Bhphotovideo.com

They are selling one for $499 in their used dept.

Looks pretty cool.

That thing is a collector's item. It's horrible in low light, but was intensely popular for unobtrusive shooting. To most people it looks just like a 35mm SLR camera. You could hang it around your neck and just let it record. It was notorius for that reason and remains hard to find to this day. A classic if there ever was one (the old Optura Pi is also).

Chris,

in your opinion- would you say it produces better video than the Optura 300 of today? Is the Progessive Scan enough of a feature to snatch it up? Optical 16:9?

Better than the Op300? Oh no, no no. Not by a long shot. True progressive scan is a nice feature, as is its RGB color filter and OIS, but 16:9 is fake. The newer Opturas with their Digic DV chips will always give better video, but this original has value primarily for its unique form factor which gives it usability options that no longer exist on the newer camcorders. It's primarily a collector's item or a "special applications" (read: covert) camera.