Tell Me Whats-A-Happening?

[Tony Evans]

<p>There has been a recent rapid escalation in the price of used A, F and FA lenses. They seem to be going up (PentaxForum, EBay, Craigs, etc) almost on a daily basis. I can think of three reasons.<br>

1. They are still relatively cheaper than the newer DA series.<br>

2. They will be worth gold if Pentax brings out a backwards compatible DFF.<br>

3. Many Pentaxians (like others) are drifting back to an AC/DC lifestyle with both Film and Digital, where one lens does both.<br>

I am voting for #3. What other views are out there?</p>

 

[michael_elenko]

<p>Tony,<br>

I think the correlation between the price of a new Pentax lens and the price of a used lens is fairly strong. Since Pentax has raised the retail prices of most lenses, used prices escalate correspondingly. It seems to be most noticeable on the more common 50mm lenses. The FA 50mm, a former bargain, is the driver in that market, and everything second-hand downstream, including the "A" lenses, has been bumped up appreciably.</p>

<p>Other drivers include higher quality lenses that are no longer manufactured, and collectibles. The FA 35mm commands a price used that is higher than recent retail new. It's worth it too.</p>

<p>The "full-frame" bet is pretty risky in my opinion and I don't believe most Pentax shooters think it will happen within a year. A better bet would be to buy up the 645 stuff prior to the digital release that (I guess) will happen shortly.</p>

<p>I believe more people have abandoned 135 film than have come back to it during the past year, even though film users communicate in a fair proportion on forums.</p>

<p>ME</p>

[r.t. dowling]

<p>I think it's just supply and demand. The number of used A/F/FA lenses keeps shrinking, while the demand keeps increasing. Naturally, prices will go up as a result.</p>

[r.t. dowling]

<p>When I bought my Pentax DSLR three years ago, one of the main reasons that I chose Pentax over Canon or Nikon was the appeal of all those old K-mount lenses, which were still pretty affordable at the time. I'm sure I'm not the only person who became a Pentaxian for that reason.</p>

<p>The number of used lenses is finite, but the number of Pentax DSLR users continues to grow. It just makes sense that as the supply dwindles and the demand increases, the prices are going to rise.</p>

<p>I'm glad I was able to get a 50/1.7 "A" at a relatively reasonable price. Unfortunately I waited too long on an FA 35/2, and now I'll probably never be able to afford one!</p>

[simon_bygdell]

<p>I remember looking for M42 mount lenses on ebay a few years ago and searches on ebay would keep coming up with K-mount lens by the hundreds, available at throw-away prices. Annoying at the time. After I bought a K-x last week, I went back to look for good bargains on old K-mount lenses and lo-behold, looks like they are all gone! I guess Pentax going digital sucked up all that supply in the market. Used vendors like KEH also do not seem to have much of a supply of Pentax or 3rd party K-mount lens.</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>The lenses are good, the mount is ubiquitous, and the supply is lower: price increase. </p>

[bkpix]

<p>It's too bad. I find myself tempted by Nikon and the huge number of old lenses still on the market. Also a FF DSLR, which means the possibility of owning less gear to cover both film and digital.</p>

[dawsonjm]

<p>I think that all of the reasons given above are credible, and have also noticed that the prices have done nothing but go up. Another reason, one that I find really irritating, is the number of adapters being sold to put Pentax lenses on Canon EOS cameras. There must be a lot of lenses going that direction, or there simply would not be so many adapters.</p>

[c2500]

<p>I have been watching pricing since December, and I think part of the deal is that more and more people have jumped into the market. There used to be tons of film cameras with a lens, but the trend now is to split them up. A couple of years ago I acquired a bunch of film cameras far cheaper than the lenses where at the time. I think it is crazy what people are asking...let alone paying for a used lens. There have been plenty of lenses listed used, that a bit of research would show they could be had new (at BH photo), for far less than the asking price on ebay.</p>

[tom_price1]

<p>I have been watching this too and attribute it to several factors: The Pentax K-x is selling really well and I think a number of owners are looking for cheap glass, the Micro 4/3 cameras with Pentax adapters, Canon EOS owners with M42 adapters, and the price increases in new Pentax lenses. I'm seeing prices going up for a number of legacy Pentax lenses in the last 2-3 months.</p>