What is the rarest camera/lens you own?

Disconnekt · May 4, 2024

KEH has one in stock for $505 in "bargain" condition, which from what Ive read online that rating can range from it being anywhere between crap condition or very good condition

Mark J · May 5, 2024

Hmmm... make very sure that it hasn't been dropped. I know someone who just bought an Olympus 18mm f/3.5 cheaply, and it was misaligned...

loccdor · May 5, 2024

I have a Semi Minolta III 6x4.5 folder with Rokkor 75mm f/3.5. This is supposed to be the first lens model from Japan that had coatings. I bought it because it has the same name as the excellent Autocord lens, which came out about a decade later. But I don't think it is really the same lens, just the same name. There is something wrong with my copy and it seems misaligned, the field of focus is very much not flat and it's not really usable for pictures. Still, it's a cool bit of history.

It's quite hard to find many pictures people have taken with this camera and lens online. Maybe they weren't built well enough to stand the test of time.

Kodachromeguy · May 5, 2024

Sanug said:
This lens came as Takumar M42, Pentax K and Pentax A. All very rare and expensive. Less than 1000 pieces each has been made.

I have a 1970s booklet that states the M42 15mm lens had an aspherical element. On a thread several years ago, someone wrote that Pentax revised the lens at some stage and was able to eliminate the aspherical piece. Regardless, it is an amazing lens.

AnselMortensen · May 5, 2024

A 40mm C Distagon for my Hassy.
Heavy! ...but not particularly rare.
Or maybe my 11.5" Wollensak Verito in a working Studio #3 shutter...pretty rare.

Silverinsunlight · May 13, 2024

I have a brass in barrel Goerz Celor lens in 10 3/4" size.

Marcelo Paniagua · May 13, 2024

Rare as per how many where produced but not very expensive

Tamron SP 180mm F 2.5 LD (IF) Anniversary. Only 3000 units build. Top performer on my Olympus OM's and my digital Canon.

Voigtlander 101 Anniversary Bessa T set (in green) with the 50 f/3.5 Heliar and finder. Camera is quite fine and lens is great.

benderscameracorner · May 13, 2024

A Pentax MZ-50.... that actually still works ;-) (for now).

Nothing else in my collection really stands out as even vaguely rare, maybe at best somewhat 'uncommon'. I have a pretty mint Eumig 128XL Super-8... have never seen another in Australia maybe 2-3 listings elsewhere in the world in the past few years. If I understand correctly was about the last model they produced before the company went under, so maybe a pretty limited production run?

Disconnekt · May 13, 2024

benderscameracorner said:
A Pentax MZ-50.... that actually still works ;-) (for now).

Nothing else in my collection really stands out as even vaguely rare, maybe at best somewhat 'uncommon'. I have a pretty mint Eumig 128XL Super-8... have never seen another in Australia maybe 2-3 listings elsewhere in the world in the past few years. If I understand correctly was about the last model they produced before the company went under, so maybe a pretty limited production run?

Theres a shop called KKPMO (theyre in Germany) where you can get a brass replacement gear for it if the plastic gear ever breaks. Fining a place to do the swap is another matter

This is the site: https://shop.kkpmo.com/product_info.php?info=p465_gearwheel-pinion-m0-25---13teeth.html
The settings for it is: 1.5mm (for the drill/hole), 2.0mm (for the width), brass (for the material)

Found the info about it on pentaxforums, here https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums...my-old-new-mz-s-after-returning-repair-2.html

benderscameracorner · May 15, 2024

Disconnekt said:
Theres a shop called KKPMO (theyre in Germany) where you can get a brass replacement gear for it if the plastic gear ever breaks. Fining a place to do the swap is another matter

This is the site: https://shop.kkpmo.com/product_info.php?info=p465_gearwheel-pinion-m0-25---13teeth.html
The settings for it is: 1.5mm (for the drill/hole), 2.0mm (for the width), brass (for the material)

Found the info about it on pentaxforums, here https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums...my-old-new-mz-s-after-returning-repair-2.html

Ah cool, thanks. Though to be honest, the MZ-50 is literally the least interesting camera I own and the one I'd feel least compelled to try and repair. For a cheap, light, plastic, starter SLR an equivalent Canon EOS makes so much more sense.

But it is good to know those with the more advanced MZ/ZX models, they can be salvaged with some effort.

guangong · May 15, 2024

I have a Nikon clone of a Zeiss 180mm lens, slightly tweaked a tiny fraction of an F stop (probably for marketing purposes) for the early Nikon rf cameras. Told this is now a collecto’s item. I use it on my Hassy 2000 FCM.
My Leica IIIc has a very low serial number. Probably part of a small batch made by Leitz after war for high ranking US military officers. CLAed by Ye, looks like new.

Laurent · May 16, 2024

I think it's my Canon TX, for camera, and likely the 300/2.8 on FD mount.

Did not check for the leica though.

MattKing · May 16, 2024

Laurent said:
I think it's my Canon TX, for camera, and likely the 300/2.8 on FD mount.

Did not check for the leica though.

The TX may not be that rare. After its initial run, it became an "exclusive" and was sold across the country in all Sears/Simpson Sears department stores as well as, most importantly, in the Sears catalogue.
Many people got one as a Christmas present.

gordonrgw · May 16, 2024

I think my rarest, but low-value camera is my Zeiss Nettar 516/2, nice condition and has the advantage of double-exposure protection unlike the earlier 515/2.

Chuck1 · May 16, 2024

I don't have it anymore, but I had angenieux 28-70/2.6 nikon mount, the af didn't work, but I wish I had kept it, even though it wasn't really anything special

Andy McRory · Sep 11, 2024

I’ve got a Rodenstock Heligon 50/1.9 in M42 mount with the original lens hood. A gift from a friend in Germany whose grandfather bought it new in 1956 or so with an Edixa reflex (which I also have). The camera needs a new curtain, and the selenium meter is toast, but the lens is perfect. I’ve been told it’s incredibly rare, but I have no idea. I have a M42-to-LM mount ill have to try with my M240 body.

varg · Oct 22, 2024

I have a Voigtlander Skopar 360mm f/4.5
Only 50 pieces were made, year of production 1932.
Huge heavy made lens, I guess Voigtlander want to make a lens for the next 1000 years. Full brass barrel, weight nearly 2 kg ~ 4 pounds.
I´am really happy to get one of this lenses.
No one knows how much are "survived" the last 90 years but I nevr saw really much lenses of it. I remember only a second in the moment.
Here´s a sample I made with the lens, sheet size 18x24cm

markjwyatt · Oct 22, 2024

Andy McRory said:
I’ve got a Rodenstock Heligon 50/1.9 in M42 mount with the original lens hood. A gift from a friend in Germany whose grandfather bought it new in 1956 or so with an Edixa reflex (which I also have). The camera needs a new curtain, and the selenium meter is toast, but the lens is perfect. I’ve been told it’s incredibly rare, but I have no idea. I have a M42-to-LM mount ill have to try with my M240 body.

I have the Rodenstock 50mm f2 Heligon on a Retina IIIc. I love the way it resolves. The more I use it the more I love it. A couple examples. If you ever want to sell it, let me know (I use M42 a lot).

Tree Over the Grand Canyon by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr

Brick Building by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr

Nice "bokeh" also

pomegranates by Mark Wyatt, on Flickr

What is the rarest camera/lens you own?

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