[Mistral75]

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A post from a Japanese blog reported by Foetal on PentaxOne:

smc PENTAX-A☆ 600mm F5.6 ED [IF] - レアなブラック仕様です ( その他趣味 ) - はなはなのブログ - ペンタックス カメラ レンズ 機材と写真 - Yahoo!ブログ

Google translation

They say the warranty card which goes with this copy indicates the lens was manufactured around 1999. The most recent comments (July 2017) make reference to this being a special specification lens made for the police forces.

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Last edited by Mistral75; 03-17-2018 at 06:07 AM.

[vonBaloney]

In the meantime, the price went up, from $4,999,99 to $6,999.99...

【Japan police Limited !!】 Pentax SMC Pentax-A* 600mm f/5.6 ED IF Lens From Japan | eBay

So apparently being black with a removable hood is worth about $3K (over typical market price), and being police is another $2K on top of that. I think I'd want a built-in laser sight and night vision (at least) for that price.

1999 would indeed put it right about at the very end of this model's run -- could very well be the last one made or close to it. Maybe it wasn't made to this specification on purpose, but because those are the parts that they could come up with at that late date.

[monochrome]

So apparently being black with a removable hood is worth about $3K (over typical market price), and being police is another $2K on top of that. I think I'd want a built-in laser sight and night vision (at least) for that price.

1999 would indeed put it right about at the very end of this model's run -- could very well be the last one made or close to it. Maybe it wasn't made to this specification on purpose, but because those are the parts that they could come up with at that late date.

The OEM lens cap is missing. That should knock $2,000 off the price.

.:

[gofour3]

s 5962904, lower than the one of this mystery lens, which could therefore be one of the last smc Pentax-A★ 600mm f/5.6 ED [IF] ever manufactured.

This black one has a serial# of 5964967. My white one is #5712229, so it wouldn't appear that the black one was earlier than others.

Pentax did not always follow the rules when doing s/n's for some lenses. They did batches of lenses in s/n sequence, but not always lower s/n oldest to higher s/n newest over the entire production run of a lens. The A*600/5,6 is probably correct, but some older K series lenses were out of sequence.The first version of some K series lenses (1975-77) with the upper case name had higher s/n's than the second version (1977 to ~) lower case name lenses. Pentax also skipped big chunks of numbers in some lenses, like the first batch being s/n 5xxxxxx and later ones 7xxxxxx.

Example I have a K18/3.5 second version (1977 to 1985) that has a lower s/n than lenses from the first version (1975-1977)


Phil.

[stemked]

I just saw this lens on ebay. ? Limited!! MINT ? Pentax SMC Pentax-A* 600mm f/5.6 ED IF Lens From Japan | eBay

To the best of my knowledge, I have never seen a Black 600mm f5.6 A. Anyone know anything about it?

---------- Post added 11-03-2018 at 10:00 AM ----------

Reading more carefully it say "Japanese Police lens". New to me!

---------- Post added 11-03-2018 at 10:10 AM ----------

PS. I have the white version. I personally wish though that I had gotten this version, better for wildlife photography.

[Wheatfield]

I just saw this lens on ebay. ? Limited!! MINT ? Pentax SMC Pentax-A* 600mm f/5.6 ED IF Lens From Japan | eBay

To the best of my knowledge, I have never seen a Black 600mm f5.6 A. Anyone know anything about it?

---------- Post added 11-03-2018 at 10:00 AM ----------

Reading more carefully it say "Japanese Police lens". New to me!

---------- Post added 11-03-2018 at 10:10 AM ----------

PS. I have the white version. I personally wish though that I had gotten this version, better for wildlife photography.

I expect it’s a special order designed for lower noticability. A white lens rather sticks out like a sore thumb. There are technical reasons for why super telephoto are white rather than black.

[StiffLegged]

I've seen one like this before on eBay, a couple of years ago.

[monochrome]

I've seen one like this before on eBay, a couple of years ago.

There was a long discussion thread about that listing. IIRC Forum members identified it as a Police Special and informed the seller. At first the discussion was whether it was a prototype.

[pschlute]

There are technical reasons for why super telephoto are white rather than black

Reflect heat better than black ?

[Wheatfield]

Reflect heat better than black ?

Bingo. You will get less expansion of the lens body and less thermal convection in the lens. That black 600mm might well lose infinity focus on a hot day if it's in the sun for any length of time as well as lose sharpness due to thermal currents in the lens.

[aoeu]

If there is only one available then I don't have any use for it.

It takes two of these to make Comet Binoculars.

[pentaxus]

I've heard that the switch from black had to do with ED glass expanding and contracting more than regular glass. Really long lenses always had to go past infinity but new/better glass made it worse.

[Albert Siegel]

It's a special version made for the Japanese police force. The seller actually bought that lens for less than half the current asking price from a different Japanese auction site (he's a reseller). At one point he tried to get 6,000USD for it, but he keeps dropping the price as nobody seems to be willing pay that much just to get it in black, especially without any accessories. For example, the lens cover in the photo is a Sigma cover. He hides it as to not show the Sigma logo. He's a nice guy, and I did try to buy it from him, but I was not at all willing to pay this price when I could get the grey one with all accessories for 1,000USD less.

[stemked]

Interesting. So unlike the white version the hood is not attached.

I actually love the lens and it consistently has been generating images that have won some very competitive photo contests. Several years ago I actually paid more than he is asking for the white version. The white lens does scare away some wildlife and at one point I made a camouflage cover for it, but it proved to be too cumbersome for my use.

Very interesting. But then I'm not a lens collector, I'm a lens user.

[angerdan]

The lens has already been discussed in this thread eight months ago:
Is this a prototype of the smc Pentax-A★ 600mm f/5.6 ED [IF]? - PentaxForums.com