I am keen to know the price of a 13mm lens, rarity & its image quality by personal experience. According to Roland Vink only few hundreds were made over a
2-3 decade!! I know two of these lenses were sold recently at Christie's for USD 5800.00 each. Appreciate any opinion & personal experience of this
beauty.
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 Chamster |
Nikon 13mm F5.6 AIS Lens - How rare it is to find one? |
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Posts: 100 (08/12/2007 03:49 AM) |
Last Edited By: Chamster 08/14/2007 10:46 PM.
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Edgy01 |
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Posts: 167 (09/05/2007 09:42 AM) |
I've owned one for several years now. It is a very special lens that I use extensively with my D2X for now. I used to use it on my F5. I'm looking
forward to using it on the D3. The only detractor about this lens is the coatings are dated. It flares more than my 14mm lens but it is so much sharper than
any other lens in that range that it is my frequent lens of choice. Check out the Malaysian Nikon site for a photo I took with it. (Google image search for
13mm). I have also used it extensively in Yosemite and throughout Europe. Although a massive lens (particularly when coupled with the F5 equipped with the
action finder!) it generates a lot of conversation all over the world.
It is a very hard lens to find on the used market as they were all made special order. When one does come up you can be assured that there is great competition for them. The best way to get one at a reasonable price is to hunt through the most obscure auction houses and camera houses, otherwise the most popular sites get so much competition going for these that the prices will be up there. Mine was essentially mint when I bought it several years ago with case, filters, etc, and bought it for $6000 on eBay. Dan
Last Edited By: Edgy01
09/05/2007 09:46 AM.
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Chamster |
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Posts: 100 (09/08/2007 04:44 AM) |
Hi Dan,
Many thanks for the reply. I think I already emailed you about it when I found your email address from the Malaysian site. Apparently there were couple of them at Christie's which I missed!!! Please let me know if you try this out on a D3 very curious to know. I know a person in USA that own one he will make his decision for sale in mid October. May be I will be in luck. He said the front cap was damaged but the rest of the lens in Mint condition. Do you have the AI or the AIS version? Is there much difference in coatings between the two? What is your price estimate for a mint 13mm now? Many thanks in advance. |
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Chamster |
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Posts: 100 (12/26/2007 06:47 AM) |
I am now a proud owner of a 13mm!!! I know another contact with a used lens. He might sell it eventually. Please contact me by email directly if interested.
This picture has my garden variety 50/1.8 AIS lens for comparison. 
Last Edited By: Chamster
12/26/2007 07:40 AM.
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NIKON KIU |
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Posts: 2162 (12/26/2007 05:18 PM) |
Thanks for sharing.
Kiu |
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Chamster |
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Posts: 100 (12/26/2007 09:19 PM) |
now there is one on eBay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270199005082&ssPageName=STRK:MEBI:IT&ih=017 |
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