Exotic High-End Third-Party Glass in FD Mounts

Periodically, some interesting high-end non-manufacturer lenses made in FD mounts show up on the used market made by companies like Angenieux and Schneider. The Schneider lens I've seen is a 35mm/f:4 shift lens designed for the Leica R series, also made in FD and Nikon mounts. From Angenieux I've seen an 80-200 zoom and a couple of primes--maybe 135mm, maybe 35mm.

 

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I would guess that these kinds of things are probably snapped up by collectors (the Angenieux lenses come in fine wooden presentation boxes), but I'd be curious to know what is out there, and what people have used, and whether anyone thinks they are worth the bucks.

I can't comment on all the lenses you mentioned, but a friend once owned the shift lens (no presentation box that I know of). It was another great Schneider lens, but probably not worth what she paid for it. One lens which is highly sought-after is the APO 180mm f2.3, by Angeniuex. This was REALLY expensive (I once read it is based on a $7000 movie camera lens). It was issued in FD. As far as I know, such lenses are bought by users more than collectors. I did use the Angenieux 180mm once, and the speed is pretty remarkable. The lens was probably $4k, but I am only guessing (I saw one sel on ebay a long time ago for around $1700). The lens has been surpassed by Canon's 200mm f1.8, which is probably the best mid-tele ever made.

There's an Angenieux Nikon-fit 35-70mm zoom on ebay.co.uk. I think the aperture is 2.5 - 3.3. All I know is that it looks beautiful and that I've never seen one for sale used before.

 

I know about them only because of visiting Stephen Gandy's cameraquest.com.