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Bidding @ USD 1,000 currently-

Minty, Rare, and Superfast SMC Pentax-A* 1:1.8 135mm Lens | eBay

Hope somebody from here grabs it.

I saw a Chinon 135/1.8 offered by a South African seller there a while ago and it sold for a lot less.

[eddie1960]

still holding at a grand.

IF (when ) Ff comes out they need to reintroduce a AF 135 at F2 or less (this is going for more than the used modern Nikon and canon do used)

[jhaji]

The average buying price of the reviewers is over $900 here. Mostly great reviews.

I'm pretty sure the Chinon 135/1.8 that I saw on ebay was a M42 and I was a little surprised at that time that it didn't go higher because of the Canon crowd. It makes sense now that you mention that Canon has a 135/2 in their line up.

SMC Pentax-A* 135mm F1.8 Reviews - A Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[eddie1960]

I didn't even know Chinon made a 1.8 there are plenty of 2.8 ones of course.

[RXrenesis8]

Sold for ~$1500

[jjdgti]

Sold for ~$1500

It is a nice piece of glass.
Did anyone form PF bought it?

[eddie1960]

Sold for ~$1500

that's nuts, a new AF model would likely sell for that or less (the nikon and canon f2.0 models are about $1200)

[normhead]

It's reached the point in Pentax land that the absence of new good glass is pushing the prices of old glass to new prices. Is anyone in Pentax land paying attention to this stuff? How can they not be looking at the prices these lenses are bringing and not think they could make money selling them new. IN many of these cases, they are leaving money on the table, the guy who bid $1400 was willing to pay that much for the lens, and still doesn't have one. Sometimes, I just don't understand what they are thinking.

Just basic economics, if one guy will pay 1500 there are probably 20 that would pay $1200 and 100 that would pay $900. Just making up numbers here, but you get the idea, when will Pentax?

[dadipentak]

It is a nice piece of glass.
Did anyone form PF bought it?

It is an incredible piece of glass and yes, I bought it on behalf of an Aussie member.

[LeDave]

It's reached the point in Pentax land that the absence of new good glass is pushing the prices of old glass to new prices. Is anyone in Pentax land paying attention to this stuff? How can they not be looking at the prices these lenses are bringing and not think they could make money selling them new. IN many of these cases, they are leaving money on the table, the guy who bid $1400 was willing to pay that much for the lens, and still doesn't have one. Sometimes, I just don't understand what they are thinking.

Just basic economics, if one guy will pay 1500 there are probably 20 that would pay $1200 and 100 that would pay $900. Just making up numbers here, but you get the idea, when will Pentax?

Yeah definitely agree, if he's willing to spend that much money on that non-AF lens then he would most definitely have the cash for a Nikon equivilant with AF... Some people just love Pentax too much to let go. Wonder when Pentax will re-make some of their old lenses into AF versions, so much money can be made with so little R&D as the optics are already existing.

[dadipentak]

Yeah definitely agree, if he's willing to spend that much money on that non-AF lens then he would most definitely have the cash for a Nikon equivilant with AF... Some people just love Pentax too much to let go. Wonder when Pentax will re-make some of their old lenses into AF versions, so much money can be made with so little R&D as the optics are already existing.

I guess AF is more important to some people than others. I'm in the "others" camp. The most important thing to me is IQ and the A*135/1.8 has it--big time. I do agree that it's perplexing and frustrating that Pentax (excuse me--I mean "Ricoh") doesn't bring out AF versions of these legendary legacy lenses.

[jogiba]

that's nuts, a new AF model would likely sell for that or less (the nikon and canon f2.0 models are about $1200)

Amazon has the Canon EF 135mm f/2L USM Lens for $1,014 and it was $959 on March 8 2012.

[frank]

that's nuts, a new AF model would likely sell for that or less (the nikon and canon f2.0 models are about $1200)

The price doesn't really indicate its actual value due to how rare the lens is. You can buy a Canon/Nikon f2.0 version pretty much everywhere anytime you want, but you won't see this gem show up that often ...

[eddie1960]

The price doesn't really indicate its actual value due to how rare the lens is. You can buy a Canon/Nikon f2.0 version pretty much everywhere anytime you want, but you won't see this gem show up that often ...

I understand rarity and desirable items. But when you see this pricing and the way it bid up it's blatantly obvious Pentax is leaving money on the table. If there was a DA* variant of this same lens design on the market, AF weather sealed even at F2.0, the value on this lens would drop. Sure some of the people bidding are collectors and completists, but others are people just looking for the FL with fast F stop, who have the money to do so. The same thing happens every time you see a nice 85 come up, a 24...... there are gaps that need adressing, and the resale value on lenses 10-30 years old indicates the areas where there is a big gap.

[jhaji]

I didn't even know Chinon made a 1.8 there are plenty of 2.8 ones of course.

Neither did I and I wasn't very convinced even after seeing the pictures. But there is mention of it in their instruction manual for the Memotron -

Chinon CEII Memotron camera manual, instruction