mm Nikkor 14-24mm Zoom : the first lens with Nano-Coating..

This is an interesting topic.... I think the issue of impact on the photo world is also something to be considered here or in another thread. In the 60' a Summicron 50mm f2.0 (on my Canon 7) was such winner until I could afford the NIKON F, it must have a place in history.

But, as Tao points out....Leica lenses in the old days, at least from my memory, seemed to have something different. My information was this was due to the glass, but it could be a design characteristic. They were the absolute in those days, but the rangefinder was going out as the SLR was becoming more in vogue. (1960's)

My vote is for the 18-55mm. :D

13/5.6 is the rarest and will fetch about $25k.

I think the 15mm type two Voigtlander lens is spectacular on the Leica M system especially since the purple fringing has been fixed. Other legendary lenses on my list:

Nikkor 180mm macro
Nikkor 135mm DC
Leica Summicron 35mm ASPH F2 and current 1.4 ASPH
Zeiss 35mm ZF .2
Zeiss 50mm ZM 1.5 Sonnar
Nikkor 200-400mm VR 1 and 2 (The greatest lens I have ever used)
Nikkor 14-24
Zeiss 100mm ZF original or .2
Nikkor 35mm Ais
Nikkor 105mm Ais
Nikkor 28mm 1.4 D

The whole 1.4G trinity (24/35/85) is quite deserving.

Other worthy candidates:

AF-S 300mm f/2.8 VR II (what a magnificient item, still somehow manageable in weight)
AF-S 200mm f/2
Zeiss Makro-Planar 100mm
Samyang 8mm fisheye (yes, really)

The moment someone decides to make a lightweight 400mm for Nikon, it´s going to be legendary either way.

How about the two DC Nikkor lenses, the

AF-D 105 mm f/2 DC and the
AF-D 135 mm f/2 DC.

Never got my hands on one of those but from what I have seen and read they are very unique.

What I think to be current "legendary" lenses.

Leica F/50mm 1.4 M mount (rangefinder)
Leica F/50mm 1.0 Noct
Canon F/85 1.2
Canon F/50 1.2
Nikon F/60 2.8 Macro
Nikon F/85 1.4
Nikon F/105 2.8 Macro
Nikon F/105 2.5
Nikon F/58 1.2 Noct
Zeiss 100mm F/2
Holga and Dana Cameras.

Danny Ocean said:
...I am talking about those UNIQUE, SPECIAL and RARE optics that truly create exceptional images...

Part of me wants to say, there are ZERO lenses that create a unique images and it is all the photographer, but there are a couple that have proven to somehow be special.

The few lenses I hear the most that "create exceptional images" sometimes refereed to drawing the image in a particular way. Leica and Zeiss Draw images differently - can't say how, but they just do. Some refer to Micro Contrast that create a 3D Look. Almost all of these references are for rangefinder lenses - I personally believe this occurs more due to the additional light exposed from the smaller flange distance that help.

M Mount (Rangefinder): Leica 28 f/2.8, Zeiss 25mm & 28mm 2.8s, Leica 35mm f/1.4, Leica 50 f/1.4, Zeiss 85mm f/2

There are rare lenses, but I do not consider any of those creating images in any special way, but are just hard to come by.

I feel more drawn to the Zeiss 15mm 2.8 that will get released soon over the 14-28 though..but youre right, before this one it did have an advantage.

Spy Black said:
That's wide net you're casting. I mean, let's face it, even Canon has some legendary optics. ;-)

The Canon 135 F/2 would be a good candidate.

But I would say the Nikkor 14-24 F/2.8 is a legend in its own right- it replaced all the wide angle primes with one zoom with barely any distortion. And it's relatively speaking, cheap, compared to a couple Leica lenses. And it's still in production.

Only downsides? Special filters only.

Pretty amazing.

That's wide net you're casting. I mean, let's face it, even Canon has some legendary optics. ;-)

I have not seen this topic here yet, and I wanted to see which lenses people consider to be Legendary. I am talking about those UNIQUE, SPECIAL and RARE optics that truly create exceptional images. Don't limit yourself to Nikon, and don't mention the holy trinity lenses which in my opinion have yet to reach a legendary status..

Nikon 6mm F2.8
Nikon 13mm F5.6
Nikon Noct 58mm F1.2
Voigtlander APO Lanthar 125mm F2.5
Leica 50mm F.95 Noctilux-M

And then im missing brands such as Zeiss, Phase One and Schneider, Pentax, Olympus etc...but these are what im talking about.