A one-of-a-kind Leica APO-Telyt 600mm f/5 lens, developed in 1987, is currently up for sale on eBay. This rare item is an early working mirror lens prototype designed for the Leica R that never made it into mass production.
It is marked with the serial number: 172-0001, which may be familiar to some eBayers as it was listed for US$230,000 last year.
The seller lists the lens as used but still in like new condition, without signs of wear - although the pictures do reveal a few dings on the tripod mount.
APOTELYT notes that the lens “. . . is the sole catadioptric design among the APO-Telyts and quite an impressive one”. It uses both refraction and reflection to capture images, which are bounced back and forth using a series of mirrors. This, coupled with a fast f/5 aperture, explains the weight of the lens, which is around 5kg.
Of course, the biggest draw is not the optics but the sheer uniqueness of the prototype, which makes it such a valued collector's item among Leicaphiles.
The lens is on eBay now for €140,000 (or approximately USD$157,000) and the sale has three days left to go. We will update you when the sale concludes.
. digitalrev.com2016-10-7 03:00