Those of you who read my post about buying the Pentax P30T might recall that I was unsure about the 28-80mm f3.5 zoom lens I had with it. I felt it was a little heavy to carry as a general go-to lens and that it upset the balance of the camera.
Well, the more I used the camera the more I felt that was the case, so I had a look around for alternatives. For a 50mm lens there was a choice between the Pentax f2 and f1.7 and in order to keep full functionality with the camera I only looked at Pentax-A lenses only. I got the impression (from comments and reviews online) that the better lens was the f1.7 but that the f2 was no slouch either, so I chose to look for both and take whichever one came along first.
A quick survey of Ebay sold listings suggested that I should expect to pay around £20 for an f2 lens and £31 for the f1.7, so these were the target prices I set myself. After a few failed attempts to buy either lens, where I was outbid and the price went over my target, I saw an f1.7 lens with a minimum bid of £14.95 with £3.50 postage with only 1 day to go in the auction and there no bids so far.
I think the reason for no bids at this stage was the ‘high’starting bid and the very brief description which basically just said ‘used‘ and gave no real clues as to the actual condition of the lens. I looked closely at the photographs (which in fairness were of good quality unlike so many on ebay) and so thought it was worth taking a chance. The next day, just 30 minutes before the end of the auction, there were still no bids so I put in my bid and won uncontested.
When the lens arrived in the post a few days later, well packaged in bubblewrap and a stout homemade cardboard box, it looked to be in a good used condition (a few marks here and there but no damage) with everything working and nice clear optics. Not bad, an f1.7 50mm Pentax-A lens for £18.50 including postage, a ‘saving’ of 2 or 3 rolls of film.
On the camera it both looks and feels good, the balance is so much better. I’ve yet to try it out with a film but I’ll report back when I have. In the meantime, here are some photos of it.
All I need now is some film.
I BOUGHT AN OLD FILM CAMERA 