[Not a Number]

These prices are surpringly low, especially for the f1,2 and the LX in comparison to the current Canon and Nikon 1,2s...I think Canon wants £1200 (discounted) for the EF 50mm f1,2 L.

From the same B&H ad the Canon FD 50mm f/1.2 = $176, Olympus Zuiko 55mm f/1.2 = $186, Minolta 50mm f/1.2 = $142, Nikkor AI 50mm f/1.2 = $252, Konica 57mm f/1.2 = $176.50, Yashica 55mm f/1.2 = $179

Remember these are manual focus lenses so they are not as complicated as today's autofocus lenses.

The screwmount adapter is priced at $8.50 which is $22.08 in today's dollars - close to the $25 list price it was going for 2-3 years ago - seems the list price has been raised to about $45 USD now.

[Stone G.]

In 1980/81 I paid a flat DKK 1,500 for my Pentax K1000 with smc Pentax-M 50/2.0 lens. And according to a Danish inflation calculator this corresponds to:

1,500 DKK (1980) = 4,400 DKK (2015).

For comparison, I can find a factory-new, boxed K-500 in a reputed Danish physical store in Copehagen for DKK 2,600 today. This is a special offer, while other internet shops in Denmark may still charge around DKK 4,500 for this (now discontinued) model.....

[Scorpio71GR]

My Super Program with A 50mm 2.0 was I believe about $300 in 1989. I was in high school making minimum what $3.35 an hour. That was a ton of money to me, but I used that camera for twenty years and I still have it. Just after that I bought two Takumar A zooms, a 28-80 and 70-200. I believe those were around a hundred dollars a piece. Considering now you can by an Sigma 70-300 autofocus for $170, today's prices see a bargain compared to then.

[MikePerham]

From the Oct 1981 (Vol 88 N10) issue of Popular Photography the B&H ad lists

Pentax LX body $449.90 with the M f/1.4 50mm lens $543.90. The M 50mm f/1.2 lens is listed for $175.00.

MX body $154.90. Add $15 for black body.

According the the US Inflation calculator that 50mm F/1.2 would cost $454.57 in 2015 (159.8% inflation rate). The LX body would go for $1,168.65.

Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2015

There is another dynamic here beyond just the inflation adjusted price. Folks today have more disposable income ...look at all the toys we have today. ATV's, Motor homes etc., and my house has 3 TV's a vehicle for each occupant etc.. I know it was a major expense when I bought my LX, which Cuthbert says would be under $1200 in today's dollars. It was much more difficult to come up with that amount then than the $1300 I paid for my K3.

[ChrisPlatt]

The Kodak Brownie Hawkeye my mom got me started with was free, a premium for sending in box tops or what not.

I was jealous of my friend's new Pentax SP500, which apparently "fell off the back of a truck" and was purchased from the Mafia store.

My first SLR was a Canon AE-1 with FD 50/1.8 lens purchased for $75 used in 1977 from an acquaintance of my stepfather.
He was moving out of his apartment one night ("doing the midnight sneak") and had to raise cash fast.

Chris

[VisualDarkness]

Just adjusting for inflation isn't enough to see what they really equaled. You need also to take in account consumer buying power and the share put on necessities contra luxuries.
I found a table that listed that kind of numbers and my Voigtländer Prominent was worth at least equal to (in USA) $3500 when it came out, most likely more.

[normhead]

Dec. 1988 I bought a Program Plus. for $299. It might seem cheap, but you have to remember. 15 cents for each image. I regularly took 10 rolls of film on vacation and paid $150 for processing when I got home. So over the 15 years I used that camera, 20 rolls a year, $7.00 a roll (which was cheap) and 15 years. That's $2100 for capturing images that I don't pay now. Thats 10,800 exposures. These days I shoot that much in 6 months.

Not even counting inflation, I'm still way ahead with digital.

[wtlwdwgn]

I think I paid about $150 for my SV and ST 55 f/1.8 in 1965. That was a lot as I got $220 a month back then. Today that would be $1130 which is about the cost of a K3II.

[AquaDome]

I got my K1000 with M50/2 in 1986 from a friend who had convinced his parents to buy it for him for a photography class. I think they paid around $200 for the kit. I traded him a Ka-Bar and some bottle rockets for it.

[monochrome]

Not even counting inflation, I'm still way ahead with digital.

Granted, the productivity increase created by technology is astounding, but if you perform cost-accounting analysis on your computer hardware, software and the time you spend post processing you aren't nearly as far ahead.

I yearn for the days when I could pay someone else to do all that work.

[LesDMess]

My 1957 original Asahi Pentax retailed for $195 in the review and advertised for $156 in a January 1958 Popular Photography magazine. Not specified if that included the lens.

Asahi Pentax review

Asahi Pentax ad + others

[normhead]

I think I paid about $150 for my SV and ST 55 f/1.8 in 1965. That was a lot as I got $220 a month back then. Today that would be $1130 which is about the cost of a K3II.

I paid $156 for mine... I was robbed.

[LesDMess]

Ad in December 1975 of Modern Photography showing the new Pentax K along with the Honeywell Spotmatics and others.



December 1975 Modern Photography ad

[monochrome]

Huh. My college graduation present in 1977 was a boxed kit: KX, K50/1.4, ER case, Strap, manuals and little plastic bits. Looks like that was about $300 in 1975, so probably about the same in 1977. That's around $1,200 today.

What's really interesting is - $300 was about 7% of the cost of my last year at college, all-in. Today at the same college 7% of a year, all-in, would be $3.780 vs. $1,200.

[LesDMess]

I have the original receipt for my new Minolta X700+Minolta 50mm f1.4 lens and it was for $265. This Pop Photo Adorama ad from August 1982 shows this for $294.
Ad shows others of interest: Nikon F3 $464, Canon New F-1 $449 and Pentax LX $429.
Interesting that the Pentax MX motor drive was more expensive than the LX - $299 vs $249. Wonder if it was a typo?



August 1982 Pop Photo Adorama ad