[Matt76]

F* 300mm f/4.5 Black Edition
Recently, I was lucky to buy a used Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5 for a bargain price, from a friendly Belgian lady. The reason for the low price was its looks: the white paint on this lens is easily damaged, and this obviously was a well used copy.

I personally am not thrilled about the white-lens-look, and a copy full of scratches and markings is even worse. So I decided to give it a make-over: with some black insulation tape, matte black self-adhesive foil for redecorating kitchen cabinets, knife, scissors and some black marker for the details I turned it into (I guess) the only F* 300mm f/4.5 'Black Edition'. See pictures below. I included a comparison shot with the DA* 300mm, and unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the F* before this 'treatment'. It is an easy job, no disassembly required and everyone with a bit of patience can do this. A tricky part was to leave the thin gold line on the hood uncovered. It is purely cosmetic, everything still works as it should.

Full disclosure: the foil/tape didn't work beneath the built-in hood, that area needs something even thinner or I might simply have to paint it. But so far, I found no need for extending the hood even when shooting straight into sunlight, so I think I'll keep it like this.

I'm quite pleased with the way this turned out, although I have to see how it will hold up in use, and I may revisit some details later. I think the black outfit it suits the F* quite well, would be a great compact 300mm option if it would be released again, IMO.

Anyone else tried a cosmetic lens make-over/restoration?

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[BigMackCam]

[Moved to Pentax SLR Lens Discussion forum]

Nice job! Particularly so in that it's reversible too, if desired at a later stage...

Maybe there's a market for custom lens wraps, like they offer for cars and vans? Black, silver, khaki and white would seem to be the obvious choices, but I can just imagine some folks going for metal-flake orange or electric blue

[aldo taddia]

Congratulations! an excellent job.

[ramseybuckeye]

Looks good! But where is the before photo?

[Matt76]

Looks good! But where is the before photo?

Good point, I realized too late it would be nice to have a 'before' photo ...
It looked like all F* 300 lenses, see the lens database, however with lots of paint damage.

---------- Post added 04-20-22 at 08:39 PM ----------

[Moved to Pentax SLR Lens Discussion forum]

Nice job! Particularly so in that it's reversible too, if desired at a later stage...

Maybe there's a market for custom lens wraps, like they offer for cars and vans? Black, silver, khaki and white would seem to be the obvious choices, but I can just imagine some folks going for metal-flake orange or electric blue

Thanks for moving this to the right place. Indeed, 'lens coat' is already a thing. And here at B&H they offer a 'Leopard skin' wrap for a lens! Not really my taste, but customization options are definitely nice.

[rogerstg]

I personally am not thrilled about the white-lens-look

You did an excellent job which looks fabulous. FWIW, the reason for white is for outdoor photographers that might set up in the scorching sun. Heat absorption can affect optics. If you find yourself approaching that situation, I'm sure you'll have no problems changing to white or light gray with your skills.

[garywakeling]

Nicely done, I have the F* and it is one of my favourite lenses, have you compared photos with the DA?

[Matt76]

You did an excellent job which looks fabulous. FWIW, the reason for white is for outdoor photographers that might set up in the scorching sun. Heat absorption can affect optics. If you find yourself approaching that situation, I'm sure you'll have no problems changing to white or light gray with your skills.

Thanks Roger, perhaps indeed black is not the best to avoid distorted optics due to thermal expansion. But since Pentax has switched to all-black lenses since the FA series, I'll take my chances
Over here (Netherlands) rain is a bigger worry than scorching sunshine. Although perhaps the added layer of tape may have also improved the weatherproofing a bit??

---------- Post added 04-22-22 at 08:55 PM ----------

Nicely done, I have the F* and it is one of my favourite lenses, have you compared photos with the DA?

No reliable comparisons yet (I got this lens recently), but I haven't noticed anything to complain about with the F*. Great sharpness, colors and OOF rendering. I really like its compactness, that more than makes up for the longer MFD for me. AF seems equally fast to me on the K-1.