Carl Zeiss Planar 50mm lens with an aperture of f/0.7.
A rare Ziess lens designed for NASA’s Apollo moon missions will go up for auction in Vienna. Germany lens maker Ziess produced 10 of the Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7 lenses, selling most to NASA. The lens is expected to sell for between €100,000 and €120,000 in next weekend’s auction. See more stories on Insider’s business page.
When one of the rarest photo lenses in the world goes up for auction next weekend in Vienna, Austria, it’s expected to fetch between €100,000 and €120,000.
The lens, a Zeiss Planar 50mm f/0.7, was designed by the German lens-maker in 1966 for NASA. The agency needed a lens capable of capturing light in the darkest circumstances, perfect for pictures of the moon during its Apollo Missions. Only 10 of the lenses were manufactured. NASA bought six of them.
“This is one of these ten lenses that Zeiss made at that time,” said Andreas Schweiger, of Leitz Photographica Auction, which is running the auction. “Most probably, this is one of the lenses delivered to NASA.”
Schweiger spoke to
