PentaxForums.com Marketplace Listing Item for Sale
Pentax A* 600mm f5.6 ED(IF)
Asking Price
1,475.00 USD
Item Location
Anchorage, AK (United States)
Item Description
I am selling a Pentax A* 600mm f5.6 ED(IF)lens. Included are the original trunk, the rear lens cap, the original leather front cover, the original manual, a custom tripod mount to better center the weight over a ball head, an Arca-style quick release plate, skylight and 81B drop-in filters, and a Pentax lens catalog from this era.
I am the second owner of this lens, and used it professionally for wildlife photography in the 1990's with Pentax LX bodies. I made extensive use of this lens, as you can see by the scratches on the barrel. The optics are perfect. There are no rub marks, scratches, fungus or haze in the optics. The aperture ring movement is excellent. The drop-in filter is easily removed [note that a filter is not used under normal circumstances).
The focus is a bit stiff. I sent the lens to the Pentax repair facility, which was in Englewood, CO in those days, but they said that its performance was within the manufacturing tolerances. Just how stiff is it? I did not use this lens for birds in flight except when they were flying across my field of view. Even so, I won't claim to have had a high success rate. I had moderately better success rates for water fowl when they were taking off from water. But my primary use of this lens was for birds roosting or swimming, and of course for mammals. If I were still doing wildlife photography, this would lens would continue to be one of my "go-to" lenses.
I've included two photographs made with this lens and a Pentax K5, both made a f5.6. The photograph of our dog (Chloe, our blue-heeler; thanks to JayBee451 for much great information and a book on blue heelers) was made near the minimum focus distance to illustrate how little depth of field you have at that aperture and distance. The tree was roughly twice as far away.
This lens is heavy (3.28kg/approx 7.2lbs) and requires a good tripod and tripod head, as well as good technique. Remember, it's the equivalent of a 900mm for cameras with an APS-C sensor.
Are you the original owner of the item being sold?
No
Are you selling or trading this item?
Selling
Item Condition (Key)
Used
Good
Shipping Destinations
United States
Shipping Charge
$80
Shipping Services
FedEx 2nd day
Accepted Payment Types
PayPal
Return Policy & Additional Details
No return unless shipping box is damaged. Do not accept a damaged box.
Please send me a
private message if interested in the item!
Last edited by brucemherman; 08-29-2015 at 03:00 PM.