Cult following for EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk1

[Tricky]

Gee, just saw how much this Mk1 EF 50mm f/1.8 went for on eBay... I'd seen them go for around $180 before but $258 is quite mad. That's within $140 of a brand new EF 50mm f/1.4 at $395! And about double the cost of a new EF 50mm f/1.8 Mk2 (though it has plastic mount and no distance scale).

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300422869536&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:AU:1123

Any other mainstream Canon lenses out there with this kind of cult following? ie selling for twice the amount now what it would have cost to buy new 10+ years ago?

[bellamae]

Madness! I think that is lack of research by the ebayer. I'm just about to purchase the EF 50mm f/1.4 and won't be making the same mistake!

[JM Tran]

the most inflated Canon lens is..........

the Canon 50mm F1.0

rare as hell, and go for an arm and a leg too whenever they appear!

[kwokask]

Don't forget the 200mm f/1.8. There's one on eBay for about $4k

[Xenedis]

Yes, the 50/1.0L and 200/1.8L are cult-status lenses, and are extremely expensive even today.

I've only ever seen one 200/1.8L (in a store), and the price was $10,100. Mind you, that store wasn't one to offer particularly cheap prices.

I'm not sure why the 50/1.8 (the original, not the mark II) fetches the prices it does, for as far as I know, it's optically the same; what it does offer is better construction.