seeking advice about selling a used pentax K-r

Hi,

I am new to this forum and not an expert in photography and was hoping someone here could help me.

The Pentax K-r was the first decent camera I've ever had, bought it in 2012, second hand in good condition, for £250, it came with the standard Pentax 18-55mm lens. It is a great camera, but I don't use its advanced features (I need to learn about photography but not enough time..) and most importantly, I am looking for something much much lighter for travel, hence I don't think I need it anymore and am looking to sell it.

However, it is not in the condition I got it in, thus I have little idea of its value. It was dropped, quite heavily, and had to have its lens replaced with a new Samsung D-xenon 18-55mm, after which it continued working fine (the body looked to be intact - but I have no idea if anything else was affected). The viewfinder also acquired some dust, although I have just managed to remove it. It was subsequently dropped a second time, with the result that the filter that covers the Samsung lens got dented and is near impossible to remove (the filter lens itself looked fine though I have just taken it out in an attempt to remove the filter after seeing some videos of removing dented filters with pliers - but it appears it's too hard to do myself and I would have to get help, anyway the Samsung lens itself still looks fine and image quality is fine). The body didn't suffer any damage and the camera continued working. Now just a few days ago, the autofocus became much more temperamental than previously, for no obvious reason, it could be the lens or the body, I don't have another lens to compare, the contacts between lens and body look ok (but I am no expert). It still works but a lot more patience is required to get the autofocus to lock in. Finally there is a small crack in the battery, but the battery still works fine. The camera has a shutter count of 5292 and manufacture date 16/09/2011.

My question is how and where could I sell this camera for a reasonable value and with the least hassle? The obvious place is eBay but seems like it's almost at the stage where I'd have to advertise it as for spares/repair, simply because I don't know the true condition of it, which would bring the value down a lot, even though maybe it still works perfectly well with a bit of fiddling. There seems to be an advertising board on this forum.. Also I could try camera shops but my only local one only does part exchange which I'm not interested in.

The main thing is I don't want to spend too much time on it. I could go and try to get the dented filter off the lens at a repair shop, get the autofocus issue diagnosed, replace the battery, perhaps even replace the lens. Is it worth it?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot in advance,
V

are you upgrading your kit or have you already done so if you are upgrading why not try srs and see what they offer you as part ex

I've already upgraded.. I just want to sell it.. I might try contacting srs though as they say they can sell on commission..

I think that's answered my question. There are a number of outfits in the UK that do commission sales. I guess that's the best way to go with this.

The trouble is, the camera has taken a few knocks and is not going to be an attractive purchase. eBay might still be the best option, but you will need to outline its history and probably will get a very low price, if you sell it at all.

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Best regards, John

That's exactly my concern. But cameras can take a few knocks and still work perfectly fine. It's because its condition is unknown that its price goes down, because the risk to the buyer is high. I think I'll try Ffordes or SRS.

Obvious question perhaps but was it not insured - either specifically or under your home insurance policy? If so, dropping it would be grounds for a claim and you could have it repaired and thereafter sell it with full confidence it was in working order. You will, no doubt, have to pay an excess but that could be far less than the loss you might make with uncertainty about its condition.

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David Hamilton

thanks, but no I try to avoid paying for insurance unless I really have to. It was not that expensive anyway and even in the best case scenario where it was still in perfect condition it wouldn't fetch more than £150-200, so it's not exactly a big loss. Just wondering though, cos this must be a really common situation - SLR's get dropped all the time, often continue working fine, yet their resale value drops massively, then when the owner no longer wishes to keep it, what do they do - give it to charity?

Ref the battery, is it worth spending a very few quid for an after-market one to replace the original (so one less "problem")?

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K-3 II, K-3 and a K-70 from SRS (having now relegated the K-30 /"K-50" to a backup body), & some Sigma and Pentax lenses (and a lot of old 35mm gear!)

yeah I almost did.. but too late now probably.. have arranged a courier with Ffordes to collect tomorrow afternoon.. doubt I can get hold of a battery on the high street. Will just hope for the best. The battery works, anyway.

Are you sure about that? I've never dropped one, even when I had a film SLR years ago.
I've had 14 digital cameras since then, not one has ever been dropped and I don't personally know anyone who has dropped any camera. To me it would be like dropping a baby
But you're right, it would massively depreciate it's value if advertised that it was dropped. Even if repaired, the value would still be low because of the fact it was dropped. For this reason I never by used cameras because it would be so tempting for sellers to not mention 'dropping' in order to maximize their sale..
You'd not get much for a pristine K-r anyway. I'd be inclined to keep it as a backup body in case you drop your new one

FWIW, sometimes you don't even have to be careless for a camera to drop - I've had at least one film camera and one DSLR fall to the ground because of strap failures, mainly resulting from the D-rings connecting the straps to the bodies becoming detached!

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K-3 II, K-3 and a K-70 from SRS (having now relegated the K-30 /"K-50" to a backup body), & some Sigma and Pentax lenses (and a lot of old 35mm gear!)

Oh I'm not saying one has to be careless or ham fisted, I understand that straps can fail or pets/kids can pull them off tables from the dangling straps. I'm just not buying the comment made by vlava that "SLR's get dropped all the time"

I'm with Steve .... I've had 4 babies over the years fall off a bed, or slip through fingers and drop .... But not one accident with my Pentax DSLR !!

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My Guides to the Pentax Digital Camera Flash Lighting System : Download here from the PentaxForums Homepage Article .... link
Pentax K7 with BG-4 Grip / Samyang 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC / DA18-55mm f3.5-5.6 AL WR / SMC A28mm f2.8 / D FA 28-105mm / SMC F35-70 f3.5-4.5 / SMC A50mm f1.7 / Tamron AF70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD macro / SMC M75-150mm f4.0 / Tamron Adaptall (CT-135) 135mm f2.8 / Asahi Takumar-A 2X tele-converter / Pentax AF-540FGZ (I & II) Flashes / Cactus RF60/X Flashes & V6/V6II Transceiver

LOL

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K-3 II, K-3 and a K-70 from SRS (having now relegated the K-30 /"K-50" to a backup body), & some Sigma and Pentax lenses (and a lot of old 35mm gear!)

perhaps that was a slight exaggeration on my part I don't know much about cameras. Just googling various issues made me think it was quite common.

And yet they do seem so fragile and proprietary, compared to most technology I have. I know it's not so different to computers, but the latter seem somehow more open and repairable by the user or a third party.

My new camera is a Sony WX350. £140 new, 164g. Not as good as an SLR but light and portable and I'll use it more but I also like the fact it's not very expensive. Hopefully more drop proof too, being lighter!