I hiked along the river south of the Hispanic Cultural Center to a place I visit around this time each year to photograph a stand of yerba mansa. It turned out that I was about a week early for the full show, and there were relatively few of the plants in bloom.
No shortage of other subjects, however.
I haven't used my Pentax K1000 much since I found it in a local thrift shop, though it is in very good operational order. The problem has been that I don't have any additional lenses beyond the standard 50mm f-2 lens that came on the camera. I made some small progress toward fixing that issue recently when I found a 49mm +4 Hoya close-up lens at another thrift store. I'd still like to find a good telephoto and wide-angle like the ones I have for the Spotmatic, but the additional flexibility provided by the close-up accessory lens will encourage me to get out more often with the K1000.
7 comments:
The SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2 lens is so common and can be bought for a song -- but it so nice and does such good work. I have two of them here. I had a third, but I put it on one of my K1000 bodies and gave it to a teenager who showed an interest.
The SMC Pentax-M 135mm f/3.5 is pretty easy to find on eBay and sometimes can be had for as little as $25 plus shipping. Same for the 28mm f/2.8. I got a 135mm last fall, but have done minimal work with it since my Nikon F2 fell into my hands. I've had a 28mm for quite some time and have used it a fair amount. It's a keeper.
I'll have to look harder for the lenses. I would certainly not have any problem with $25 for any Pentax lens. The K1000 has a bit brighter viewscreen than my Spotmatic which my old eyes appreciate. Not having an off switch for the meter is a bit of a nuisance, but a tolerable one. I was using a 357 battery and seemed to be getting some underexposure, so have switched now to a 675.
Well, after doing some ebay searching again I'm not seeing any actual Pentax k-mount lenses in my price range. There are quite a lot of non-Pentax k-mounts, but I have no experience with any of them in regard to how they compare with the Pentax originals. I'm more than happy with the Mamiya 135 screwmount for my Spotmatic, but I don't know that Mamiya made any k-mounts.
So, if anyone would like to contribute some wisdom about non-Pentax k-mount prime lenses, I'll be most appreciative. Also will welcome heads-up about any good deals.
135mm f/3.5 for $25 + $15 shipping:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/111373966853?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
K1000 with 28mm f/2.8 attached, current bid $25 w/ $9 shipping, no bidders, ends tomorrow:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/141307907918?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Thanks for the help. I should let you do all my shopping.
Here's a good search for the 135mm Pentax-M:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=pentax-m+135&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xpentax-m+135+-m42&_nkw=pentax-m+135+-m42&_sacat=0
In this search, I see one at $35 plus shipping, Buy It Now, today.
Here's the equivalent 28mm search:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=pentax-m+135+-m42&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xpentax-m+28+-m42&_nkw=pentax-m+28+-m42&_sacat=0
When I want something but the prices are often more than I want to pay, I save the search and let eBay email me every day as new items get added. When a Buy It Now appears at a price I can live with, I pounce.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you would have an actual search strategy to find what you want. My usual routine is to wait for things to randomly appear on my screen.
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