I was lucky and didn't pay that much for it; while it is not cheap for an M series lens, it is good value compared to the other Pentax short tele options.

The K series 105/2.8 is allegedly better and I've added it to my LBA wishlist, but am not sure I've ever seen one for sale...

I recently bought one of these and took it out at the weekend for the first time.

It's surprisingly sharp wide open, with vibrant colours and smooth bokeh, similar to the M85/2 but less prone to purple fringing. I'll work on some postable pictures (mostly portraits of my kids so far).

Definitely one to look out for if you're in the market for a short telephoto prime, as it's significantly less expensive than the 85mm options.

Definitely. It sounds like you appreciate the qualities of the 31 and I'd be tempted to try it with some extension tubes or a dioptre as a reasonably cheap means of doing close up work before doing anything rash like selling it and use the kit lens until you have the funds for a DA15.

Thanks for the responses everyone - I think it must be a coincidence then. I'm pretty sure the buyers weren't blocked from paying, as I've sold to people outside the UK in similar listings that were set up as UK only and hadn't specifically blacklisted or excluded any regions.

I'm happy to send items outside the UK, but am a bit wary of sending items overseas where Airsure isn't supported, as I'm not a massive eBayer and have so far lost about 20% of items I've sent via the standard airmail small packets service in the last couple of years (one to Canada, one to Portugal so far).

Perhaps someone, somewhere is telling me I should keep it, as it's a nice lens (damned LBA)...

I've tried to sell mine twice now, as I've upgraded to a K135/2.5, and both times it has been won by different bidders from China/Hong Kong (on a UK only auction) who have subsequently not paid.

I appreciate that selling on eBay is not without its challenges, but this seems a bit of a strange coincidence to me. Has anyone else had similar experiences? Is it part of some kind of scam?

You may also be experiencing problems with the diaphragm lever baffle on the back of the lens.

I had a Koboron made Vivitar 28-200mm lens and had to modify the baffle before it would mount correctly on my DSLR. The baffle is the raised ridge on the inner edge of the mount, next to the diaphragm lever.

For some reason, on some Vivtar lenses from the 80s/90s, the baffle is elongated so that it runs around approx. 90° of the circumference of the mount. If your lens has this type of baffle, you will need to either remove it completely, or modify it to remove the rear part of the baffle so that it mounts properly on your camera.

The 28-200 I had was surprisngly good, given the zoom range and was described elsewhere as a 'hidden gem' of a lens.

Hope this helps.

A word of warning - I recently replied to a Gumtree ad listing a K10D, 16-50 and 50-135 for £600. It sounded too good to be true, but seemed worth a look.

As a measure of caution, I replied twice, separately, from different e-mail addresses. The seller agreed to sell the equipment to both!

After exchanging several e-mails from each address, the seller mentioned that the equipment was, in fact, at the other end of the country (Plymouth) from where it was advertised (York), but that they would complete the transaction via ukash (similar to Paypal) an pay for shipping to me.

Unsurprisingly, my request to pick it up from Plymouth and pay cash went unanswered and a quick google revealed this to be a common scam. Less fortunate people have paid for a range of expensive, specialist items, like cameras and bikes advertised on Gumtree via ukash and never received anything.

The advert was good as well; the specs were accurately listed and they had a good (although decidedly amateur) photo of the kit. A particularly unsavoury aspect of all this is that presumably the scam involves a Pentax enthusiast, which is a shame, as they seem a pretty friendly and helpful crowd otherwise.

I also have one and it has hardly left my camera since I got it.

True, the build isn't up there with Pentax lenses, but the performance is excellent and it offers a useful combination of range and speed for a general puprpose walkabout lens.

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