> Does anyone out there have a rough guide of a fair price for this lens? > Mine is near-mint condition with its original front cap, a real "A"- > series rear cap, and its original case.
> US$450-500 when you can find one. > A shop in Arizona is advertising one for $595 in "10-" condition. > This would be around ~400 US $ - I've also watched several others > in this price range... until I found my F300/4.5 :-) I have seen "users" (a bit beat up but in supposedly good mechanical and optical shape) goes for about $300, as I recall, but better ones, such as yours, Dave, should get at least $400, I would say. A lot depends on the market, of course, which is currently a bit depressed). As for the M*/A* 300/4 versus F*/300/4.5, I have both (and multiple copies, since 300mm is a very frequently used FL for me), and I'd say that the lenses are not totally redundant: The F* is a slightly sharper lens (but not at f/4- <g>), although it is slightly slower (and sometimes that partial f-stop can be significant). Both are well made, but the M*/A* is a bit nicer to use for manual focusing. And, for the size, at least in my case, I can pack the significantly shorter (when focused at infinity) M*/A* in my camera bag, but the F* requires (for me anyway) carrying it separately. On the other hand, as I said, the F* is a bit sharper (and the FA* would be, too, I guess). The hood arrangement on the F* (but not the FA*) is very well handled, and the tripod mount can be useful (even if it's not as nice as the mount on the A* 200/4 Macro). Oh, and the F* is an autofocus lens (important to some, such as my wife and my daughter-in-law, with their ZX-5n's). Perhaps because I use 300mm so much, I don't see it as "excessive" to own both designs (even though I've been forced, for financial reasons, to sell off some of my other "extra" lenses) - they're both good lenses with separate useful characteristics that certainly do not totally overlap. Oh, and I'm still not totally used to beige lenses... <g> Fred
