First of all, one of the surest ways to make sure that something goes for more than it otherwise would have is to post a link to it in a forum (or mailing list) of people who use lenses of the same camera mount that you do. All you do is attract people to the item you are interested in, that may have otherwise been unaware. (Links to active auctions or Craigslist ads is a pet peeve of mine.)
Secondly, if you want to know the relative merits of a lens most Pentax users will probably recommend the Pentax Forums "Lens and Accessories Review Database": http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/ Those threads often contain photos taken with that lens. Another easy way to find images taken with the lens is to search for the lens in Flickr. Just put the lens info in the search box and see what comes up. Then read the description or tags to make sure it was with the same lens. Thirdly, in general, the Takumar-A series is thought of as inferior to the Pentax SMC K, M, or A lenses, optically. However, being an A lens, it will be somewhat easier to use than SMC K or M lenses, which require the extra step of the green button (or A/E button, depending upon your model and settings). Fourthly, regarding the shopgoodwill.com site you really need to look beyond the BID price when determining what you will actually be paying. Most items have a fairly substantial handling charge that they add to each item and their shipping is often way high. On top of that, there is no guarantee of the condition with that site and no returns. The photos are usually too small to make a good judgment on condition, so you are really rolling the dice when you buy there. The people who take photos for the various Goodwills across the country are mostly morons when it comes to photographing lenses. They will often take the photo of the side of the lens that tells you the LEAST and then not describe it properly (listing the filter size as the focal length, for example). -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
