Jump to content

Prices for the Noctilux certainly have risen!


Paulus

Recommended Posts

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Last night I found a 2004 pricelist in my bookshelf.

 

I was looking for the original price of a Elmarit-M apsh 24mm and saw that it was € 2600,-

 

When I looked at the 1,0 50mm Noctilux I saw a price , new , from € 2800,-. almost as expensive as the 21 Elmarit-M: € 2750,-

 

And now: €4000,- for a used one. Times they are a changing...

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

When I first looked at a Noctilux at a Leica dealer it listed (new) for $711 US, and the dealer would have let me have it for under $700. Of course, that was in 1969, and the dealer was Altman's in Chicago: a three-story camera shop with escalators between floors. The new Noctilux was the an f1.2 aspheric lens.

I got a Summicron instead.

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

When I first looked at a Noctilux at a Leica dealer it listed (new) for $711 US, and the dealer would have let me have it for under $700. Of course, that was in 1969, and the dealer was Altman's in Chicago: a three-story camera shop with escalators between floors. The new Noctilux was the an f1.2 aspheric lens.

I got a Summicron instead.

 

You could probably get a nice used car for $700 in 1969, as $700 US then was c. $4500 in 2015.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

You could probably get a nice used car for $700 in 1969, as $700 US then was c. $4500 in 2015.

 

To give a little perspective here, In 1970 I made $.05 over minimum wage at $1.65/hr as a stock boy in a department store.  In 1974 I bought my very first new car, a 1974 Dodge Colt (a Mitsubishsi) for $1725 out the door, tax and license included.  $700 in 1970 was HUGE money for the average working joe. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Looks like the f1 v4 will soon overtake the price of the 0.95

 

I paid €6250 for my new-old stock copy in January 2012

 

Paid €8.5K for a new 0.95 around 18 months ago, they're readily available for €6500 nowadays

 

My f1.2 version with hood, packaging et al regularly begets me offers for €15K and higher which are all politely refused

Edited by TheGodParticle
Link to post
Share on other sites

I suppose it's logical that the f1 price should close the gap on the f0.95 simply because the f0.95 is still being made, so the f1 is becoming relatively scarcer every day. 

 

I sold my f1 ten years ago for about a quarter of what I'd get for it now.  Ah well...

Link to post
Share on other sites

I sold my f1 ten years ago for about a quarter of what I'd get for it now.  Ah well...

 

 

Yes, I did the same. Mint condition for £1000 so that I could buy the then new 50 Summilux ASPH. The only lens I have any real regret about selling (though I suspect that regret is more about missing out on the more recent going rate than it is about missing the actual lens).

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I buying expensive lenses, I always have the feeling that my salary raise outdates the raise of the lensprice for seven years ... :(

 

In 20/20 hindsight, it appears that I should have taken my salary in Noctilux lenses rather than in cash all those years. 

  • Like 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

Yes, I did the same. Mint condition for £1000 so that I could buy the then new 50 Summilux ASPH. The only lens I have any real regret about selling (though I suspect that regret is more about missing out on the more recent going rate than it is about missing the actual lens).

 

Me too - exactly the same.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I suppose it's logical that the f1 price should close the gap on the f0.95 simply because the f0.95 is still being made, so the f1 is becoming relatively scarcer every day. 

 

I sold my f1 ten years ago for about a quarter of what I'd get for it now.  Ah well...

 

I also think that it is a classic Mandler, and to many eyes also has certain qualities and quirks that make it more desirable photographically than the 0.95. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

When the discontinuation of the f/1 Noctilux was announced in 2008, new copies that had been selling for $3200(ish) doubled in price as a result.  I was able to lay hands on one for $6500 and was happy to get it.  That sounds like highway robbery, but it's a bargain compared to $16,000 for the "Last 100 Noctilux" lenses.  I wonder what those last 100 are changing hands for these days?

 

All things considered, I am glad I got the f/1 - it was certainly lower in cost than its replacement and I prefer its rendering over the f/0.95 ASPH. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...