on Jul 26, 2015 0:40:53 GMT
I was thumbing through the UK magazine Amateur Photographer and as usual, checked the classified and retail advertisements for Contax and Yashica gear. I was very surprised to see a ML 300 C in near mint condition being sold by a shop for only £39...I rang them immediately, expecting to find that it had been sold but I was in luck. The owner of the business said 'it's quite a rare lens but we could not find a price for it - I hope you enjoy it; it's not got a mark on it and everything operates perfectly - lovely clear glass too.' It arrived the next day and is a lovely example of this superb telephoto - it is missing its front cap but other than that can't be faulted at all; indeed the shop advised me the cap was missing and supplied a generic one at no cost. That was great service although I did feel a little guilty at getting the lens for so little money, but I comforted myself in the knowledge that they must have bought it very cheaply and probably still made a profit. If you check the photos on the recent thread that provides a comparison of lenses of 300mm focal length, you will see just how good this little beauty is and, when compared with its very much more expensive Zeiss cousin (admittedly a f4 lens), £39 is an absolute steal...
At the same time, Ebay had another top performer - the ML 200 C - on auction; it had some bad marking to the bezel on the front but was described as optically and mechanically in top condition. I placed a fair bid, expecting to have a fight with a few other people, but as I was the only bidder, I won it for its starting price of £9.99. I could not believe my luck!
Both these lenses have started to receive a lot of praise for their good contrast, low chroma issues, and excellent sharpness; not surprisingly, their prices are moving upwards like quite a few of the Yashica ML range. Although the price asked for the 300 C was a mistake by the retailer, as far as the 200mm was concerned, it always surprises me that so many genuine photographers ignore lenses with cosmetic flaws but which function perfectly. When I was working professionally, I was always grabbing ugly looking gear that was functionally OK in order to save money.
Perhaps these days, there are more collectors on Ebay than photographers which might explain the concentration on mint copies of photographic equipment. Well, it's good news for the rest of us who actually use the gear!
Now if I can only find that elusive ML 35-70 f4.....
