What is the best lens deal you ever got?

Not a lens, but at a garage sale I got a manfrotto tripod and head for $10.

It was stolen from my car and insurance asked me what a new one cost - and gave me $6-800for it to spend at a camera store.

BucketMan wrote in post #9834271
I don't want to brag, but I feel this is a great place to post this.

I bought a used 70-200 2.8 L IS for $950 from CL. Turns out it was stolen, so the police took it. In return I got a few thousand best friends on POTN and a donated 70-200 2.8 L IS Mark II.

Yeah...pretty awesome.

Signed,

The luckiest guy in the world.

Thanks to all again.

Nice that it worked out, and I love to see reward go to those who did the right thing.

Who donated the lens in the end?

After being outbid on Ebay four times for the Tokina 11-16 f/2.8...some used and some new...I got a brand new one for $450 about 3 weeks ago. The 4 Ebay lenses I bid on went for $600-$650+. Crazy.

My EF100-400. I bought it used, only a few months old in perfect condition, still in warranty at half price and found the first owner had never registered the lens or applied for the cash-back. As far as Canon were concerned I was the first owner, so I got the cash-back as well.

I was very concerned about why it had been rejected, so tested it to within an inch of its life, it's fine!

Canon 28-135 IS USM for $200 on Ebay

Canon 300mm f/2.8 NON IS - $650 (hell YAH!)
Canon 17-35mm F/2.8 - $70 (had a broken AF switch on it - still worked perfectly, ring USM and a/f worked)
Canon 80-200mm Drainpipe - $350
Tokina 11-16mm - $350

I got a Tamron 1.4x SP AF teleconverter for $90 used from Adorama. It was listed as VG, but was perfect except for someone's initials on the inside of the caps, and a small paint chip.

The 85L II for 1700euro. I'd still buy it even if it was 3000

These were all bought new

70-200 f/4 IS w/Canon instant rebate, shop.com 10% coupon ended up being $895 through Adorama now $1210 @ B&H.
Zeiss 21mm Distagon, before the price increase with a 8% Bing cashback - $792, now $1004 at B&H.
Zeiss 35mm Distagon, before the price increase with a 10% Bing cashback - $1459.4, now $1732 at B&H.
Canon 5D bought early April 2006 (was out for < 6 months). $200 coupon from OneCall, $100 rebate (I think) from Canon. Ended up being $2670.

Canon 15mm fisheye for $175 on craigslist. It was in like new condition.

80-200mm f2.8 L with hard case, Hoya SHMC filter in $75.

Well, just found an old manual focus Olympus OM 24mm 2.8, among a lot of old (useless) photography gear i got from my dad (for free). Apparently this old lens is a bit of a gem, so now I'm waiting anxiously for my adapter to put it on my new 5D2.

Picked up a Canon 28mm 1.8 for 125 cdn on a local sell forum. I was expecting a beater, but it turned out to be mint!

Picked up a used Minolta 101 with three lenses and filters in like new condition from a retired gentleman on craigs list for $50 who was getting rid of some of his gear. One of the lenses turned out to be a Rokkor 35mm f1:1.8 which I sold for $250.

Best deal I ever got on a lens was when I sold my 75-300 f/4.5-5.6 III for about $30.... I can't say the same for the buyer though!