Is this insane?

[Soothsayerman]

Is this in-sane? or is this what I should expect to pay if I am insane and want a good quality helios 40? I have a hard time wrapping my mind around this but, if this is just what it is, then I'm okay with that. What are your thoughts?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Helios-40-portr...06101166?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item45f78f35ae

 

[Sonnar Brian]

That is insane. These used to go for $100 or so.

For $400, I would be looking at user-grade fast Nikkor F-Mount lenses.

Or the Spiratone lenses. They had an 85/1.8 out, preset. I would "Ebay" on Spiratone before dropping $400 on a Helios-40.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Just a quick search, as an example.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Spiratone-85mm-...95089846?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item27b8427db6

 

[Phil_F_NM]

The fast Komuras in that range are great lenses too.
That price for the Helios is out of this world. A friend of mine bought two of them for about $120 a few years ago.

Phil Forrest

 

[Soothsayerman]

Thanks gents for the sanity check, I appreciate it, and will check out the spiratone.

 

[PAW-prints]

Actually that seems to be a pretty good price for a very beautiful lens. I paid about $375 for a similar lens (SN: 004321) a couple years ago and from what I have seen the price has been continuing to rise.

Whether you want to pay that much is up to you. You can get a brand new Samyang 85mm for about $250, and that is reported to be a very good portrait lens - sharp, with very smooth bokeh. However, there is nothing around with the character of the Helios 40, and they don't make them any more. The law of supply and demand suggests that as long as people value the image quality of this lens the going prices will reflect that demand. Though I don't use my Helios 40 very much I wouldn't take less than $450 for it.

The ad lists the lens as M42, but the Helios 40 is an M39 screwmount. It might have a M39-M42 adapter installed, but I can't tell.

 

[Soothsayerman]

Actually that seems to be a pretty good price for a very beautiful lens. I paid about $375 for a similar lens (SN: 004321) a couple years ago and from what I have seen the price has been continuing to rise.

Whether you want to pay that much is up to you. You can get a brand new Samyang 85mm for about $250, and that is reported to be a very good portrait lens - sharp, with very smooth bokeh. However, there is nothing around with the character of the Helios 40, and they don't make them any more. The law of supply and demand suggests that as long as people value the image quality of this lens the going prices will reflect that demand. Though I don't use my Helios 40 very much I wouldn't take less than $450 for it.

The ad lists the lens as M42, but the Helios 40 is an M39 screwmount. It might have a M39-M42 adapter installed, but I can't tell.

Interesting.... I guess I will wait and see then. I have a canon 85 now, but was looking for something that would have a unique output. My other thought was some type of sonnar. Ah it is a twisted path.

 

[LKeithR]

Personally I would say that's too high a price for that lens but I haven't been tracking prices much either so I can't say for sure. Ultimately it takes two people to set a price; a buyer and a seller and if they can agree on a number then that's your price for that transaction. Each new transaction requires another set of negotiations.

The one thing to consider is that when you're talking that kind of money there are a lot of other options to check out...