I've got a Pentax version of the 18-250 which I'd be happy to sell for less than £370.

I bought as a travel lens and worked out that I didn't really use anything above about 100mm so 'changed' it for a Sigma 24-70 (by 'changed', I mean that I've already bought the Sigma!) and will use my kit lens and M85/2 when I need to travel light instead.

I'd add another vote for the FA50 1.4 - I also have one and can highly recommend it.

Depending on your tastes, it might be worth looking at a second hand F50/1.7 which should be cheaper than the FA50 1.4 and is sharper wide open.

I'd add a vote for the WR kit lens, then the Tamron. I think that having a fast lens is useful for the narrow depth of field, even though the ISO performance of the K-5 means you don't necessarily need it for available light shooting indoors.

I've found the kit lens to be much better than you'd initially think by reading about it on the forums. In practice, for everyday shooting, I've found that the quality differences between my mk2 kit lens and Tamron 17-50 are discernable, but you have to look pretty hard in some cases. Coming from a bridge camera, I'd imagine that you're in for a treat with either.

It depends on your shooting style and how serious you are about using the WR. Personally WR is something I've only used occasionally and I've been able to adapt my style to use the kit lens in those situations.

Sigma 70-300mm F/4-5.6 APO macro MF PK/A mount zoom lens

A few pictures:


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Optical condition:
Excellent - one or two specks of internal dust, but no haze or fungus or other marks

Mechanical condition:
Excellent - zoom and focus actions are smooth and diaphragm is snappy

Cosmetic condition:
Very good - shows signs of light, careful use, but has a scratch to the front edge of the focus ring as shown in one of the pictures

No problem - I'll put up pics and a more detailed description for the Sigma 70-300 this evening.

I've completed the initial sort-through and have posted a list of lenses and a couple of film bodies for sale in the classifieds forum before they go on the dreaded eBay:

https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/new-year-clearout-25006

As discussed in a recent thread, I have made an LBA-related New year's resolution to divest myself of the large portion of my lens collection that I don't use as much as I should:

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I've completed a preliminary sort-through and have a list of kit I'm planning to get rid of. As suggested on the thread, I though I'd put up a list here to see if anyone on the forum would be be interested before I begin listing it on eBay.

The kit is listed below, with indicative prices (including UK recorded delivery or special delivery for the higher value items). At this stage I haven't written detailed descriptions or photographed it all yet, but if you let me know what you're interested in, I'll post/e-mail pictures and a more detailed description. It seems more sensible to do it that way than spend ages writing an epic forum post only to find that nobody's interested!

I'd be happy to send outside the UK via Royal Mail Airsure where available (I've lost about 20% of the small number of items I've ever sent overseas using the standard airmail service) and would consider sensible offers (especially for multiple items).

Sigma Lenses:
Sigma 28-70 2.8 EX DF PK/A AF (excellent condition - original caps, soft case and box). Supplied with a Sigma EX DG UV filter - £180
Sigma 70-300 4-5.6 APO macro (1:2) PK/A MF (excellent condition) - £50

Tamron Adaptall (1 and 2) lenses:
Tamron Adaptall-2 17A 35-70 F/3.5 macro zoom excellent (case and instructions) - £40
Tamron Adaptall-2 01B 24mm F/2.5 optically and mechanically excellent but has a couple of slight marks to the front edge of the focussing ring (supplied with case and original caps - case shows some wear to fastening) - £65
Tamron Adaptall-2 02B 28mm F/2.5 optically and mechanically good but shows some signs of light use (supplied with original caps and P/K mount which shows signs of moderate use) - £25
Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 01F 2x teleconverter, excellent condition (cased - shows some wear to case fastening) - £20
Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 01F 2x teleconverter, excellent condition (cased) - £20
Tamron Adaptall 24mm F/2.5, Excellent condition with original caps and non-original leather case - £60
Tamron Adaptall 135mm F/2.8, Excellent condition with original caps but no case - £30
Tamron Adaptall 200mm F/3.5 Excellent with caps and case (may have a P/K mount - I'll need to check) - £30

Pentax lenses (and film bodies)
Pentax SMC-A 50mm F1.7. Excellent optically, cosmetically and mechanically, original box (although this has is not in great shape), Supplied with original rear and aftermarket front cap - £60
Pentax K/1000 with SMC-A 50mm F/2 lens Immaculate except for a scratch near tripod socket on base - £70
Pentax P30T body - excellent condition with body cap, strap and instructions - £20

Other lenses
Vivtar Series 1 70-210mm F/3.5 (v2 - Tokina made) Excellent optical, cosmetic and mechanical condition, PK mount - £50.
Petri 28mm F/2 Excellent condition - optically excellent, shows some signs of careful use (I believe it was manufactured by Cosina - I have been very pleased with the results but have too many 28mm lenses and tend to use my FA28 instead) - £60

I've also got some M42 lenses (CZJ 135 Sonnar MC and Tessar 50/2.8, Chinon 28/2.8 and Pentacon 29/2.8 and 50/1. if they are of any interest, but I thought it might be pushing the 'Pentax related' guidelines a bit far.

My Tak 135/2.5 is one of the earlier screw mount variety, although I do also have one of the K-mount Takumar bayonet lenses that I made the school boy error of thinking was the SMC (K-series) version.

With the M42 Takumars, I believe that they changed the optical formula (to 6/6) during the production of the later SMC-Tak version and this later version seems to be considered a significantly better performer. There is a thread ove on one of the other forums on how to dstinguish between the early and late versions:

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I'll keep a lookout for either a late SMC-Takumar or a K series version (which used the same optical scheme as the SMC-Takumar) as I have been very pleased with the earlier Super Takumar.

Looking through the forum classifieds, I think that a lot of my surplus kit is unlikely to be of much interest to other forum members (cheap 70-200 manual zooms and M42 teleconverters etc).

I'll certainly put some of the nicer Pentax stuff up there before eBay, though.

I have to admit that the idea of a K5 did cross my mind, too. Nice to hear that it worked out for you.

Not normally one for new Year's resolutions, but I planing an LBA related one this year.

I've had a DSLR (K-m) for a couple of years and in the time have been bitten by LBA so have had far more lenses than I need for quite a while, however, I also now have a significant collection of lenses that I don't want and haven't used that came as part of packages.

My LBA isn't as significant as some (well under 100 lenses, anyway), but it seems a shame to have a lot of kit I don't use that other people may be able to get out and shoot with.

My plan is to do the following:

- Make a wishlist/roadmap of lenses that I want and will use
- Review my collection to find out what I have actually used during the past year
- Get rid of anything I haven't shot with regularly and that I can't see a specific use for in the future
- Get rid all of my unused kit on e-bay
- Only buy new lenses that are on my wishlist
- Only fund new lens purchases from the sale of my unused kit

I appreciate this may well sound familiar, but I'd be interested in to hear from anyone else who has tried a similar approach. I'm under no illusion that it will last very long, as the lure of eBay and old glass and excellent engineering for beer-money hasn't diminished!