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03-09-2011, 03:16 PM   #1
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Got a box full of stuff

I hope this is the correct place for this...
Over the course of forty years or so I've acquired a heap of Pentax stuff: three ME bodies, a dozen lenses, some Pentax, some Sears, Takumar, etc. along with filters, flash units... you get the idea.
I assumed the old lenses were obsolete and generally worthless until I stumbled across these forums (fora?). Do I understand that they can all be used with todays cameras?
Having recently retired I would like to get a digital camera with which I can use two or three of my favorite lenses and sell the rest of the stuff to offset the cost.
I've spent an hour or two searching the for-sale lists and am more confused than ever about value.
Can anyone give me a clue as to how to: (1) select a not-too-expensive digital body, and (2) set a reasonable price on the rest of the stuff ?
I'd appreciate any help, suggestions, warnings, admonitions, caveats, silly comments.
Thanks for your time and consideration.

John

03-09-2011, 03:24 PM   #2
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This probably should have been in Beginners Q&A, maybe a moderator will move it...

1) Start by comparing the various Pentax DSLRs in the camera database.

Pentax Camera Reviews - Pentax K-R, Pentax K-5, K-x, K-7, and 645D DSLRs - PentaxForums.com

There is a handy camera comparison page.

Pentax Cameras | Pentax K-5 vs. Pentax K-r vs. Pentax K-x - Pentax DSLR Comparison - PentaxForums.com

2) To find out what the rest of your stuff is worth, search ebay for completed listings.
03-09-2011, 03:48 PM   #3
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Used K100D or K10D will serve you well. Even older bodies would, but then your old lenses would not be stabilized. Use PhotoMe utility to see how many shots were already done with that particular body. Up to 50000 is usually ok, then I'd be very cautious about how well the camera was treated.

Regarding the lenses it is difficult to say. There may be valuable ones and worthless ones as well. Search the internets for the usual price. On this forums you can see usual prices for many different lenses in the lens review section.
03-09-2011, 04:16 PM   #4
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Old bodies might be worth little; old lenses might be worth a little or a lot. Virtually all lenses ever made for Pentax and compatible cameras, will work on modern sSLRs. Many old flashes have little cash value; many have trigger voltages that will fry a dSLR's electronics if mounted on-camera, but can safely be used off-camera.

My suggestion, for what little it's worth: Post a list what you have, and we'll advise you. With a little more effort, check what you have against eBay Completed Listings data. Don't domate anything yet -- you *may* have some gems. Or maybe not. ?Quien sabe?

03-09-2011, 04:31 PM   #5
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This guy Rio is so smart that he DISGUSTS me. He possesses the kind of common sense and intelligence that would have seen him burned at the stake in Salem.

Post the lenses, because just because they're old, that doesn't make them special.

However, you might have some real gems there, but unless they say Takumar or Zeiss, I doubt it .
03-09-2011, 04:31 PM   #6
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The lens database here is confusing about value. Prices have been up and down, people get great or terrible deals, maybe some lying too. The sold listings here have a price but the deal was not necessarily completed at that price. Searching eBay gives you the actual sales price, usually more listings, and recent data. In all cases, old prices are just an approximation. Each deal is also about how much trust the participants have, location, and a dozen other intangibles.

All DSLRs have lists of features that are pages long. It's cheap to add features, and becomes very difficult to sort out what you need. Take just the meter. Your ME had a center-weighted meter. My older DSLR had a choice of center-weighted, spot meter, or 16 segment matrix metering, with a computer to measure light in each segment and compare to a database of perfect exposures. My new camera ditches the 16 segments and uses 77 segments instead. It might even be better.

Your favorite lenses can help you out some with the choice. If they don't have an A position on the aperture ring, the meter will only work in center-weighted or spot. They are manual focus so any autofocus detail is unimportant. Any difference in the number of modes doesn't matter; the only mode that works with these lenses is M.
03-09-2011, 05:44 PM   #7
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Another good place to look is the Pentax SLR Reviews, where many users have posted the buying price of their film SLR's and the system has averaged them. Same goes for the Lens Reviews.

03-09-2011, 08:09 PM   #8
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Post the lenses just because it is fun for us to see them. Your scenario is basically a lens lovers slot machine. Given the opportunity I will always jump to look through a box of old camera "junk", and no matter how many times that box turns out to be just junk I will always end up looking through another box of "junk" on the off chance of a jackpot or in most cases a moderate payout. It's the only reason I go to garage sales with my wife.
03-09-2011, 10:34 PM - 1 Like   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ira Quote
This guy Rio is so smart that he DISGUSTS me. He possesses the kind of common sense and intelligence that would have seen him burned at the stake in Salem.
Is that a compliment? I hope so. Hay, maybe I *was* torched in Salem, then reincarnated so I could burn down a Mormon-owned supermarket, ?quien sabe? Hit my rep while you're at it, eh?

Yes, some old lenses are gems; some are junk; some are really *nice* junk; and some are curiosities, especially if they aren't all black, and they have buttons and levers and scales, and engravings in weird scripts, and weigh 2 kilos, etc. And sometimes they're just junk. We won't know until you tell us what you have.
____________________________________________________________

That reminds me of two risque soundbites from my past, one from a recording, the other from live radio. First, from a Firesign Theatre skit:
Announcer: Go ahead Mrs Kreske, take a look inside the bag!
Contestant: Why... this is nothing but a bag of SH!T!!
Announcer: That's right! But it's really GREAT sh!t, Mrs Kreske!
And then, from a small-town (Ft Bragg Calif) radio station with a call-in program for listeners to announce the junk they're selling:
Announcer: Hello, KDFC Swap Meet, whaddya have?
Caller: I dunno, but it's ten inches long, and it itches and drips.
The radio station installed a tape-delay system after than one.
03-09-2011, 11:41 PM   #10
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I would look at an *istD in addition to a K10 D because it meters better with legacy lenses and has TTL flash.
03-10-2011, 03:36 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by RioRico Quote
one from a recording, the other from live radio. First, from a Firesign Theatre skit:
"Train coming through...right now."
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