Originally posted by blumoon722 I got this Minolta MD W.Rokkor-X 20mm 2.8 lens with hood in mint condition.
Going to try it on my Lumix G7
Nice lens, would be great on full frame...
I love the shape of the hood. Although a little impractical, I like a lot this kind of design.
A pity this lens wont fit on a Pentax. Not so many vintage twenties of good performance and reasonable price can be used on a Pentax DSLR without destructive measures
Before showing the pics of my new pets, a short story that can either be chosen as an advice, a call for restraint, or as an encouragement.
First things first. I have a kind of wish list in my mind, simplifying a little it consists in two main categories: "user" and "collector".
The first is about lenses that are either sharper or "different" from those I already own. I have plenty of good vintage optics, but some focals are not covered by a modern, uber sharp lens. I also crave for lenses that were not available in PK mount. One example is the Laowa Venus 2/105mm STF. Before its release I believe there were no other "bokeh lenses" with an apodization element (Smooth Trans Focus) available for Pentax, while most (all?) the major brands at some point in time had one.
Unfortunately modern high performance lenses are not easy to find second-hand, and when it happens I often don't have enough funds
The second category is about collector items (which can also be good user lenses) I wish to have because I have a special interest in them (either because of the maker/t, the typology, or some specific functionality).
One example is the Enna 1.5/85mm, just like the one in a previous post, but in M42 mount.
It is a perfect example of the fast vintage primes I like so much, especially in the 80mm to 135mm range.
I also like japanese third party lens makers, like Komura for example (both early ones and from the seventies).
I try not to be manic, and avoid checking Ebay on a regularly basis.,
I just save searches, and receive emails when something of interest surfaces. Unfortunately the info does not come immediately, so tin he rare occurrences I find out that an item is actually sold way below market prices, somebody else has already taken advantage of the nice deal.
Many of my dream lenses, either modern/super sharp or vintage/collectibles are routinely sold at incredibly high prices, just because there are few on sale and the vendor waits for a customer with more money than common sense. I've seen a Voiglander/Cosina 2/40mm sell for as low as 250 USD, in other mounts. The PKA version is not as common, and I've just seen one on sale for about 550!
Please refrain from rewarding vultures. Please. Let's not feed this mechanism any further. Wait, sooner or later you'll find a reasonably priced one. I found the Ultron for 400, and I didn't buy it because IMHO it was still too expensive.
A responsible restrain on our side (both when buying and selling) would ultimately affect the prices. The pentaxian community is not su huge...
Expensive and cheap are two very subjective concepts, though I believe that helping the newcomers with information about non-technical issues would ultimately give them more chances to buy what they want/need at a decent price.
I have seen prices on the Marketplace that were much more than decent. It makes me happy, cause I see this forum as a community.
Unfortunately many sales have a price tag way over the average market price. It makes me kind of sad, newbies should find a welcoming community, under any point of view. That is, find prices around the lower end of the market variance, and be sure that an experienced user can honestly represent eventual little problems, and has checked the functionality of the item on sale.
I love film era lenses, older or newer, and I'm glad to share my interest and my little knowledge with people who have an interest in them.
I like the idea of giving access to vintage optics to people who happen to live in countries where the choice is very limited.
In fact, I almost bought a nice Apo Telezenitar 135mm from a famous macro specialist (moderator of another forum). I asked for a discount, he agreed, but last minute he told me that he decided to sell the lens to a friend in South America. A lens that had been waiting for long had just vanished, but sincerely I didn't have bad feeling at all. If it had to go I prefer to see it going to a place where such optics are almost impossible to find. Since long time I like lenses, and during this time I tried to read books and find all the possible information I could have access to. So I also like people who like lenses, and I feel good when a fine optic goes in loving hands, rather than find it resold at double the price.
I guess I had somehow elevated my karma (yes, I'm kidding!)... cause in almost no time I found the very same lens, never used, MC version, for much less. About one third of the average price.
Of course there is a reason for the hugely lower price: because it has never been used, the diaphragm blades are stuck in fully closed position, but (fingers crossed) I hope it should be easy to free/clean them. The blades are there, with no damage, much better than when I found a "silver" Trioplan -for a much bigger price! - with derailed blades. I found out that not a single one was salvageable, and I'm still waiting for a broken one to be the donor of its precious innards. No, not always there is an happy end
The more I got involved in this interesting hobby, the more I understood that any stroke of luck compensates unfortunate purchases.
Back to the Apo Telezenitar, now.
I had this uncommon late soviet era lens in my Ebay Saved Searches for ages, with no luck.
Today, days after the evaporated deal, I found it at a great price as Buy It Now. What a strange consecution of events!
I guess the lesson is to never despair.
Today my hobby gave me a good reason to be happy, despite the usual headaches of everyday life. I am italian by birth, food is a serious issue, though if I had spent the same money on a fine gargantuan meal, it wouldn't be as satisfied. Never
I can finally have at my disposal a very sharp 135mm, reportedly almost Apo.
I would have gone for the Samyang, but my wallet said no.
Now I just hope that all the hype about this lens has a base of truth.
At medium apertures I already have a few 135mm's that perform good enough for the sensor of my K-1, though wide open, or stopped a click, none of them has true high level sharpness.
From what I've read the late MC version of the Apo Telezenitar should be rather close to the best of the crop (available in PK or M42 mount).
I'll see very soon if the info I found were accurate
Here is the little beast:
MC APO Telezenitar-M f/2.8 135mm
Just before finding the previous deal, I succumbed to my attraction for old Komura lenses.
I didn't really need it, but it was too nice to pass.
It's still like new, with its original bag to transport the lens separated in two, and has all the caps.
It is Minolta bayonet. Fortunately I have another UNI mount (first version) with M42 screwmount. I might even convert the Minolta one to PK, sooner or later.
Here is the big beast:
Sankyo Kohki Komura f/7 500mm
Last edited by cyberjunkie; 09-15-2018 at 07:30 PM.
Reason: typos and new content