That's really interesting. I'm thinking to create a category for vintage lenses. What do you think?
I have never owned any vintage lenses before, but I'm assuming they will become more expensive in future.
It would be great if you make a category of Vintage lenses!
Vintage lenses are very popular in macro photography! There are a lot of people who use vintage lenses with extension tubes for macro photography. Their optical formulas and characteristics create unique results! Their optical flaws are often used on purpose to achieve effects. Also there are some unique optical designs even for todays lenses that make photographers hunt them like crazy. Prices in ebay are going up all the time even for lenses that are low on demand.
Also Youtubers affect prices.
In example.... You could buy sometime ago a Rekinon 55mm f/1.4 with M42 mount for 30 to 50 dollars. After it became popular (especially from Ken Wheeler aka Angry Photographer and some others) the price went up to 140 dollars to 250+ for mint.
Vintage lenses are also extremely popular to videographers!
All this hype have made some companies to produce again some old popular lenses. In example. Meyer Optik produces again the 50mm and 100mm trioplans (3 element optical formula aka trioplan) or even Zenitar, that produces the popular zenitar 16mm f/2.8. Even the Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5 is produced again in modern body and with many mounts....
They are popular (not all of them) for their unique bokeh characters (depended on the optical formula) their sharpness or softness, their colour rendition (especially for those that are made with glass mix containing Radioactive Thorium or Lanthanum which have the properties of not refracting the light when passing from the glass)