PM sent re 55-300

PM sent

I'm having a clear out of some of my lenses to make space and raise funds for an FA77 ltd.

For sale is my K135/2.5. I've had it for a year or so, but find it a bit long for what I need, however, given a suitable occasion, it deserves its reputation as one of the best 135mm lenses ever made.

It's in excellent condition, although not quite mint as it has one or two specks of internal dust and externally shows signs of careful use. The optics are in good shape, with no scratches, marks or fungus (the dust mentioned previously is normal for a lens of the age and nothing that would affect the pictures). Cosmetically it's in excellent condition, as shown in the pictures.

It is supplied with Pentax front and rear caps but I believe that both are later versions than would have been supplied with the lens. Although I don't normally use them, I'd be happy to include a UV filter as well if you'd like one.

Looking at the going rate on eBay, I think that £135 delivered within the UK is reasonable and I'd be happy to investigate postage options to send it further afield if required. Payment by bank transfer or PayPal (with the buyer covering the fees).

I'm having a clear out of some of my lenses to make space and raise funds for an FA77 ltd.

For sale is my A50/1.4. I've had it for a couple of years, but haven't used it as much as I should have because I have a range of other fast 50s (FA50 1.4, K50 1.4 and K50 1.2).

It's in excellent condition, although not quite mint as it has one or two specks of internal dust and externally shows signs of careful use. The optics are in good shape, with no scratches, marks or fungus (the dust mentioned previously is normal for a lens of the age and nothing that would affect the pictures). Cosmetically it's in excellent condition, as shown in the pictures.

It is supplied with the original rear cap but an aftermarket front cap. Although I don't normally use them, I'd be happy to include a UV filter as well if you'd like one.

Looking at the going rate on eBay, I think that £100 delivered within the UK is reasonable and I'd be happy to investigate postage options to send it further afield if required. Payment by bank transfer or PayPal (with the buyer covering the fees).

As I understand it, it optically identical to the SMC takumar 35/3.5 and I think I have a spare one of those if it's of any interest.

Tempting, but would it affect future premiums?

I have to admit a certain degree of cynnicism towards such things, but I can't help feeling that despite all the 'protected no claims bonus' marketing, the insurer will end up getting their money back somehow. There appears to be enough of a lack of transparency in how they actually calculate premiums to take accounts of such factors.

One of my pet peeves is how, on my motor insurance renewal every year, my renewal quote mysteriously drops by £80-100 if I phoe up and threaten to move to another insurer...

I have the Sigma (but a pre-HSM version) and it's excellent.

I think that the HSM version is slightly less sharp, but both it and the Tamron are still pretty good. I only bought it over the Tamron as I found a copy in good shape first (and also have a Sigma 24-70/2.8 which I am really pleased with).

I'm afraid that the best advice I can offer is the standard line of comparing samples on teh web to see which you prefer. In my case, I did this and concluded that my skills as a photographer would be the limiting factor on either choice!

That's a fair point, but I think that the price isn't necessarily the only factor I'd take in to account. If it was clear that the seller had made a genuine mistake, then I'd be the last person to kick up a fuss.

However, I think the case I'm referring to is more like what dougf8 mentioned, especially as it was a poor photo and a poor description:



Tempting, but the thing is that I'm not really bothered about getting the camera (it would have been nice, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it), it's more the principle and the matter of making sure the seller doesn't do it to others. I'll look in to the process and let you know how I get on...

I had an interesting one yesterday, a Pentax ES with an SMC Takumar 50/1.4 for a BIN of £20 that came up in a search I did in an idle moment yesterday afternoon. Lucky timing - doesn't happen often and I've probably used up my quota of luck for a bit now.

Anyway, I bought it, paid and thought nothing further of it. When I checked my e-mail later in the evening, I noticed that I had been given a refund on it with some very thin excuse about having put the wrong camera in the advert. Further investigation showed that the very same camera had been relisted almost immediately for a BIN of £50 (still not bad value).

Given how tough eBay appear to be on sellers in some respects, this seems a bit cheeky. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

How about, as a slightly left-field suggestion, a Tamron Adaptall 90mm 2.5 with an Adaptall 2x teleconverter? This would give you 180mm, 1:1 magnification and better quality than your 70-300 for a reasonable price.