FS: Pentax SMC-M 35mm f/2.8 lens

For sale, Pentax SMC-M 35mm f/2.8 lens. I've acquired a K 35mm f/3.5 so this has to go.

Good condition, some slight dust inside it but no fungus or oil on the aperture blades. Includes generic caps, £50 including UK postage. Photos on request.

Payment by bank transfer (preferred), paypal, or cleared cheque.

John.

Hey John, I'm interested in this one. Any chance you could upload some pictures please?

Kamil

Photos linked below:

Is the aperture sticky ?

Hi Algi,

That's the one thing I hadn't checked, having done so I've discovered it is sticky (are you telepathic or is it a common problem?). I have used it on both film and digital without problems, but I'm not happy with it's condition and will have to withdraw it from sale.

Algi: Thanks for asking the question, I wouldn't have wanted to disappoint a prospective purchaser.

Thanks for those who looked at it.

John.

It's a common, but not serious problem with that lens.
If you work the pin a few times it goes away, but it's
better to check it each time you use the lens.

Because all the 35mm f/2.8's seem the same I would still
sell it for about £40. It's an excellent performer and
very good wide open. I've still got one and rate it very
highly. Mine also has the sticky aperture.... no idea why
it effects just that one lens. I was going to strip mine
down, but the 5 screws on the baseplate seem glued. I
snapped the head off a £5 screwdriver trying to undo
them.

Hi Algi,

Thanks for the additional info. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with it at the moment.

John

If you try stripping it down this (£4.89) screwdriver is an exact
fit for the M lenses rear mount link

If all else fails with M lenses the aperture lever can be cut
off leaving the lens as a pre-set. This has the advantage of
making Av usable at all apertures. With a 35mm you can leave
it set on f/8 and infinity focus plus Av and it will quickly capture
anything from about 3M to INF using it as a quick point and shoot.

Thanks Algi,

The orange marks on the aperture ring & focusing scale line up the hyperfocal distance at f/8. Line three marks up and you have everything from 6ft(ish) to infinity if you check the DOF markings (on 135 film).

John.

You can do it that way, but I prefer to set the lens on INF.
It's very difficult to accurately set 8M hyperfocal distance
on a wide angle lens.

You need to make sure that INF is correct, but it's rare for
a Pentax prime to be out.

Having spent some time looking at this on a camera, the aperture is definitely sticky and becomes more of a problem at smaller apertures (the green button doesn't stop the lens down completely before it re-opens it after metering). The stop-down switch around the shutter release will stop it down completely.

Reduced to £35 with UK postage, bank transfer or cleared cheque.

John.

Bump

Bringing this thread back having found the lens again.

Still for sale, looking for around £35 posted to the UK.

Any interest (please read the thread to understand the situation)?

John

Withdrawn from sale having had second thoughts - it's a nice little lens to keep in my film bag.

Thanks to those for looking.

John.

Hi All, please read all of this post for the background.

This lens has a sticky aperture. It has been used without any noticeable problems on manual film cameras with monochrome film (K1000, MX), but when using the GREEN button on a DSLR the aperture doesn't always stop down fully before the camera takes the metering (the film cameras open-aperture meter).

Anybody interested in making an offer?

Regards,

John.