looking to buy some older lenses

wehavenowaves! · 01-20-2011, 08:22 PM

hey so I just got my first DSLR a month or so ago. I really like the fact that you can use older lenses with a new body. The only thing I am curious about is where would one go about looking for older glass? Are there some websites the sell lots of used lenses? Do people sell a lot on this site? I want to add some more lenses to my equipment.

v5planet · 01-20-2011, 08:24 PM

The three big sources will be:

ebay.com/

KEH.com/

and the marketplace forum here on pentaxforums.com.

You may also have some luck on craigslist, but your mileage may vary on that depending on where you live. Although, I'm not sure how active craigslist is in South Korea. You may have mixed luck on the other websites I've listed here as well, as not everyone will ship internationally.

RioRico · 01-20-2011, 09:22 PM

I do all my buying and selling eBay, and there are still some few USAnians like myself who ship internationally. In fact, much of my sales are to countries where the US$dollar is weak. for which I am very happy. I will list some more lenses in the next few days -- not much good for Pentax, unfortunately. But I constantly see good lenses at what I consider good prices, and I am CHEAP.

What to look for: The best zooms are new autofocus glass from Pentax, Sigma, Tamron. The best prime (fixed focal length) lenses are old manual glass from Pentax, Zeiss, Vivitar, and others. The best mostly-inexpensive lenses bear those names, as well as Sears, Porst, Meyer, and others. Some good lenses made by Tokina, Tomioka, Kiron and others may carry names like Sears, Porst, Vivitar, Lentar, Hanimex or Hanimar, Focal, and others. Other quality brands include Ricoh, Petri, Yashica, Mamiya-Sekor, Fujica, etc.

BE AWARE that many of these brands use various mounts including Pentax. Most other mounts will NOT work easily on Pentax dSLRs. If you have any doubt about a lens, this is the place to ask questions. And be sure to check the lens review databases here. Good luck!

clockwork247 · 01-20-2011, 11:49 PM

Originally posted by RioRico

I do all my buying and selling eBay, and there are still some few USAnians like myself who ship internationally. In fact, much of my sales are to countries where the US$dollar is weak. for which I am very happy. I will list some more lenses in the next few days -- not much good for Pentax, unfortunately. But I constantly see good lenses at what I consider good prices, and I am CHEAP.

What to look for: The best zooms are new autofocus glass from Pentax, Sigma, Tamron. The best prime (fixed focal length) lenses are old manual glass from Pentax, Zeiss, Vivitar, and others. The best mostly-inexpensive lenses bear those names, as well as Sears, Porst, Meyer, and others. Some good lenses made by Tokina, Tomioka, Kiron and others may carry names like Sears, Porst, Vivitar, Lentar, Hanimex or Hanimar, Focal, and others. Other quality brands include Ricoh, Petri, Yashica, Mamiya-Sekor, Fujica, etc.

BE AWARE that many of these brands use various mounts including Pentax. Most other mounts will NOT work easily on Pentax dSLRs. If you have any doubt about a lens, this is the place to ask questions. And be sure to check the lens review databases here. Good luck!

I've never had any luck with ebay

, i got sniped so many time, if they used a real gun i would be dead a few thousand times.

xjjohnno · 01-21-2011, 12:00 AM

Originally posted by clockwork247

I've never had any luck with ebay

, i got sniped so many time, if they used a real gun i would be dead a few thousand times.

Bid what you are prepared to pay on Ebay. Once it goes over your acceptable price you can think of the sniper as a sucker. You'll get what you want eventually. I have fond memories of obtaining a Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm f1.7 from a delightful seller in Pakistan for half the price others were selling for that week with lower shipping to Oz price versus what the Euro sellers were getting.

sterretje · 01-21-2011, 12:30 AM

garage sails, local 'classifieds', flea markets, pawn shops

And I have a shop nearby that seems to specialize in old stuff (they got me a supertak 300/4 for around $80 (converted))

RioRico · 01-21-2011, 05:31 AM

Originally posted by xjjohnno

Bid what you are prepared to pay on Ebay. Once it goes over your acceptable price you can think of the sniper as a sucker. You'll get what you want eventually.

My trick is to bid a comfortable amount, then decide if I'm willing to go US$5 beyond that. Sometimes I'll snipe manually, often not. I usually don't go looking for a specific item. More likely, I'll search for a class of lenses I want (for myself or for resale) and bid on whatever pops up. Sometimes I'll get lucky, often not. Patience is required, and thorough research.

Originally posted by sterretje

garage sails, local 'classifieds', flea markets, pawn shops

I don't know if those are options in South Korea. And even though I wrote the guide to buying pawnshop / thriftshop lenses, I am not located where I can readily find cheap glass. Thus I depend on eBay. I may move back to San Francisco for awhile so I can search the thrift shops and flea markets. Maybe I'll get lucky...

clockwork247 · 01-21-2011, 08:02 AM

Originally posted by RioRico

My trick is to bid a comfortable amount, then decide if I'm willing to go US$5 beyond that. Sometimes I'll snipe manually, often not. I usually don't go looking for a specific item. More likely, I'll search for a class of lenses I want (for myself or for resale) and bid on whatever pops up. Sometimes I'll get lucky, often not. Patience is required, and thorough research.

I don't know if those are options in South Korea. And even though I wrote the guide to buying pawnshop / thriftshop lenses, I am not located where I can readily find cheap glass. Thus I depend on eBay. I may move back to San Francisco for awhile so I can search the thrift shops and flea markets. Maybe I'll get lucky...

yeah, I was thinking of setting up a sniper for ebay, but I buy mostly for use, so it becomes pointless if I win a bunch of stuff that I don't use

. Maybe once I have a plan to do bussiness then I'll hit ebay up haha.

RioRico · 01-21-2011, 11:57 AM

Originally posted by clockwork247

yeah, I was thinking of setting up a sniper for ebay, but I buy mostly for use, so it becomes pointless if I win a bunch of stuff that I don't use

. Maybe once I have a plan to do bussiness then I'll hit ebay up haha.

I'm only a lens-trader because I have no disposable income for photo gear. If I wanna buy something, I gotta sell something! So this just make my obsession self-financing. What to do with a bunch of stuff I don't use? That was the problem when I started this a couple years ago. I'd buy batch-lots of stuff just to get one or three good items, then stash the rest. Then I put the excess up for sale... and my profit margin is currently over 80%. Which means I can buy more stuff for myself!

The amounts aren't huge. I spent US$50 (shipped) for eight lenses -- a PK-mount Vivitar that I wanted, and others I can't use -- and I already sold one of those for US$55, and the others will likely go for ~US$15-25 each. With a few more deals like that, I can start thinking about a Kx, eh?

01-20-2011, 08:22 PM	#1
wehavenowaves! Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Seoul Posts: 98	looking to buy some older lenses hey so I just got my first DSLR a month or so ago. I really like the fact that you can use older lenses with a new body. The only thing I am curious about is where would one go about looking for older glass? Are there some websites the sell lots of used lenses? Do people sell a lot on this site? I want to add some more lenses to my equipment.

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01-20-2011, 08:24 PM	#2
v5planet Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Seattle Photos: Albums Posts: 1,915	The three big sources will be: ebay.com/ KEH.com/ and the marketplace forum here on pentaxforums.com. You may also have some luck on craigslist, but your mileage may vary on that depending on where you live. Although, I'm not sure how active craigslist is in South Korea. You may have mixed luck on the other websites I've listed here as well, as not everyone will ship internationally.

01-20-2011, 09:22 PM	#3
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	I do all my buying and selling eBay, and there are still some few USAnians like myself who ship internationally. In fact, much of my sales are to countries where the US$dollar is weak. for which I am very happy. I will list some more lenses in the next few days -- not much good for Pentax, unfortunately. But I constantly see good lenses at what I consider good prices, and I am CHEAP. What to look for: The best zooms are new autofocus glass from Pentax, Sigma, Tamron. The best prime (fixed focal length) lenses are old manual glass from Pentax, Zeiss, Vivitar, and others. The best mostly-inexpensive lenses bear those names, as well as Sears, Porst, Meyer, and others. Some good lenses made by Tokina, Tomioka, Kiron and others may carry names like Sears, Porst, Vivitar, Lentar, Hanimex or Hanimar, Focal, and others. Other quality brands include Ricoh, Petri, Yashica, Mamiya-Sekor, Fujica, etc. BE AWARE that many of these brands use various mounts including Pentax. Most other mounts will NOT work easily on Pentax dSLRs. If you have any doubt about a lens, this is the place to ask questions. And be sure to check the lens review databases here. Good luck!

01-20-2011, 11:49 PM	#4
clockwork247 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 360	Originally posted by RioRico I do all my buying and selling eBay, and there are still some few USAnians like myself who ship internationally. In fact, much of my sales are to countries where the US$dollar is weak. for which I am very happy. I will list some more lenses in the next few days -- not much good for Pentax, unfortunately. But I constantly see good lenses at what I consider good prices, and I am CHEAP. What to look for: The best zooms are new autofocus glass from Pentax, Sigma, Tamron. The best prime (fixed focal length) lenses are old manual glass from Pentax, Zeiss, Vivitar, and others. The best mostly-inexpensive lenses bear those names, as well as Sears, Porst, Meyer, and others. Some good lenses made by Tokina, Tomioka, Kiron and others may carry names like Sears, Porst, Vivitar, Lentar, Hanimex or Hanimar, Focal, and others. Other quality brands include Ricoh, Petri, Yashica, Mamiya-Sekor, Fujica, etc. BE AWARE that many of these brands use various mounts including Pentax. Most other mounts will NOT work easily on Pentax dSLRs. If you have any doubt about a lens, this is the place to ask questions. And be sure to check the lens review databases here. Good luck! I've never had any luck with ebay , i got sniped so many time, if they used a real gun i would be dead a few thousand times.

01-21-2011, 12:00 AM	#5
xjjohnno Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Melbourne Australia Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,115	Originally posted by clockwork247 I've never had any luck with ebay , i got sniped so many time, if they used a real gun i would be dead a few thousand times. Bid what you are prepared to pay on Ebay. Once it goes over your acceptable price you can think of the sniper as a sucker. You'll get what you want eventually. I have fond memories of obtaining a Carl Zeiss Pancolar 50mm f1.7 from a delightful seller in Pakistan for half the price others were selling for that week with lower shipping to Oz price versus what the Euro sellers were getting.

01-21-2011, 12:30 AM	#6
sterretje Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Roodepoort, South Africa Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,561	garage sails, local 'classifieds', flea markets, pawn shops And I have a shop nearby that seems to specialize in old stuff (they got me a supertak 300/4 for around $80 (converted))

01-21-2011, 05:31 AM	#7
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Originally posted by xjjohnno Bid what you are prepared to pay on Ebay. Once it goes over your acceptable price you can think of the sniper as a sucker. You'll get what you want eventually. My trick is to bid a comfortable amount, then decide if I'm willing to go US$5 beyond that. Sometimes I'll snipe manually, often not. I usually don't go looking for a specific item. More likely, I'll search for a class of lenses I want (for myself or for resale) and bid on whatever pops up. Sometimes I'll get lucky, often not. Patience is required, and thorough research. Originally posted by sterretje garage sails, local 'classifieds', flea markets, pawn shops I don't know if those are options in South Korea. And even though I wrote the guide to buying pawnshop / thriftshop lenses, I am not located where I can readily find cheap glass. Thus I depend on eBay. I may move back to San Francisco for awhile so I can search the thrift shops and flea markets. Maybe I'll get lucky...

01-21-2011, 08:02 AM	#8
clockwork247 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 360	Originally posted by RioRico My trick is to bid a comfortable amount, then decide if I'm willing to go US$5 beyond that. Sometimes I'll snipe manually, often not. I usually don't go looking for a specific item. More likely, I'll search for a class of lenses I want (for myself or for resale) and bid on whatever pops up. Sometimes I'll get lucky, often not. Patience is required, and thorough research. I don't know if those are options in South Korea. And even though I wrote the guide to buying pawnshop / thriftshop lenses, I am not located where I can readily find cheap glass. Thus I depend on eBay. I may move back to San Francisco for awhile so I can search the thrift shops and flea markets. Maybe I'll get lucky... yeah, I was thinking of setting up a sniper for ebay, but I buy mostly for use, so it becomes pointless if I win a bunch of stuff that I don't use . Maybe once I have a plan to do bussiness then I'll hit ebay up haha.

01-21-2011, 11:57 AM	#9
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	Originally posted by clockwork247 yeah, I was thinking of setting up a sniper for ebay, but I buy mostly for use, so it becomes pointless if I win a bunch of stuff that I don't use . Maybe once I have a plan to do bussiness then I'll hit ebay up haha. I'm only a lens-trader because I have no disposable income for photo gear. If I wanna buy something, I gotta sell something! So this just make my obsession self-financing. What to do with a bunch of stuff I don't use? That was the problem when I started this a couple years ago. I'd buy batch-lots of stuff just to get one or three good items, then stash the rest. Then I put the excess up for sale... and my profit margin is currently over 80%. Which means I can buy more stuff for myself! The amounts aren't huge. I spent US$50 (shipped) for eight lenses -- a PK-mount Vivitar that I wanted, and others I can't use -- and I already sold one of those for US$55, and the others will likely go for ~US$15-25 each. With a few more deals like that, I can start thinking about a Kx, eh?