Leitz Leica Hektor 7.3cm 1.9

The Leitz Hektor 7.3cm 1.9 is, already on paper, a very intriguing lens. 7.3cm (or 73mm) is a rather unusual focal length, then add a maximum aperture of f1.9 to the mix and you obtain the recipe of a lens I really want to check out. I do have a penchant towards old, quirky pre-war screwmount lenses (mea culpa) so the Hektor 7.3cm was always on my radar. Unfortunately this lens was also always out of my price range. With only about 7 000 copies made (who knows how many have survived the war, cold-war, humid storage and fungus attacks) the lens is on the bucket list of most Leica collectors. This means there is only one direction for the price of the Leitz Hektor 7.3cm 1.9: it is expensive and it keep getting more expensive. For a decent copy you will easily pay over US$ 1 000. There always comes a time when you need to draw the line and I was never prepared to splash this kind of cash to experiment with a lens, however desirable it might be. So the Hektor 7.3cm 1.9 as well as its’ cousin the Leitz Thambar 90mm 2.2 were always far fetched dreams for years.