[designinme_1976]

For me, I have to say that the 85mm 1.9 Super Takumar must be higher in price because of how great the optical quality is. I was, and still am thinking about unloading it and upgrading to the 70mm DA, but I have a feeling the moment I do I will regret it. The shallow depth of field, and fantastic sharpness from this lens is second to none. Even at 1.9 it is fantastic. I am guessing scarcity AND quality is why the prices of these lenses are so high along with the fact that Pentax doesn't make a consumer grade 85mm 1.8 like Canon.

[Just1MoreDave]

something is missing here.

people talk about the 85 being a less produced lens therefore cost (and selling price would be higher) as it appears to be today on the used market, but others have posted that the 85mm were the same price as the 35mm F2.

35mm F2 lenses are cheap and easy to find at any time on E-bay, but not so for the 85.

what's right.

BTW, I gave up and bought the vivitar 85mm F1.4 great portrait lens. worth the value compared to a used Tak or even K mount 85

Another possible factor: until recently, you could get a new 35/2, so there wasn't as much pressure on the supply of old ones. I sold a couple of old 35/2s for about 3/4s of the price of the FA35. But if for some reason you particularily wanted an 85mm and the FA77 wasn't good enough, there were no other choices. The FA77 also isn't inexpensive.

The new Vivitar/whatever adds an interesting twist to the market, especially at its $260ish recent price.

[gofour3]

something is missing here.

people talk about the 85 being a less produced lens therefore cost (and selling price would be higher) as it appears to be today on the used market, but others have posted that the 85mm were the same price as the 35mm F2.

35mm F2 lenses are cheap and easy to find at any time on E-bay, but not so for the 85.

what's right.

BTW, I gave up and bought the vivitar 85mm F1.4 great portrait lens. worth the value compared to a used Tak or even K mount 85

Actually the 35/2 being the same price as the 85/1.8 sounds right. Both are focal lengths on either side of a standard 50 or 55mm lens and are similar in speed, so being close in price doesn’t surprise me.

I still think the 85mm would not have sold very well as; it was more of a specialty lens and it cost more than the other telephotos in the 100 – 135mm range.

Example the K135/2.5 & K135/3.5 would have been the big sellers from the K series short telephotos. Which also explains why the K105/2.8 & K120/2.8 are hard to find, even though they did not cost a lot at the time.

The 35mm focal length on the other hand was also touted as a combo wide/standard lens, so it was more flexible and would have sold more.

Of course it would also help if we had Pentax lens sales figures for the mid 1970’s! I’d love to know how many 85/1.8’s actually did sell.