What were they thinking?

Timmyjoe

Timmyjoe

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Saw this last night when it was first put up on the auction site. The original BIN was $49,900. Seriously. I thought it must be a typo, but then the same seller had a Nikon SP with the rare 5cm f1.1 lens for $18,000.

Nikon-I-Rangefinder-Camera-w-5cm-f-2-Nikkor-H-C-Tokyo-Collapsible-Lens-Rare

I realize it's probably a rarer Nikon rangefinder camera, but if you look at the pictures, it's pretty beat up, the back (with it's leather ripped off) does not look like all the other Nikon I cameras I have seen, and that whole bit about the screws have never been taken out is belied by the pictures.

Can't imagine who they think would purchase that.

Best,
-Tim

PS: They did just lower the price this morning to $27,445, so I guess now it's a bargain, because you're saving over $22,000.
 
My local car dealer asked 750(!) Euros for two suspension arms (just for the parts) for my 18 years old Mazda. So you're right, something goes wrong nowadays...
 
What do you see different about the back, I wonder? The serial numbers match fortunately. A pity someone peeled off the leather from the back though... The early Nikon RFs have a different leather if I remember right - the plasticy leather was introduced with the S2.
 
Its a genuine Nikon One. The 71st Nikon camera ever made judging by the serial number. The serial number on the top plate and on the inside of the back match, and the lens looks like its original to the camera. That's one serious collector's item right there. Worth the price to someone obviously.
 
I think I might be confusing a Nikon I rangefinder and a Nikon S rangefinder. This is the door I thought should be on the camera.

s-l1600.jpg


Best,
-Tim
 
That isn’t as dumb as a BIN price I saw for a Minolta 16II.
The guy had it at $999.00! Guess he figured he only needed one fool to cash out.
 
There was an auction which ran for years on a local auction site - an Agfa Super Silette LK for $300. Early on, a watcher suggested the price was too high.....but the seller obviously thought that something shiny and German, with a leather case, was worth a lot.
 
A year or so ago I went to an estate sale down the street. They had advertised, generically, "Leica camera" so I thought it might be worth a look even though I have no interest in using film cameras again. Unfortunately a fellow was examining it when I got to the table and he wouldn't let me get close to it. He had his smart phone out looking at something while he examined the camera. The camera was a Barnack style but I couldn't see it well enough to determine the model or the lens attached. He tried turning the focus ring and it was obviously jammed or sticky. I asked him what model it was and he mumbled "An 'M-something'". When I told him it wasn't an M-model but an earlier model, he glared at me like I was crazy. I asked if it worked and he said he didn't know but it was a Leica and he was willing to take the chance. At that point I asked what the asking price was and I seem to recall he said $450. I just shook my head and said it way too rich for me to consider and walked away. But he felt differently--I saw him counting out the money as I was leaving.

Now that camera might have been one of the rarest of early Leicas in existence but I doubt it. Still this guy knew nothing about what he was buying other than it was a Leica.
 
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