[Ketsuppi11]

Hello,

I bought a Pentax A 28mm f2 lens from local website for 165$ (my first vintage lens!). I agreed with the seller that I will pay half of purchace amount right away and he will post the lens next day. I paid but when I didn't get the lens for a while I contacted the seller again and he was apologetic and said that he posted it "yesterday" but this continued for 8 weeks. In the end I was convinced that I will never see the lens or my 85$ that I had already paid.

But to my surprise the lens arrived today with a mint HA-90B case. Both caps were missing and glass elements were quite dirty but were easy to clean and lens looked to be in excellent condition.

I did a flaslight test and discovered something unpleasant inside the lens. I have a feeling that it's fungus, I would appreciate if more experienced forum members could give their opinions on the matter. It's not overly large and it's very hard to see without flaslight.

I took a few quick test shots with the lens and all the pictures came back very clear and sharp. So maybe it's still usable for me but I am still quite dissapointed since the lens is so beautiful and build quality is much better than I expected.

Since communication with the seller has been extremely dificult I don't think that I can get a full refund. But I am thinking that I should not pay the full price. What do you think? Do you think that 85$ for this lens is a decent price, it still seems to perform well but re-selling value is probably close to zero.

Photo of the fungus has been magnified quite a bit, it doesn't look that bad in real life

Thanks for the help!

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[Marktax]

Well, $165 was certainly a too-good-to-be-true price for a perfect copy of that lens. It's a rare model, the fastest wide angle Pentax ever made that accepted 49mm filters. It has fungus, i think. Maybe it won't affect pictures noticeably. There are people who would pay $150 for that even if it needed internal cleaning. Perfect, it's about $400.

[Ketsuppi11]

Just to clarify it's inside the lens not on the surface. Here is one more photo.
Thanks!

[jatrax]

I agree with @dcshooter $165 is a very good price for that lens, even with a bit of fungus which is not likely to make any difference to image quality. Send it off for cleaning and lubrication and you will still have a bargain.

[pres589]

It's horrible and you should sell it to me for $86 plus shipping. I just bought a 28mm f2 and I still want to help you out.

I'll pair it with that other guy's K-1 that makes him sad.

Get at me in private message so that we can arrange payment, thx!

[ramseybuckeye]

Well, I think you dealt with an unscrupulous seller that new the lens had fungus, but did not know it's value. I would let the seller know about the fungus and dirty condition and tell him it's paid in full, because it will cost you some to get it cleaned by a pro, and do that because it won't get better, but could get worse.

[ramseybuckeye]

Not sure about the law in Sweden, but what you propose here is a crime (conversion) as well as a basis for a civil lawsuit here in the United States. You can't just take the item and then unilaterally declare it paid in full and refuse to pay for the rest of the agreed upon price. You can either renegotiate for a lower price or return the item, since the item doesn't legally belong to you until you've performed your end of the contract.

Go ahead and send a note to your bank telling them your car is paid in full, and you will no longer be making payments on it. See what happens.

You're right, what I wrote was not good advice to just do that, but it is still what he should try to negotiate. He did not agree to buy damaged goods.

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Last edited by ramseybuckeye; 04-07-2017 at 08:02 PM.

[Ketsuppi11]

You're right, what I wrote was not good advice to just do that, but it is still what he should try to negotiate. He did not agree to buy damaged goods.

Of course I will try contact the seller after I have figured out what would be the best way to move forward. But I don't have high hopes of getting in contact with him. After I bought the lens it took him almost 2 months to send the lens over. I got the lens almost 3 weeks after I started talking about filing a police report. And of course I don't want to be dishonest.
In all of this time I got only two messages from him and he lied in both of them.

At least everyone seems to agree that it's fungus...
I am trying to find out if there is any camera repair shops near me but doesn't look good. So I would have to send it in and that could became quite expensive.

Thanks for your help

[DrawsACircle]

Or if you have the tools and courage to do it yourself: How to Remove Fungus: A 50mm F1.7 lens - PentaxForums.com
Though it's an A 50 lens, they seem to be more or less identical from a mechanical perspective.
I bought an M28 f2,8 lens on eBay three weeks ago, it was described as being in perfect condition, but it also had fungus. I spent an hour dismantling and cleaning it.

[ZombieArmy]

That fungus is completely insignificant, I doubt it even affects IQ. I'd still bring it up with the seller because he didn't mention it but I really wouldn't worry about it. Use it till you can afford to get it repaired.

[cyberjunkie]

As you already know, you've been quite lucky.
If I were in your place, I would just rejoice and be happy.
I own many Pentax-A lenses, yours is one of the three or four I really miss.

I stopped shining a torch through my lenses long time ago.
Excluding misaligned elements, missing spacers, etc etc, what can't be easily seen isn't likely to affect image quality.
Don't get me wrong, I love my lenses, and I own plenty of them, but for the sake of sanity of mind I try not getting too anal about them.
I'd suggest letting the pictures tell you what to do.
I had a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 with a scratch on the front element. The excess of flare told me to have the glass replaced.
These days I'm using a Trioplan 100mm with a very evident cobweb-like fungal infection all around two elements. It flares no more no less than a Trioplan 50mm with impeccabile glasses, and it's also sharper: I will clean it someday, and only because the cost would be zero; for the moment I'm happily using it, forgetting about the fungus.

I've read your posts with interest. My guess, based on some personal experience (about 1000 Ebay purchases, plus the rest), is more or less this: if the original intention was to cheat you, why on earth agree for half the price paid in advance, and why he eventually shipped the item (albeit with a huge delay)?
Maybe he's having some problem, or maybe he's just a mess of a man
It doesn't make much sense.

Cheers

Paolo

[Ketsuppi11]

As you already know, you've been quite lucky.
If I were in your place, I would just rejoice and be happy.
I own many Pentax-A lenses, yours is one of the three or four I really miss.

I stopped shining a torch through my lenses long time ago.
Excluding misaligned elements, missing spacers, etc etc, what can't be easily seen isn't likely to affect image quality.
Don't get me wrong, I love my lenses, and I own plenty of them, but for the sake of sanity of mind I try not getting too anal about them.
I'd suggest letting the pictures tell you what to do.
I had a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 with a scratch on the front element. The excess of flare told me to have the glass replaced.
These days I'm using a Trioplan 100mm with a very evident cobweb-like fungal infection all around two elements. It flares no more no less than a Trioplan 50mm with impeccabile glasses, and it's also sharper: I will clean it someday, and only because the cost would be zero; for the moment I'm happily using it, forgetting about the fungus.

I've read your posts with interest. My guess, based on some personal experience (about 1000 Ebay purchases, plus the rest), is more or less this: if the original intention was to cheat you, why on earth agree for half the price paid in advance, and why he eventually shipped the item (albeit with a huge delay)?
Maybe he's having some problem, or maybe he's just a mess of a man
It doesn't make much sense.

Cheers

Paolo

I like your reply and advice.
I have bought much more expensive items from the net and paid fully in advance just because I got a good feeling about the seller from short interaction with them.
When I didn't get the lens and he didn't reply to my messages or replied "I am very sorry for the delay but I shipped it yesterday" and I still didn't get the lens, many of my friends were saying that I have been scammed. But it just didn't make sense, I highly doubt that selling a Pentax-A lens in Scandinavia is a profitable scam there is not that many of us . But something weird was going on since he lied to me several times about posting it.
And it was his idea that I pay only half in advance, I would have been happy to pay full amount in advance.

The lens came with the original case (which apparently can be a good growing ground for fungus) but no lens caps.It was very dirty and looked like it hasn't been used for quite while.
I am not sure if it was his lens or if he got it from somewhere but I doubt that he knew about the fungus. I am waiting to hear back from the camera repair shop for cleaning quote. After that I will decide what I am going to suggest to the seller, maybe we can share the cleaning cost.

Thanks for your input

Quick shot at 2.8 (soc)

[cyberjunkie]

Yeah!
It seems there is no veiling flare, and the sharpness at f/2.8 is quite good. I see no vignetting either.
I'm happy for you, nice score!
I'm not envious, though i'd be glad to try it one day
Probably not with you, you live too far, but if i ever had the chance to meet an owner of the same lens at some event, i would happily swap my Pentax-K version (the Zeiss-designed one) for a few test shots.
I like manual focus lenses, but i don't get along so well with the Green Button procedure.
"A" lenses are the best compromise, IMHO.
Again, nice find!

What you write about your lens confirms my findings:
the original lens case is not the way to go for prolonged storage, UNLESS the optic is kept in a cool, clean place, and the case has not been previously exposed to contaminants (pollen, dust, etc) or stored in a basement. Of course the objective has also to be thoroughly cleaned before going into its case.
I prefer to store the lenses in drawers, or plastic boxes, either air-tight or kept in a safe place. I keep the lens on its case only if it doesn't smell, and looks perfectly clean and almost unused.
I can't find anymore an UV lamp i used to erase eproms, probably i will buy one quite soon off Ebay, and give a one-night treatment to all my recently acquired vintage lenses.
I'd like to use copper, though i'm not aware of any procedure that doesn't involve water...

cheers

Paolo