Really dumb questions

[Keithw]

So I'll apologise straight away!

But, I've been looking at lenses on ebay and wondered:

a) If I wanted to buy a prime lens (or two) what would you guys recommend? I'm assuming a fast (f1.7 or better) 50mm would be a definite but what about a 28mm f2.8 or a 125mm f2.8; are they worth getting? I suppose what I mean is whether the extra stop or 2 is worth getting. Also I assume the quality of a prime is better than that of a zoom.

b) And here's the tricky bit - what should one pay for older lenses? Obviously there isn't a "book" price but as a guide, what's a fair price to pay? I ask because I have seen bids for computer equipment that are higher than the price available on the net. People see to assume that if it's on ebay it's a bargain! So if I'm going to bid (and win) I need to have an idea of when to stop.

Keith

[bigdawg]

Keithw wrote:

So I'll apologise straight away!

But, I've been looking at lenses on ebay and wondered:

a) If I wanted to buy a prime lens (or two) what would you guys recommend? I'm assuming a fast (f1.7 or better) 50mm would be a definite but what about a 28mm f2.8 or a 125mm f2.8; are they worth getting? I suppose what I mean is whether the extra stop or 2 is worth getting. Also I assume the quality of a prime is better than that of a zoom.

b) And here's the tricky bit - what should one pay for older lenses? Obviously there isn't a "book" price but as a guide, what's a fair price to pay? I ask because I have seen bids for computer equipment that are higher than the price available on the net. People see to assume that if it's on ebay it's a bargain! So if I'm going to bid (and win) I need to have an idea of when to stop.

Keith

Keith, I look up the old lens on google and see what they were selling for new. Then I limit myself to 75 percent of that cost when bidding. What you are looking for in 50mm lens should not go over 50 dollars for the 1.7 and 100 dollars for the 1.4 if they are manual lens. The f/2 50mm M lens you should be able to get for 30 dollars or so. I've started limiting myself to 75 dollars no matter what it is and will only go higher if it is a one time deal never to appear again. I did this for the Vivitar 105 macro from Trader Jim as it would probably never be at that price again for a new one. I don't regret it at all even though the wife pitched a fit over it even though it was alll money I'd saved. Just my opinion and I'm not always right. But you need to average the selling cost of several such lens on Ebay and set a limit and stick to it. I've gotten great lens for 95 cents and scrap aluminum or plastic for 30+ dollars. Truly "Buyer Beware" country. Have fun and Good Luck. Oh yeah...I got a Tamron 24mm adaptall lens for 20 dollars including shipping. Great lens but infinity is not quite there. Useless for landscapes I want to do...I won't be reselling it as it would put someone else in the I hate this lens catagory.

Dawg

[jachol]

Keithw wrote:

So I'll apologise straight away!

But, I've been looking at lenses on ebay and wondered:

a) If I wanted to buy a prime lens (or two) what would you guys recommend? I'm assuming a fast (f1.7 or better) 50mm would be a definite but what about a 28mm f2.8 or a 125mm f2.8; are they worth getting? I suppose what I mean is whether the extra stop or 2 is worth getting. Also I assume the quality of a prime is better than that of a zoom.

b) And here's the tricky bit - what should one pay for older lenses? Obviously there isn't a "book" price but as a guide, what's a fair price to pay? I ask because I have seen bids for computer equipment that are higher than the price available on the net. People see to assume that if it's on ebay it's a bargain! So if I'm going to bid (and win) I need to have an idea of when to stop.

Keith

Hi Keith,
For what it's worth re. the b part of your question, if I get interested in a particular lens, I monitor the Ebay auctions for a week or two just to get an idea what price that lens averages, after that you bide your time, and very often I think down to different wording of offers you sometimes see one that doesn't attract the attention it merits and is tending to be lower priced they're the ones to go for. I also take note of a sellers reliability.
Re. your a) part there are others who will answer that better than I. I do have primes including the 50/1.4 M and the 50/1.7 A, and like using them very much, it's kind of like having a dedicated tool for a particular job rather than a multi purpose tool. ... Just my thoughts. ... Jack

[bilybianca]

Hi Keith.

By sheer luck, I have the FA 28 2.8, the FA 35 2.0 and the FA 50 1.4, having bought all at very favourable prices.

(The 28 mm was part of a package deal, sold some of the stuff and got all my money back. Kept the 28 mm, an AF converter 1.7 and an F 70-210 consequently for free. I dare call that a good deal.:G)

At first I thought about selling the 28, but after using it on my SA trip I think it defends it's place besides the other two. No doubt primes win over zooms any day, at least if they are one of the Pentax quality primes. Compared even to the *-lenses these three give you a lot of lens, fora comparatively low price.

Kjell

[robar]

keith,
do a search for the lens and then ck the ''completed auctions''.. this will give you a figure to go by. i'd venture to say that you'll be happy with any used pentax lens as far as IQ is concerned. altho there are lenses they made that had IQ problems from copy to copy. like the K 135/2.5 takumar. i had one that was a POS and now another that's superb.

roy

[mtngal]

As far as a) goes - it depends on what you want. The 28mm 2.8is a popular wide anglelens. I used to leave the kit lens home and shoot any wide angle stuff with my M 24mm 2.8 but have really do like the convenience of the kit lens. The 24mm 2.8 stays home unless I want something faster.

The SMC 125mm 2.8 also has a good reputation. It would be a useful tele lens (I like using my K-Mount Tak 125mm 2.5, a much lesser lens but one that's quite sharp).

So it comes down to - do you want a tele or a wide angle? Or the faster 50mm?

If you are thinking about an M 50mm, my recommendation would be to buy the 1.7 (and save yourself a couple of dollars at the same time, since the 1.4 sells at a premium). I have both the 1.7 and the 1.4 and find the 1.4 to be too soft wide openfor me. Since one of the purposes of a fast lens is to be able to use it wide open, I prefer the 1.7. Once you stop down the lens beyond f2 (say f2.8), the two lenses are the same.