[Tsuken]

Kudos! I'm not sure I'm willing to risk disassembly of such a valuable lens though - I'm talking about a K 15/3.5 aspherical, of which there are only about 100 in existence. I'll probably just suck it up and get a professional to look at it.



I really should just return it and get a refund, as it is clearly not in the described condition, but I might never find another one

What an absolute bugger!

[Sandy Hancock]

What an absolute bugger!

Yes, it leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth. At least I paid $600 less than he was originally asking. The external glass surfaces are pristine, but looking through from the back into bright light there are definite hyphae - not much, but right in the optical axis. It is possible it is on the built in filter, which I haven't checked yet.

I'll try to get some photos to illustrate the problem in case I opt to invoke eBay or PayPal's return policy....

[garywakeling]

Kudos! I'm not sure I'm willing to risk disassembly of such a valuable lens though - I'm talking about a K 15/3.5 aspherical, of which there are only about 100 in existence. I'll probably just suck it up and get a professional to look at it.

I really should just return it and get a refund, as it is clearly not in the described condition, but I might never find another one

Bugger, well worth getting it seen to, certainly a rare beast, what a pity to find out that when it arrived. I have the later A series 15mm, is it obvious from the front element or the rear element? We are lucky to live in a region with very few fungal issues with lenses normally, was it from the tropics?

[Sandy Hancock]

It came from Melbourne, but I don't know its full history.

Lucky I also have a mint Takumar 35/3.5 AL, which I can cannibalise for spare lens elements if absolutely necessary. It would break my heart, but I would much rather have one pristine K version than a M42 lens I can't be bothered using....

[iheiramo]

I think I had fungus starting to grow on my M85 last summer. Just tiniest amount on the edge of front glass. I read that UV light kills it, so left the lens for couple of week on windowsill without lenscap. It cleared off nicely. UV is supposed to kill not clear and I can't find the spot anymore, so I have started to doubt it was fungus

I thought I had some point, but apparently lost it

[Sandy Hancock]

left the lens for couple of week on windowsill without lenscap. It cleared off nicely.

Mine is already on a windowsill

[southlander]

Kudos! I'm not sure I'm willing to risk disassembly of such a valuable lens though - I'm talking about a K 15/3.5 aspherical, of which there are only about 100 in existence. I'll probably just suck it up and get a professional to look at it.

I really should just return it and get a refund, as it is clearly not in the described condition, but I might never find another one

Hi Sandy. Twin City camera shop in Grenfell St have experience servicing older Pentax lenses. They CLA’d a M35/2 for me a while back that had the oily aperture blade common to M 35mm lenses. Had a bit of oil haze on the elements as well. Lens now all good.

[noelpolar]

Hi Sandy. Twin City camera shop in Grenfell St have experience servicing older Pentax lenses. They CLA’d a M35/2 for me a while back that had the oily aperture blade common to M 35mm lenses. Had a bit of oil haze on the elements as well. Lens now all good.

What was the cost of having that done?

[Cerebum]

It came from Melbourne, but I don't know its full history.

Lucky I also have a mint Takumar 35/3.5 AL, which I can cannibalise for spare lens elements if absolutely necessary. It would break my heart, but I would much rather have one pristine K version than a M42 lens I can't be bothered using....

Did you say you saved 600? Or did I imagine that. If there are truly only 100 of these I would bite the bullet and get it repaired professionally. At the end of the day you will have paid top dollar but you will have a pristine version. The alternative is never seeing one of these again. Even if you don't use it often, just owning something so rare is very special to someone who appreciates Pentax and its history and knows the joy of using an old lens.

[doroth2]

I'm a little late to the game here, but going to join the fish eye fun with the Sigma 15mm. I was going to try to sell as I don't use it much. It's been sitting on the shelf a long time. A single in challenge may help me decide if I need to keep it. Also, I have never used it on the K1.

[robgski]

I was looking through some older shots when I had a K-5 and a Rokinon 8mm FE. That was a great lens, I'd need to find 12mm FE to replicate its FOV.
Only two days in, I'm realizing that creating good images with an FE requires some careful planning, and I should stay at f8 to ensure maximum sharpness with at a reasonable shutter speed.

[Sandy Hancock]

Did you say you saved 600? Or did I imagine that. If there are truly only 100 of these I would bite the bullet and get it repaired professionally. At the end of the day you will have paid top dollar but you will have a pristine version. The alternative is never seeing one of these again. Even if you don't use it often, just owning something so rare is very special to someone who appreciates Pentax and its history and knows the joy of using an old lens.

My thoughts exactly. I plan to drop it off at Twin City this morning. I have used them before.

[Sandy Hancock]

An update for those still interested in my K 15/3.5 AL saga. The technician at Twin City agrees the lens is riddled with fungus, and quoted up to $400 for a full strip down and clean. No guarantee of a good outcome.

So I have contacted the vendor and he has offered to take it back, with apologies. So I only briefly owned one of the rarest lenses in the Pentax stable....

At least I still have the Takumar

[Tsuken]

An update for those still interested in my K 15/3.5 AL saga. The technician at Twin City agrees the lens is riddled with fungus, and quoted up to $400 for a full strip down and clean. No guarantee of a good outcome.

So I have contacted the vendor and he has offered to take it back, with apologies. So I only briefly owned one of the rarest lenses in the Pentax stable....

At least I still have the Takumar

Bummer, man

Good that the seller took it back without demur.

But still a bummer.

[Cerebum]

An update for those still interested in my K 15/3.5 AL saga. The technician at Twin City agrees the lens is riddled with fungus, and quoted up to $400 for a full strip down and clean. No guarantee of a good outcome.

So I have contacted the vendor and he has offered to take it back, with apologies. So I only briefly owned one of the rarest lenses in the Pentax stable....

At least I still have the Takumar

Nooooooooo *sob*