[bigjonnee]

Hi guys, when I first bought my Pentax DSLR I started collecting a bunch of old lenses, thanks to pentaxforums

Now I own a FA 1.4/50, DA 2.4/35, DAL 55-300. Should I start selling my Takumars? Are they still better/sharper than the modern AF lenses? Do you all think the value of these vintage Takumars, Pentax-M and Pentax-A lenses will keep going up? Or will these lenses become more and more obsolete and worth less? It is tough because I love these lenses so much, but I honestly don't need them all.

S-Tak 1.4/50+cap
S-Tak 1.8/55+hood
S-M-C Tak 1.4/50 + cap
S-M-C Tak 3.5/35+case+beatup hood
S-M-C Tak 3.5/35 (exterior wear)
S-M-C Tak 3.5/28+cap+case+hood+hood case
S-Tak 2/55
S-Tak 4/200
S-Tak 2.5/135 + case + hood
Tele-Tak 5.6/200 + hood + case
Pentacon auto 1.8/50 (m42)
Auto Mamiya / Sekor 1.4/55 (m42) +cap
SMC Pentax-A 2/50
SMC Pentax-M 2.8/28 + cap
SMC Pentax-M 1.7/50 + cap
SMC Pentax-M 3.5/135 + cap
Vivitar (A) 24mm/2.8 (k-mount, manual focus)

[causey]

Optically they compete very well with high quality modern glass. Of course, the latter has the AF advantage.

[hoanpham]

You have too many duplicates ;-)
First get rid of those duplicates, then get some better glasses.

Sell the A50/2, one of the 35/3.5, ST55/2

Keep the mamiya55/1.4, sms tak 50/1.4, ST 135/2.5
You should keep one of the focal lengths, or just upgrade to better og same focal length like K200/2.5 or K50/1.2. Or keep them all as i do ;-)
Once you have the A50/1.2, you can get rid of all your 50s, may be keep an A50/1.7 for light weight purpose.

[jeverettfine]

If Pentax comes out with a full frame DSLR then the old lenses will certainly hold value or even increase. Rumors fly from time to time and it does seem to be more likely since Ricoh took over. Pentax is still the only camera line whose historical lens production is still useable on the modern digital bodies. That will always be a big selling point as long as they never change it.

I also enjoy my old lenses:
SMC-A 24 2.8
SMC-A 50 1.4
SMC-A 135 2.8
SMC-A 28 2.8
SMC-A 35 2.0
SMC-M 50 4.0 Macro
Sigma MF 90 2.8 Macro
I had an SMC-A 35-105 3.5 and an FA 20-35 that I sold. Lousy decision, but the money went back into other lenses, so I guess it was ok.

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Last edited by jeverettfine; 10-19-2011 at 11:54 AM. Reason: spelling

[sterretje]

If you don't use them, why keep them. I enjoy using the old glass at occasion and therefore will not sell them. But for you it might be different.

I'm eying your 28mm lenses

[RioRico]

My humble comments: (asterisks on lenses I have)

24mm:
Vivitar (A) 24mm/2.8 (k-mount, manual focus) - keep

28mm:
S-M-C Tak 3.5/28+cap+case+hood+hood case - keep
SMC Pentax-M 2.8/28 + cap - not as great but little demand *

35mm:
S-M-C Tak 3.5/35+case+beatup hood - keep *
S-M-C Tak 3.5/35 (exterior wear) - redundant, sell *

50mm:
S-M-C Tak 1.4/50 + cap - keep
S-Tak 1.4/50+cap - redundant, sell *
SMC Pentax-M 1.7/50 + cap - keep *
SMC Pentax-A 2/50 - not as good, sell
Pentacon auto 1.8/50 (m42) - keep *

55mm:
S-Tak 1.8/55+hood - keep *
S-Tak 2/55 - redundant, sell *
Auto Mamiya / Sekor 1.4/55 (m42) +cap - keep

135mm:
S-Tak 2.5/135 + case + hood - keep *
SMC Pentax-M 3.5/135 + cap - keep *

200mm:
S-Tak 4/200 - keep *
Tele-Tak 5.6/200 + hood + case - keep *

I disagree that an A50/1.2 means you need no other 50's. The S-M-C Tak 50/1.4, M50/1.7, and Pentacon (Meyer Oreston) 50/1.8 are themselves all unique and great, as are the faster 55's. All those I flagged as KEEP are fine-to-great lenses. I'm quite happy with my copies. [Note: IMHO the best 28's are either fast or slow, not middling f/2.8]

[northcoastgreg]

Do you all think the value of these vintage Takumars, Pentax-M and Pentax-A lenses will keep going up?

I doubt that the Taks will go up significantly. There may be some M and A lenses that go up in price, but I doubt any on that list will be rising all that much.

If you don't use them, sell them.

[Lowell Goudge]

Aside from duplicates, or close to duplicates, I would keep most of them

I have both an M42 kit and a K mount MF lens kit.

I use either one or the other, and it is easier to stay within one mount type

one thing to look at closely is the S-Tak 50/1.4 is it the 8 element version? If so keep it regardless.


When I consider duplicates, I keep the fastest of the same focal length, and would keep SMC tak over S tak in M42 mount, on the basis of beter coatings (8 element 50/1.4 excepted) unless you have the same focal length in K mount. The reason for this logic is to keep the best possible, but if there is a duplicate, i.e. SMC Tak, S Tak and K mount of same focal length, I would keep the S tak and K mount lenses so you have some slight differences in optics, My M42 lens set is quite different from my K mount lens set because the SMC Taks are just too close in perfromance to K mounts to differentiate. I went for variety to get different looks

[stover98074]

I would hold onto the rarer lenses and consider holding onto the ones that you feel perform well.

Lots of choices besides Pentax to use older lenses. Any 4/3 camera - Sony has a nice new NEX camera out - Canon users like me also want these lenses for their low cost and great performance.

I think the market changes for the lenses if DSLRs get autofocus capabilities in video- presumably less videographers using the older MF lenses then. I also wonder what happhens as older shooters start moving on. I do not think there are many younger shooters with MF.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

Takumars have increased in price but whether they'll continue to do so or they have reachead a peak, is anyone's guess.

A few comments:

S-Tak 1.4/50+cap

Check if this is the first or second version - the first version can sell for a nice price, because it's a different optical formula. People usually prefer the SMC version of the second design, so that may sell for less.

S-Tak 1.8/55+hood
S-Tak 2/55

I don't think there is much difference between these optically and if you are going to keep the 50/1.4, I don't see the point of keeping any of these, but if you do want to keep one of them, I would keep the 55/2 because the 55/1.8 will sell for better money than the 55/2.

[Lowell Goudge]

I also wonder what happhens as older shooters start moving on. I do not think there are many younger shooters with MF.

See the poll I just started, although when I am writing this, only 8 responders so far but 50% in the 30-40 age group suggests it will be quite a wile before these "older" shooters move on.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

If you are out of space, have to pay the bills, want to finance some other gear, sell something. But there is no reason to sell just because you think they get obsolete (they are not in my opinion, less so actually since more and more cameras can use them), they lose in value (don't think they do, actually the opposite as more cameras can use them and the interest in old manual lenses have never been greater since the arrival of autofocus), or because you think they overlap. Every lens got its own character. Just because I got myself a nice bottle of cognac, I wont get rid of my single malts.

[Jonathan Mac]

If you don´t use them, sell them. I keep manual lenses even after I have AF lenses in the same focal range because I enjoy using them far more than AF lenses.

You certainly have a few duplicates and a few of those are mediocre (A50 f/2, M28 f/2.8 for example), I think you should get rid of them, if nothing else.

[RioRico]

I should have qualified my comment above. I went through your list and suggested lenses to sell. I should have said that if you feel you MUST sell any, those I didn't flag to KEEP are most disposable. If you DON'T feel a need for immediate cash, keep them all for now. Values will not drop. Buyers of Canon, m/43, Sony, Samsung, and other systems discover and buy-up more and more M42 and PK glass. It's not just a stylish fad -- demand will continue to rise and supply isn't unlimited. Hang on as long as you can.

Why, in a thousand years, even YOU will be worth something, Dr Jones!
--M.Belloc, RotLA

[photocanadian]

Here is my only reason for selling redundant less used gear ... getting non-redundant, higher-quality gear (ltds, f1.2s, all that jazz ).

This makes the decisions rather easy ...

If I may recommend something ... Sep-Dec is, in my experience at least, the best time to sell gear on eBay.
My buying season starts in Jan and ends in Aug (if you would like to get top $/gear and gear/$, respectively).