So basically 8 element is praised by collectors, but from IQ standpoind 7 and 8 are practically the same? Only minor optical differences that are astronomically unsignificant. And of course radioactivity and yellowing from thorium dioxide that can be cured with UV.
Originally posted by bschriver11 I see quite a few "rare" lenses on Ebay,many were only made by the thousands.Here it appears they also added the word "Hybrid" along with rare to increase the value.I really laugh when i see the ones being held by the white glove,Granny only took photos at church on Sunday with those!
I am aware that people try to emphasize the items that they are selling, but this eBay listing has the nicest looking lens and others were a bit more expensive (when I count in the shipping) and a bit more worn. And if I won't like it or use it as much as I think, old lenses have been proven from my expirience to be some sort of neutral investment. Like I was just lending them from people, I always managed to sell them for the same price or a little bit higher than I originally bought them for. For example I owned above mentioned Pentax-A that I paid locally around $60 and two years later I sold the lens for $65, same thing happened with Tair 300s, bought it for $55 from a guy that was getting married and he sold me the entire metal box that was incomplete, Zenit was broken but Tair 300s and Helios 44m-4 were fine. About a year ago I sold the Tair for that same exact ammount. I have given Helios away to a friend because I allready have the first edition one.