[Just1MoreDave]

where you get these for so cheap? let me get in on it lol.

Trying to find some M42 fast lens for cheap but I think it's nearly impossible these days.

Too many people are looking for the same thing these days.

If you can extend your budget a little, I would consider just sucking it up and paying more, for a few reasons. The big one is, lots of people are going to get a new Pentax for Christmas, and in a month or two, some will start looking for lens advice. They will be your competition for fast 50mm lenses. Supply will be limited. Another reason, the lenses are probably worth it. I have an S-M-C Takumar 50/1.4 right in my hand. I bet if someone tried to make one today, they'd have to sell it for $1500 retail. It's like a Rolex or a Mercedes SLS. A third reason is, you'll have photos instead of six months of Craigslist surfing trying to get a deal.

[RioRico]

where you get these for so cheap? let me get in on it lol.

My time is worth nothing, so I can spend much of it carefully (obsessively) searching eBay for hidden gems. And sometimes not so hidden -- sometimes something just doesn't get noticed. More often a lens is just inadequately or mistakenly identified by the seller.

Good example: Someone sells a maybe-working, maybe-not-working Pentax SF-1 camera with kit lens, AS-IS. That kit lens is the great F35-70/3.5-4.5 that's small and sharp and agile. I win -- with shipping it's US$22. I sell the body for five bucks. So the fine lens, now a constant in my carry bag, cost me US$17. Not bad!

Or maybe a lens in a batch-lot has a filter or hood on it, and the naive seller ID's it by the attachment's brand, not the lens'. So I win a little Macrobel M42 bellows with 'Tiffen' lens attached for US$30 shipped. And under the Tiffen hood is a Steinheil Culminar 105/4.5 macro-bellows gem.

Or that Sears-Tomioka 55/1.4 was in a batch of AS-IS projector and camera lenses, average cost: US$2.25 each. The 55/1.4 was described as damaged and dirty. I cleaned it up, undented the front threads, noted the negligible chip on the objective, and sold it to a happy repeat buyer for US$40. I could do that because I'd already bought a newer copy of the same lens for US$25 shipped.

How do I get these so cheap? Persistence, observation, luck. And knowing when to stop bidding. Set a price limit. If it's worth US$15 to me, I won't go higher than US$20, period. The frenzy of one-click bidding gets expensive. Still, I'm amazed sometimes, like when I win a good OM 50/1.8 for US$18 shipped, and two BAD AS-IS copies of the same sell for twice that a few minutes earlier. Luck is indeed a factor.

[clockwork247]

Too many people are looking for the same thing these days.

If you can extend your budget a little, I would consider just sucking it up and paying more, for a few reasons. The big one is, lots of people are going to get a new Pentax for Christmas, and in a month or two, some will start looking for lens advice. They will be your competition for fast 50mm lenses. Supply will be limited. Another reason, the lenses are probably worth it. I have an S-M-C Takumar 50/1.4 right in my hand. I bet if someone tried to make one today, they'd have to sell it for $1500 retail. It's like a Rolex or a Mercedes SLS. A third reason is, you'll have photos instead of six months of Craigslist surfing trying to get a deal.

i just have a hunch that lens price will go through the roof in the next year or 2 (it already doubled the last year) while body drop in 1/2 in price in 1 year... kindda amazing..