EBay auction 7571048816 brought a winning bid of $2,31.00. Quite a piece of change for this lens. It appears to be a Biogon produced in one of the first or second production runs of the three production runs for the Biogon.
Yes it is a fine lens. I own one from the third and final generation...but Two Grand?
Well good luck and good shooting to the buyer...as he deserves all the good furtune he can find with this fine lens...considering what he paid for it.
Make that price...$2,031.00
Well, that looks like a perfectly functional saw, but for $2031, I think I'd rather have item #7571408816, or maybe I'll just keep my 75/4.5 Grandagon-N, which was around $10/mm second hand.
I guess if you buy a saw and it's not sharp you just have to change the blade but what can you change on a lens that's not sharp. I guess that's why that saw is so expensive. All this time we've been in the wrong business.
I'm all for vintage glass, especially if it has some functionality in size, coverage, or image quality, but I've never understood the Biogon: doesn't have much coverage for 4x5 and pretty large and heavy. The only thing I've heard that might be considered "special" is that it is sharp (although moreso than other modern offerings seems debatable) and it has more even illumination because of the design (which some other lenses have too).
All in all, I'll take a Schneider 80mm SS XL thank you.
Steve
That is about retail price for the lens -- at least the few I've seen in camera stores over the past couple years -- maybe a little higher, but it is a collectors lens. Yes, a bit heavy and yes, limited coverage. However, I will say the "special" Zeiss LF lenses, the 75mm Biogon, the 135mm Planar, and the 250mm Sonnar, were very fast lenses that performed unusually well even wide open. I can't think of modern glass that compares in those particular attributes. That said, I'd probably take a Schneider 80mm SS XL too.
The Biogon is a special lens that does not pretend to compete with lenses with greater area of film coverage. It's virtues are sharpness and lack of distortion. There is nothing like a Biogon. If you make it large enough, a 75mm will cover 4x5 with no discernable distortion and very little light fall-off, and it will be sharp wide-open.
Someday, time and $ permitting, I want to do a side-by-side comparison of at least three 75mm or 3" Biogons on 4x5 in the field (no military targets, please!) All I need is THAT Biogon that went for $2031. All I need is a grant.
"Will work for lenses",
Look at the bid history!
It always raises an eyebrow with me when someone with very few completed transactions plays such a significant part in a high dollar auction.
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&item=7571408816
I have one at least that nice as my lens board has the mickey mouse cable attachment which should come with it.
I love my lens and hope I never meet anyone with two thousand dollars to offer me for it.
Neal
I must say I've been very favorably impressed with the sharpness, brightness, and lack of distortion when I've used a Hasselblad SWC. Not that it's worth the price, but it's a dang good lens...
Neal: I'll give you $2000 for yours...
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