Pentax-M 40mm 2.8 pancake lens

I watching the above lens on ebay and what would be a good price for this lens.

James

is there a difference between a prime and a ltd lens ?? if so What

Anybody's guess. Depending on condition and the Buying Mood it could be £30 or £130.....it's been both extremes!

Prime lens means fixed focal length. A 50mm is an example of a prime lens. A Limited lens is a limited (in volume) production line that operates to the highest standards.

I've seen them priced between £65 and £150 before now - the lower was a well-used example on ebay, the higher was an independent camera shop.

It really comes down to what you're willing to pay and how long you're willing to wait. By waiting for a couple of months I managed to find a near-mint 75-150mm zoom for £25, rather than the £60 I was seeing them elsewhere. If you don't mind waiting you'll find the lens you want at a price you're willing to pay eventually.

Carmarthen Camera Centre have one for £69 at the moment, which is graded as 2.5 out of 5 (where 1 is mint, 2 is light signs of use, 3 is obvious signs of use, etc.).

I rarely see any on eBay going for less than that.

Apart from the smaller size I found nothing remarkable about the 40 I had, in fact I sold it for only £46!

I feel the lens is over rated and over priced, I prefer either of the 50s to the 40.

But that's just my view, personally I wouldn't pay more than £50 for one, they're like buses, if you miss one another will be along soon.

Out of interest, does anyone know if they did an 'A' version of this lens?

No 'A' version, just the 'M' and current DA ones, as far as I know.

I see that emeliaarts are selling no less than 5 of these 'rare' lenses, need I say more!

When Womble sees this thread he'll come up with a current value.

I'm not sure their definition of rare is always congruent with everyone elses.

I don't know if anyone here has bought lenses from them, but they do always seem to ask for top dollar, and I wonder if this is reflected in the quality of the items they sell?

I'm in no hurry for a 40mm. I would like one for my MX but I won't pay over £50. The ideal would be to find one with a fungus problem as that usually scares people off, but I've sorted out three 50mm lenses with this fault, so it doesn't worry me providing the price is low and the lens a fairly simple design.

I could do with a handful of Pentax-branded 49mm lens caps but refuse to pay the daft prices asked by the above-mentioned ebay seller. I've also been horrified by their lens prices - I've had superb lenses from other sellers for a lot less.

Well after reading through the post's I have decided against buying one I will make do with my 16-45 and my 50mm 1.7 but thank you for all the input into this topic

James

may go for a 24mm if the price is right

just found a 24mm on ebay BUT it has a slight internal haze can this be fix and if so

How would you go about it

James

It really depends on what's causing the hazing and how complicated the 24mm design is. If it's just dust or fungus on the elements then it can probably be cleaned off with a cotton bud dipped in vinegar. However, if whatever it is has attacked the coating on the elements then it's not likely to be repairable.

I wouldn't attempt to dismantle a telephoto lens or a zoom, as the more lens elements there are the more difficult it becomes to get it back together in the right order. Personally, if the lens was under £20 I'd buy it and sort it myself, but I don't want to talk anyone into buying a wreck that they can't then sort out.

If it helps, I've been quoted £40 to have fungus removed from a 200mm prime by a professional (A M Technical Services). I posted the lens a week ago and I'm just waiting for an invoice for the repair costs. I suspect he'd probably charge about the same to sort that 24mm out.

Every time someone starts a thread on this topic I mention I have one of these very nice lenses for sale, only because I have the DA version, no one has ever shown any interest

... so how would I dismantle a 24? I have one, rarely use it and it back focuses at infinity a tad IMO.

Bret

I'm afraid my rinky-dinky ebay sales database is a bit out of date now. I got rather fed up with it when I could no longer just right-click and save the image on the ebay sales page.

For what is worth, the 19 sales of this lens I have in the database average at 60 pounds, but given the current price inflation I think you could easily add 20 to that now.

I, too, will have one for sale soon. I bought a job lot of stuff which included this lens and I shall be selling it on ebay, along with a 50mm f/1.7 and a 28mm f/2.8 (all M-series), and probably various other bits of surplus stuff I have ended up with over the last few years.

Best wishes, Kris.