There are quite a few cameras out there that are designed to work underwater. Only a few have been made specifically for shooting in outer space.
This rare “Space Shuttle” Nikon F3 is one of them, and one of them has turned up with a $13,500 price tag on eBay.
The seller, ClassicAntiques110 of Denver, Colorado, writes in the listing description that fewer than 50 of these special Nikon F3 SLRs were made through a custom order NASA placed with Nikon in the 1980s.
“This may well be the last one,” the seller writes. “There is no flight data with this camera, so it’s place in the Space Shuttle Program is unknown.”
As with other cameras and lenses that have been used by astronauts, this particular Nikon F3 kit has blue Velcro attached to the side of the body, which the seller says was used to fix the camera to special insulating padding that protects it from the extreme conditions of space.
The auction includes the Nikon F3, a film winder, and a battery pack. While the mounting plate shows some wear from use, everything else is in mint condition.
One interesting thing is that another “Space Shuttle Nikon F3” was sold by the WestLicht Photographica auction house back in 2013. That camera had a max estimated value of $81,000, and it looked like this:
So perhaps this new auction is a great deal? In any case, if you have $13.5K lying around and would like to invest in a new photography kit for your future space tourism experience, you can snag this kit by visiting the eBay auction and hitting “Buy It Now.”
P.S. This same camera model was also modified for filming Indiana Jones in 1983.
from PetaPixel http://petapixel.com/2016/01/20/this-13500-nikon-f3-was-designed-for-shooting-in-outer-space/
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