[ppppsssstttt]

if the price had met my threshold (which was fairly low as I look on those as something of a gamble)

i did the same for a 55mm, but those are sdm only, no screwdrive. it was too big of a gamble for a potentially manual focus only lens.

[mee]

I missed out on the 50-135's either outbid in the last 2 seconds or just didnt want to give that much. But probably a good thing. I think some were really easy to fix though.

Actually, I think some of them were returns from user error or incompatibilities of older bodies/firmwares. The 16-50 I got said 'AF not working' but I did the SDM trick and it came back to life. I still switched it to screwdrive anyways. If I ever sell it, I will explicitly state the history. I hope everyone is equally as honest and forthcoming and doesn't try to pull one over on their fellow Pentaxians.. well outside of the one lens I saw on here a week or two ago..

Btw the K-r body I bought on there in the Parts/Notworking did work but was a bit gritty around the mode dial and the shutter button randomly stuck. I cleaned it up and now it runs like a top. So handy spare body for dirt cheap. The only thing is the body has over 57,000 shutter actuations already. So it was well used. That is the other thing about buying a camera body in this bunch on ebay atm -- you REALLY don't know the history, so bid accordingly. The problem is if we end up with people reselling these and lying that they either don't know the history or bought it from a friend and then charging the normal going used price. That is just wrong. Please, people, don't do this to others.

I will also say there is someone on there that is bidding on just about ALL of the Parts/notworking Pentax gear. And I mean just about all of it over the past month (and has won a good deal of them). I wonder if someone is about to start a parts 'store' soon with all of these items broken down as parts? Be on the watch for that too. New replacement parts might not be new.

[robtcorl]

I will also say there is someone on there that is bidding on just about ALL of the Parts/notworking Pentax gear. And I mean just about all of it over the past month (and has won a good deal of them)

Could be a shill bidder set up by the seller.
eBay ain't what it used to be with the now hidden bidder/buyer ID system.

[mee]

Could be a shill bidder set up by the seller.
eBay ain't what it used to be with the now hidden bidder/buyer ID system.

Don't think so.. they are very conservative with their bids and don't seem to go beyond certain amounts for specific items.. looks like they have an idea of what they can get for them and only go that far. Not like they are bumping up the price aggressively.. or even at all in some cases. On items that have difficult to repair comments in the listing, they have avoided those.

[reduno]

A couple of the K5 came back around yesterday. Listing did indicate they had sensor stains (which is good), and pricing was reasonable (already sold). Checking feedback profiles showed prior transactions with tlilgero1. I haven't seen any of the original K5 listings for a few days now (last sale on Feb 23rd).

[mee]

well that is a nice change.. I hope it stands

[jezzeppi]

When I saw the tread I quickly bid on a "sensor stain" unit and won for just over a bill. Serial number removed also. Pleasantly surprised by the seemingly new condition and no evidence of sensor stain issue thus far. All in all just a gamble on a cheap backup to my K3.

[ppppsssstttt]

same, i just received mine with ~700 clicks and i don't notice any stains. i haven't tried to look TOO hard, some people suggest movie mode or live view, but i'm worried that it would induce stains to come and stay. nice upgrade to my k01 (and it shares the same battery!)

[janp]

Did you got body only? No battery, charger, box, etc.?

[ppppsssstttt]

body only, no box, no battery, etc.

[mholford]

okay... just pulled the pin on one of the 16-50 DA* zooms... says "defective focus" hope like heck the screwdrive trick works!
Will report back in a week or two...
Either going to be a great deal or expensive brick.. hopefully the first...

[reduno]

It looks like a fresh batch of K5 bodies is available from another seller in the Denver area.

[mholford]

okay... just pulled the pin on one of the 16-50 DA* zooms... says "defective focus" hope like heck the screwdrive trick works!
Will report back in a week or two...
Either going to be a great deal or expensive brick.. hopefully the first...

well, got my da*16-50 today... first impression... the SDM works, the autofocus seems to work. Not sure why it was returned with defective focus... might have back or forward focus, but I'm not in a position to measure that right now... that will have to wait till later. So far pretty darn pleased that the lens looks perfect and seems to be working fine.

Guess I'll have to invest in a hood and caps after all.

[Aaron28]

got a K-r that was defective....shutter count 250 and I took 150 of them! it works fine for the most part......I can do interval shooting that I like so quite the happy camper......may try one of those k-5....we'll see getting tired of buying stuff

[pickone]

The barrage on Ebay of so called sensor stained K-5s seems to have subsided, I got one with a "0" shutter count - new with nothing on the sensor I can find. Not bad for about $123. I don't like it as much as the K-30 in some ways, such as seeing your results after taking a picture. It is nice and sturdy though and makes a go pair with the WR lens I bought separately. My Ebay battery is alright but may try to find one that lasts a little longer. It was a great run for people that got these bargain sale cameras.