM No.4439508
>>4439507
ILC rangefinders are pretty much all expensive except for soviet crap.
Replies: >>4439527
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 3:13:43 AM No.4439527
>>4439508
even the soviet crap is expensive these days relative to what it is. scarcity only increases as the years go on. I'm honestly surprised the chinks haven't spun up a factory to churn out chinesium zorki clones or some shit.
Replies: >>4439531 >>4439537
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 3:19:15 AM No.4439531
>>4439527
Funnily enough there was once a Chinese ILC rangefinder, was called a Redflag or some shit. They're rare as fuck though because they made basically none of them. I think a a new Xiaca would be cool tho
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 3:27:45 AM No.4439537
>>4439527
I always look at rangefinders, and consider buying them, but then I pick up my VT and realise how much I hate using a rangefinder over SLR TTL focusing and a split-image screen. I'm surprised more people don't put them in cameras like the 5D/5D2 for a manual focusing, optical viewfinder experience. Pretty much every worthwhile vintage lens mount can be adapted to EF bar the rangefinder ones.
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 3:53:19 AM No.4439546
DSC04793editSMBDR
DSC04793editSMBDR
md5: be1d4945ff9bce86f83800b2c72e0fa4๐Ÿ”
>>4439507
Ya, I paid $400 for the camera in 2018. If you catch bidding auctions you can get me for less than $1k. They're great cameras
Replies: >>4440178
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 10:16:37 AM No.4439726
>>4439507
You can get a Bessa T for ~$500, if you don't mind using an external viewfinder, and there is always an abundence of Barnack clones. Tbh, Bessas are nowhere near as overpriced as something like the Konica Hexar RF.
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 1:09:06 PM No.4439765
>>4439390
>makes it sound like the pic isn't yours but you have one of these
Only if you're retarded.
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 3:59:41 PM No.4439790
photo_2025-06-25_15-54-39
photo_2025-06-25_15-54-39
md5: a162ff172b9319062e74d8f926aa4c5b๐Ÿ”
>>4439378 (OP)
probably the LLL Elcan copy idk
does this even count? I think they are still being made, just not in great numbers
neat little lens though, both on film and digital bodies

I have some vintage glass but nothing rare, just some soviet shit, some Minolta primes and some other cheap M42 primes.
Sugar !egyYvoBZV2
6/25/2025, 6:28:07 PM No.4439868
506110175_1059910825646186_7644298144449579950_n
506110175_1059910825646186_7644298144449579950_n
md5: 5d1d597718ea08d3ae13d5a2047ff8bc๐Ÿ”
This and probably the Noritar 17/4 in F mount
Replies: >>4439869 >>4440079
Sugar !egyYvoBZV2
6/25/2025, 6:29:09 PM No.4439869
506385800_1900094704111864_7551234766649686457_n
506385800_1900094704111864_7551234766649686457_n
md5: d43e8f737b0eeb4ff4772371b1bce5c4๐Ÿ”
>>4439868
Anonymous
6/25/2025, 7:22:29 PM No.4439896
>>4439386
>>4439390
>zoom zoom too lazy to read the OP fully
many such cases!
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 12:27:53 AM No.4440079
>>4439868
Cool. Had to do a bit of research on that Noritar brand. They made a 135mm f1.4 which is insane.
Replies: >>4448610
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 1:54:38 AM No.4440115
>>4439487
That's my next lens. Anything that you really love or really loathe, anon?
Replies: >>4451672
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 5:23:36 AM No.4440177
IMG_0112
IMG_0112
md5: 2e9a1ebc133e6e143cdffeee9e4b4719๐Ÿ”
>>4439378 (OP)
Leica Elmarit-S 30mm f/2.8 ASPH CS.
Not really *rare* but spendy enough that theyโ€™re not common. And what a motherfucker. Only reason I still own a body for it.
Replies: >>4440184
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 5:24:36 AM No.4440178
>>4439546
Looks like Superior.
Replies: >>4451672
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 5:35:45 AM No.4440184
>>4440177
>ten thousand dollar non-cinema lens
I kneel
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 8:56:24 PM No.4440417
>>4439378 (OP)
>>4439386
In a similar ilk is Leica's Noctilux R 52mm f/1.2. while claimed to be a prototype, a small handful of lenses were built and sometimes get listed on eBay
Replies: >>4440456
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 10:34:50 PM No.4440436
I have the 50 mm Takumar which tends to yellow over time
Replies: >>4440440
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 11:01:56 PM No.4440440
>>4440436
that's one of the radioactive ones, don't lick the rear element
Replies: >>4440442
Anonymous
6/26/2025, 11:17:14 PM No.4440442
>>4440440
At our university physics lab I put it next to a Geiger counter. It produced a mean rattle.
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 12:16:28 AM No.4440456
Noctilux-R_52mm_f1
Noctilux-R_52mm_f1
md5: 51972ec811b487400b8172b8e0a1abc3๐Ÿ”
>>4440417
>A Leitz Noctilux-R 52mm f/1.2 prototype surfaced in July 2008 where the German Leica shop Arsenal Photo offered this for the price of 30,000 โ‚ฌ (serial no 5175714). Few knew this even existed! โ€“ and unfortunately it never went into production.
Very intredasting, thanks for sharing. Wonder what it would fetch in today's market, probably slightly less than 2 years ago, but still. Leica collectors pay out their yingyang.
Replies: >>4451021
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 12:22:25 AM No.4440460
20250110_210938[1]
20250110_210938[1]
md5: bfce6a0b86fa505e61fdac35732f1ad8๐Ÿ”
Probably this 36" (914mm) f/6.3 large format "aerial reconnaissance" lens. When you google it Dallmeyer made some but this one is unbranded, I'm assuming it was probably military equipment. The actual lens is just the bottom section with the aperture adjustment lever sticking out about midway along it's length, the rest of it is just an adapter made from PVC pipe and a focussing helicoid salvaged from another lens.
Replies: >>4440462 >>4440471
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 12:27:05 AM No.4440462
>>4440460
Finally, a lens I would be comfortable doing street photography with!
Replies: >>4440675
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 1:05:24 AM No.4440471
>>4440460
That's fucking sick. What do you shoot with it? Post shots.
Replies: >>4440488
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 2:15:51 AM No.4440488
>>4440471
I took maybe two or three photos of it and just to compare with my 150-500mm, the latter having better image quality even after cropping. The images were unfortunately on a drive that is now dead.
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 11:21:57 AM No.4440675
40 top keks
40 top keks
md5: 5b14bfb7f201bf9b3474051dc62fad6a๐Ÿ”
>>4440462
Cunt.
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 11:50:26 AM No.4440682
1751017140225
1751017140225
md5: 926e8aaedf8c37ac59277d6e026fc46f๐Ÿ”
Probably this Meyer-Optik Primoplan 1:1.9 58. Aperture limiter instead of aperture lever, which newer versions possibly (?) have.
Not particularly rare, I don't think.
Replies: >>4440684
Anonymous
6/27/2025, 12:23:56 PM No.4440684
schneider-kreuznach_xenon_v2_50mm_19_03
schneider-kreuznach_xenon_v2_50mm_19_03
md5: 20f00e0dcc8cde211fb5be193cd10ea6๐Ÿ”
>>4440682
When it comes to German post-war lenses there are so many varieties some of which are ultra rare and nobody cares for some reason. Rare mount varieties, newer revisions in low production numbers, identical lenses where one has more aperture blades and similar small changes. I guess lens collectors have to draw the line somewhere. I have a Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenon 50mm f/1.9 m42 late version which seems to be quite hard to come by, but does anyone care? No. Could also be because it does not look cool.
Replies: >>4448537
Anonymous
7/17/2025, 3:25:21 AM No.4448430
225287-1_300x300_r524x
225287-1_300x300_r524x
md5: b9aa6bc0b9988f9aeeaf2dc9019f5ff8๐Ÿ”
>>4439378 (OP)
Hasselblad Carl-Zeiss 100mm f/3.5 Planar CFi
It's the most expensive and technically perfect piece of glass I own but it's also the least artistically interesting.

It's a stop slower and slightly longer than the 80mm f/2.8, and it's obnoxiously bigger.
This all makes it way less interesting to use. I don't know why I bought it.
I've tried looking for photos taken with this lens and they're all horrible. Apparently no one has taken a picture of anything other than a test chart with this thing.
Replies: >>4448534
Anonymous
7/17/2025, 2:50:50 PM No.4448534
jones
jones
md5: 06b43de4657ae3aa90c0ac0fd7c97fff๐Ÿ”
>>4448430
>artistically interesting
this has always been and will always be a cope
>MY LENS HAS CHARACTER
>MY CAMERA HAS CHARM
>BLUH BLUH BLUH
No, these are copes by people who can't frame or composit interesting images. A good lens and good camera are ones that capture something with perfect color reproduction exactly like the eyes saw them. Film is trash.
Replies: >>4448951
cANON
7/17/2025, 2:53:58 PM No.4448537
>>4440684
I think it looks cool
Anonymous
7/17/2025, 4:37:01 PM No.4448610
>>4440079
the 135/1.4 has a 6x6 coverage. probably the fastest 6x6 lens ever made. the DoF must be mental
Anonymous
7/18/2025, 1:34:12 AM No.4448868
>Take a piece of glass
>Put it on a helicoid
Congrats you now one own one of the rarest lens in the world
Anonymous
7/18/2025, 6:01:34 AM No.4448951
>>4448534
Some things like specific bokeh effects and field curvature can only be done optically and it's just the right tool to choose for the job, but a lot of the time peoples character lens lust would be solved with a weak diffusion filter and some color grading. They would just rather buy the lens because then it makes it to the exif or can go into the "shot with" annotation, and they can express the way they really feel about photography by crediting the photo to the gear used.

The latter is for lenses that aren't special at all, and are just soft and have slightly different color rendition. Like every lens sought after for "magic" or "3d pop" ever.
Anonymous
7/21/2025, 12:23:03 AM No.4450091
As someone who collects old glass I have to agree with the sentiment that it is overrated.. by a lot.
I have a feeling that the allure is wearing off somewhat and that we have seen the peak in terms on interest in old glass after the adoption of mirrorless. They are still neat things to fondle with and look at though, historically interesting as well, but that is rarely the reason why people buy them, it is usually just hype thanks to social media. One appeal for me is to hunt for these things on the cheap because there is just so much of it around.. some of the rarer pieces in my collection I have barely paid anything for, unicorns such as the Canon SSC 28mm F2, the Konica 28mm F1.8 and more.
Replies: >>4450098
cANON !!oKsYTZ4HHVE
7/21/2025, 12:34:52 AM No.4450098
>>4450091
I can't imagine buying a 28mm that's not on a disposable.
>>4439378 (OP)
I no longer have it but it was probably the Soligor Tele-Auto 300mm in Miranda mount.
Anonymous
7/22/2025, 1:50:04 PM No.4451021
>>4440456
I'd say 50,000 easily
Anonymous
7/23/2025, 11:19:30 AM No.4451363
Untitled
Untitled
md5: 74875b4cca860bf1c841a829ce47fe0e๐Ÿ”
Cosina 55mm f1.2
Not that rare, come with all the flaws of 70s super fast 50s, bokeh/oof rendering rather unique and fun to play with from time to time.
Replies: >>4451580 >>4451713
Anonymous
7/23/2025, 8:14:50 PM No.4451580
>>4451363
man that's some "3D pop", feels like I can reach into the screen and touch
Anonymous
7/23/2025, 11:34:01 PM No.4451672
>>4440178
Oh dope. Lots of places have that kinda stuff I guess.

>>4440115
I love it so much I sold all my other lenses. Only complaints are weird filter size (39mm works fine though) and f2 doesn't cut the mustard in the winter walking to/from work. Other than that it's a perfect lens
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 12:32:45 AM No.4451713
>>4451363
They were also sold under the Rikenon brand. The Rikenon seems to be more rare. The Rikenon can be had for less than half of the Cosinon because the Pentaxforum boomers don't know about it.
Replies: >>4451728
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 12:53:02 AM No.4451726
I think vintage ultra fast fifties is an interesting field to specialize in. Just a type set collection of sorts, but it would be very pricey really quickly to build something respectable. Sure you have first party lenses that there are tonnes of that can be found in the wild for cheap. I have a small collection consisting of the 55mm Canon FD, The NFD, the Minolta MD MKIII, the Olympus 55 1.2 and I would like to expand upon it, but I think it would be rather insane to pay market value for any of them, especially if I want to include unicorns such as the Fujinon STX, the FD 55mm Aspherical, the Minolta "Hawk's-eye" and such lenses.
Replies: >>4451763
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 12:55:16 AM No.4451728
>>4451713
On second thought perhaps I was thinking about Tomioka. Either way the Rikenon is way cheaper and is made at the same factory.
Replies: >>4451741
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 12:59:24 AM No.4451729
>>4439386
This isnt Reddit. You dont get upvotes here. Retard.
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 1:16:39 AM No.4451732
1202_fl_50mm_240725_1
1202_fl_50mm_240725_1
md5: 3e894ebc92c05266cb2e737f36098e6e๐Ÿ”
Not that rare I guess, but this is my only FL, have no idea if mine is, but these are supposed to have radioactive glass.

Have also a decent collection of FD lenses, newest is 200mm f2.8 which is really nice.
Replies: >>4451764
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 2:16:03 AM No.4451741
>>4451728
Tomioka is the original design in m42 mount, and yes, that is the rare one. Some say it itself is a copy of Leitz Canada Noctilux-M 50mm f1.0? don't know, but bokeh/oof do look somewhat similar and rather unique from what I can find online.
Cosina bought the design after and made it under a few different names for K mount. I think the only derivative that's near impossible to find is Vivitar Series 1 VMC variant.
Replies: >>4451756
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 3:15:48 AM No.4451756
>>4451741
Forgot about that one. It looks really cool. The Fuji 50mm F1.2 is another rebrand as well? I see a very similar Porst branded lens.
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 3:49:28 AM No.4451763
big~2
big~2
md5: 8195ed11fe2f6e4815a8be730303ccd6๐Ÿ”
>>4451726
>the Minolta "Hawk's-eye"
I got one not too long ago.
Havent had the rolls developed yet it so cant say anything there but is a monster next to the 1.4 58mm. I should have put a helios 44 next to both of them for scale, because the 1.4 isn't small
Anonymous
7/24/2025, 3:49:50 AM No.4451764
>>4451732
Got any sample photos from the 200? I also collect FL and FD (mostly FL) lens and I've got several saved on my ebay account just not sure which one to get.