[Travis Butler]

Greetings!

I recently picked up copies of the classic Pentax-F 35-70 and 70-210 zooms at an estate sale. Both of them, the glass looks like it's in excellent shape, but have problems that make them almost unusable. On the 35-70, the inner barrel is knocked out of alignment; one side extends about 1-1.5mm further than the other. The 70-210 appears to be in good shape externally, but the zoom is stiff and the electronics (aperture and autofocus circuitry) don't work.

So, first question: is it worth getting them fixed? I didn't pay much for them, so I wouldn't cry if they weren't economically fixable, but it does hurt to lose them when the glass is good and the rest of the lens seems solid.

Second, if it is worth fixing them, who's a good repair shop these days? The main local repair shop I'm familiar with closed its doors in December when the owner retired.

Many thanks!

[elliott]

Unfortunately I can't see them being worth fixing, they both sell in the $50 range pretty regularly. If either of them need parts they likely wouldn't be available, so you'd need a donor lens for that.

[DSims]

Good lenses. Not worth fixing the 35-70. The F70-210, if it's not the Takumar version, would often sell for over $100 last time I checked, so it could possibly be worth it. Sometimes the zoom gets stiff on it. Perhaps it's just a problem with the contacts, but maybe it's worse. If the estimate is free or inexpensive, it might be worth it.


I would contact Eric Hendrickson (you can search the forum regarding him) and ask him if he thinks you should bother sending it to him for repair. In fact, here's a thread about him:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/8-pentax-film-slr-discussion/105296-penta...ndrickson.html

And here's his website:

Home

[MadMathMind]

I just picked up a F 70-210 for $37 + $17 shipping on eBay this week. The high shipping is probably why the closing price was so low; it comes from Canada as well, and I suspect many people are too impatient to wait the longer transit time. I lost on one located within the US; it closed at $71 + $12 to ship.

So yeah, I can't see you getting parts for less than the cost to replace the 70-210. If you look a bit, you can snag one well under $100.

[DSims]

I just picked up a F 70-210 for $37 + $17 shipping on eBay this week. The high shipping is probably why the closing price was so low; it comes from Canada as well, and I suspect many people are too impatient to wait the longer transit time. I lost on one located within the US; it closed at $71 + $12 to ship.

So yeah, I can't see you getting parts for less than the cost to replace the 70-210. If you look a bit, you can snag one well under $100.

That's nice to hear; I paid $65 for my Takumar F version a few years ago, and the Pentax Fs were about twice that. In fact I purchased a Pentax F version, but it had a stiffer zoom ring and equal or lesser IQ than my Takumar copy, so I sent it back.

[Driline]

Greetings!

I recently picked up copies of the classic Pentax-F 35-70 and 70-210 zooms at an estate sale. Both of them, the glass looks like it's in excellent shape, but have problems that make them almost unusable. On the 35-70, the inner barrel is knocked out of alignment; one side extends about 1-1.5mm further than the other. The 70-210 appears to be in good shape externally, but the zoom is stiff and the electronics (aperture and autofocus circuitry) don't work.

So, first question: is it worth getting them fixed? I didn't pay much for them, so I wouldn't cry if they weren't economically fixable, but it does hurt to lose them when the glass is good and the rest of the lens seems solid.

Second, if it is worth fixing them, who's a good repair shop these days? The main local repair shop I'm familiar with closed its doors in December when the owner retired.

Many thanks!

What did you pay for them?

[Travis Butler]

Thanks for all the advice!

I'll try emailing Eric Hendrickson and see if he thinks it'd be worth it; I admit the responses here aren't sounding too promising. It still kind of burns to think of the good glass going to waste; do you know if he (or anyone else, for that matter) might have a use for the parts?

@Driline: I paid $50 for the pair, including an SF1 body.

[Daedbird]

I hear ya - you never want to see classic glass go to the lens graveyard

[MSL]

I recently picked up copies of the classic Pentax-F 35-70 and 70-210 zooms at an estate sale. Both of them, the glass looks like it's in excellent shape, but have problems that make them almost unusable. On the 35-70, the inner barrel is knocked out of alignment; one side extends about 1-1.5mm further than the other. The 70-210 appears to be in good shape externally, but the zoom is stiff and the electronics (aperture and autofocus circuitry) don't work.

It sounds like the 35-70 is fixable because it sounds like a mechanical issue, but may not be worth the cost of fixing. You can still pick them up at auction for $30-50
Once you get into electronics repairs, getting parts becomes more of an issue so the 70-210, although worth more than the 35-70, may still not be worth the cost of repairing it. Not sure if you are able to use it as a manual lens at the moment, but that may be the best way to get some value out of it.

[Travis Butler]

Heard back from Eric Hendrickson today; sadly, he said that he couldn't fix either one and that they wouldn't be of use to him as parts, either. Oh, well.

Many thanks to everyone for your help/suggestions!