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Pentax 20mm f2.8
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 12:14 am    Post subject: Pentax 20mm f2.8 Reply with quote
Currently on Ebay at over £200 with 3 days to go! Madness! Is it truly worth as much as some current AF lenses??


PostPosted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:37 am    Post subject: Re: Pentax 20mm f2.8 Reply with quote
Eddie46 wrote:
Currently on Ebay at over £200 with 3 days to go! Madness! Is it truly worth as much as some current AF lenses??


Not a common lens so it will attract higher prices than normal.
The last two that were sold on ebay both had problems - haze and fungus, and they still fetched high prices.
There is probably better value for user lenses out there, in lenses that aren't so rare.
T


PostPosted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 2:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's worth what someone is willing to pay. Even if it's more than you are.

When I sold all my Pentax gear 20 years ago, I pretty much broke even.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 4:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quality optics will always demand more $ especially if it can be easily adapted to DSLR's
Just look at Leica R lenses, like the 90/2 APO Asph, its higher priced now than new.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 12:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
480sparky wrote:
It's worth what someone is willing to pay. Even if it's more than you are.

When I sold all my Pentax gear 20 years ago, I pretty much broke even.


The very conclusion I came to.At that price level I would personally prefer a more modern lens.
As pointed out,it is a fairly rare lens.


PostPosted: Mon Jan 16, 2017 1:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Pentax 20mm f2.8 Reply with quote
Eddie46 wrote:
Is it truly worth as much as some current AF lenses??

1. That's actually an interesting question on a forum for mostly old (as in "classic") MF lenses. Smile

2. Certainly rarity is part of it -- Pentax had only two (optically virtually identical) versions of the 10-elements-in-9-groups 20/2.8 design, an MF "SMC A" version (1985-2001) and an AF "SMC FA" version (1995-2004). [ http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/primes/ultra-wide/A20f2.8.html ] [ http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/primes/ultra-wide/FA20f2.8.html ] [BTW, as for rarity, the MH-RB67 metal "pie-plate" dedicated hood, fitting both versions, is actually much harder to find than either lens version.]

3. Current demand for "classic" full-frame K-mount lenses (especially FF W/A lenses) has noticeably increased over the last year or so because of the release of Pentax's first full-frame DSLR (the K-1) a number of months ago. [Pentax is still selling very good APS-C DSLRs, too, of course.]

4. I will say that it is a ~very~ good lens design (both the SMC A and the SMC FA versions, which are, AFAIK, essentially identical except for MF vs AF, a possible (?) SMC coatings difference, and a differing number of aperture blades). I owned the SMC A version for a couple of decades (going way back into Ye Olde Film Days of Yore), before finally selling it a couple of years ago, only after obtaining a good SMC FA copy of it (which also focuses manually pretty well, too), and this is only because my eyes (now older than dirt) generally have trouble nowadays quickly focusing W/A MF lenses.

5. While I will admit that the lens design has not won universal acclaim from all Pentax aficionados, both versions do generally garner high marks. [Pentax Forums has a good "official" review of the SMC FA version at http://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-fa-20mm-f28/review.html while there are user reviews for both versions at http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-A-20mm-F2.8-Lens.html and http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-FA-20mm-F2.8-Lens.html.]

6. The two copies of it (both SMC A version) I see on eBay at the moment are listed with moderately high Buy It Now prices, but this is pretty typical for many "classic" Pentax lenses from East Asia sellers (these two are both from the same South Korean dealer). [The SMC FA version typically garners an even higher price, too,]

7. Well, there are just a few sort of random thoughts of mine on the Pentax SMC A and SMC FA 20/2.8 lenses... Smile
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