"Jan van Wijk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Just a quick question, I saw a private-add offering this lens, no price
mentioned.
Before calling, I would like to know what they usualy go for ...
Jan,
"Reasonable price for A* 1.8 135mm lens" is the oxymoron to end all
oxymorons. The last two to be sold on EBay, in February, went for $1,800
and $1,810 US.
In the real world, as reported on this list:
$390, private sale in 1997, (Someone must have been desperate or ignorant
of its scarcity and desirability.)
$650 (private sale) in 1998
$750 in EX+, private sale in 1998
$819 in LN- at KEH in Sept. 1998
$500 private sale, March 1999
$1,100 from an Italian dealer, May 1999
I have no citations from my Web combings for 2000 or 2001.
So EBay aside, it sounds as though a private sale is the best way to get a
good price.
If you're buying to actually use the lens, be aware of thre much cheaper
alternatives:
1. Several list members have recently praised the Pentax 135/2.8 FA (52mm
filters) is a metal-barreled autofocus lens that goes for at $350 to $400
used. is said to have fine performance even at f/2.8 and f/4. It can focus
as close as 2.3 feet!
2. The Pentax SMC 135/2.5 (58mm filters) is a jewel valued for its bokeh
and color rendering and saturation. It is little-known outside this list.
You can find these on several Web dealers at any time for $100 to $200.
3. The Vivitar Series 1 135/2.3 (77mm filters), while nearly impossible to
find in its mulicoated K mount version (I've found one K in three years),
is commonly available in autodiaphragm M42 screwmount, which should also
solve the protruding ridge compatibility problem when you mount it to a
Pentax K-mount adapter. Unlike the K that succeeded it, the M42 lens may
not be multicoated--it doesn't say VMC--but it focuses to 3 feet. I can
provide URLs of a few for sale, but they're periodically available on EBay
and can be found in Minolta, Canon, Konica, and Olympus MF bayonet mounts.
The Vivitar is said to be very sharp even wide open...a claim that even the
SMC 135/1.8A* cannot make.
Paul Franklin Stregevsky
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
W: (703) 834-4648
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