[troika]

Is it just me or has the price of vintage primes gone up by 60-100% in the last 6 or 8 months? Seems like ebay, KEH, Adorama, B&H, our classifieds, across the board, lenses that went for $120 8 months ago are listing for $240-300 this year.

For example, Adorama has a K24/2.8 for $250 now. I see here and on email completeds that they were $120-150 as little as 8 months ago.

Just an observation. Most of you have been watching for longer than me, maybe you have some insights or a different opinions.

[Adam]

Is it just me or has the price of vintage primes gone up by 60-100% in the last 6 or 8 months? Seems like ebay, KEH, Adorama, B&H, our classifieds, across the board, lenses that went for $120 8 months ago are listing for $240-300 this year.

For example, Adorama has a K24/2.8 for $250 now. I see here and on email completeds that they were $120-150 as little as 8 months ago.

Just an observation. Most of you have been watching for longer than me, maybe you have some insights or a different opinions.

Prices have definitely been going up, especially compared to what they were a few days ago.

[VisualDarkness]

I blame the mirrorless cameras.

[jatrax]

Is it just me or has the price of vintage primes gone up by 60-100% in the last 6 or 8 months?

Most definitely. You should have seen the prices in 2010. I wish I had had the guts to invest in lenses (well more than I did) back then. I could very close to triple my money from what things were selling then for. And at that time everyone was complaining that they had already risen sharply.

KEH in particular had a lot of good priced stuff until recently. Either they were late to adjust to price increases or the stuff they were selling had been in the warehouse for a long time. Either way 'cheap' glass is mostly a thing of the past at this point.

[jatrax]

I blame the mirrorless cameras.

I was going to blame all the Canon users buying up our glass but mirrorless works too.

[narual]

Blame people like me who saw the superior saturation levels of the grass on your side of the fence and decided to climb it.

[carrrlangas]

Ok, I´ll say it: "It must be because the mythical Pentax FF is about to come out!!"

[troika]

Ok, I´ll say it: "It must be because the mythical Pentax FF is about to come out!!"

I was thinking it...I just didn't say it.

[carrrlangas]

I was thinking it...I just didn't say it.

secretly or unconsciously, we all are haha

[bdery]

Ok, I´ll say it: "It must be because the mythical Pentax FF is about to come out!!"

Or because people assume it will.

Or because the demand is increasing but the supply is decreasing.

[troika]

So, commodities speculators, are current prices the new normal or a market blip that we should sell, but not buy in?

[TropicalMonkey]

More and more people, like me, started to realize that older lenses can be used with newer cameras with great results! Even with that the prices are more than what it should be I guess. May be it is a temporary phenomenon. Many ebay listings state that these lenses are "vintage", "rare" and "hard to find"!!

[lytrytyr]

So, commodities speculators, are current prices the new normal or a market blip that we should sell, but not buy in?

Hey, if you need the lens, you get it!

[jatrax]

There are a lot of reasons, back when I bought the k-x in Spring of 2010 there was still some worry that Pentax would close up shop, so you have to look at the current prices in relation to where things were in late 2009.
Anyway here is my list:

• Introduction of k-x brought lots of new people into / back to the brand
• Rapid acceptance of shooting video with DSLR starting 2008 - 2009 created a demand for high quality all manual lenses that could be adapted (primarily to Canon)
• Introduction of very successful k-5 and then k-30 continued to add people to the brand
• Release of numerous mirrorless cameras from various brands that can use either M42 or K-mount with an adapter again increased demand for high quality manual primes
• Inexpensive adapters to m4/3 cameras from k-mount again increased the demand for old k-mount glass
• A collector market is alive and well which drives the price even more as lenses get bought and put on the shelf
• Continued speculation about a potential Pentax FF has people either holding onto their glass or scrounging up anything they can find either to speculate on or to use
• Lack of a full line of modern lenses means in some cases the only choice is legacy glass, again driving up the price

I don't see the price increases as anything but good. It means more people using Pentax, either natively or adapted. Although, it certainly makes LBA a little more expensive.

[Jean Poitiers]

Don't use the "FF" word here, please ... it will only makes the prices go higher ... J