I know it's a rare Protar f/18, but...

[Hugo Zhang]

at this price?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250735005113&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Insane!

[Brian C. Miller]

The starting price was only $10. If two rich people think it's worth that much, then that's the way it goes.

[Steven Tribe]

There were 3 high bidders.
Explanation must be the enormous coverage of this wide angle which must be highly suitable for some super large format plate size were the cost levels are such that the practioners have lost touch with reality.

[Jim Galli]

Wide angle for mammoth plate doesn't come cheap ;) This would cover 18X22, maybe 2024 at small aperture, and a very nice angle on those.

[CP Goerz]

There can't be more than a handful of these things out there as another factor, I can't remember the last time one came up. 37 1/2 CM is supposed to cover 24 x 30" at small stops and 20 x 25" wide open(that I part have to question though not the stopped down figure).

[eddie]

Think of it this way. If you wanted a new nikon or canon AF 600mm f4 lens or the like. they would run you many many thousands more than that lens. AND you can buy as many of those lenses as u want. So a rare protar does nit surprise me.... I just wish some of my stuff would go for those numbers...:)

[Jim Noel]

Perhaps it is time to think about selling mine which I have owned for more years than I remember. I am sure I paid no more than $5-$10 for it because at the time lenses w/o shutters were not in favor. It is a fantastic lens, if a little difficult to focus in low light.

[Kevin Crisp]

Since so much of eBay became "buy it now" the protars listed on there (even for garden variety 11/11 and 11/13 combinations in questionable shutters like Volutes) do seem to have fairly insane asking prices.

But on this one, I think it is a matter of a few people really wanting it and the inability to find anything that will do that job.

[Chauncey Walden]

Gee, I wonder what my 60cm would go for?

[Steven Tribe]

Probably for not as much!
It is a question of coverage matching the format you have invested your savings in!
There is no point in getting a wide angle which illuminates the bellows as much as the plate. The smaller sizes which just happen to match 4x5, 5x7 etc. sell for a premium price compared with those that "miss" a standard size.