Any experience with this eBay seller?

[acrystalball]

http://myworld.ebay.com/gokevincameras ?

His prices seem relatively cheap compared to other sellers. I was just wondering if anyone here had experience, positive or negative.

Thanks,
Crystal

[Tuolumne]

Yes. Lots, as do many here. Totally reliable. Have bought from him in the past and very satisfied with products, prices and service.

/T

[Nando]

I agree with Tuolumne. Kevin is willing to haggle on prices.

[back alley]

his website (http://www.kevincameras.com/)

[acrystalball]

That's good to know...there's a 35 'cron in my very near future :) (next week). :p

Thanks so much!
Crystal

[Gilo25]

His lenses though are all quite old, early 60s late 50s'.

[plummerl]

His lenses though are all quite old, early 60s late 50s'.
... and the problem would be????

Actually, he even has a fourth version of the 35/2. I have picked up quite a few items from Kevin, I'm a very satisfied customer.

[Film dino]

I wouldn't describe his prices as cheap, but he does select stock carefully & describe it thoroughly. It's probably best to select from the website, not on ebay (or rather, select on ebay then look for the item on the site & email Kevin)

[Gilo25]

No problem at all, but if you are looking for newer versions it looks like he doesn't normally have them. You may have been lucky to get a fourth version of the 35/2, but of the lenses I was looking for (Summicron 90/2 and Elmarit 90/2.8) he had only serial numbers between 16.. and 23.. Since the question was ' I noticed his prices are lower' the reason may be that in some cases he may be selling older versions which indeed cost less.

[foto_fool]

Kevin seems to specialize in older glass and prices his stuff more reasonably than some of the other dealers out there (Hollywood and Arsenal come to mind) and he is an active trader. Some of us have lost eBay auctions to him - At least I have a couple of times, and I think LeicaTom recently. 100% reliable guy IME.

[pompadork]

I wouldn't describe them as cheap either, at least not always...

http://cgi.ebay.com/A11-Flash-for-Olympus-XA-NEW_W0QQitemZ280127951823QQihZ018QQcategoryZ709QQs sPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Rafael]

I've bought from Kevin several times. As others have said, he is very reliable and his merchandise is always well described. If he says that an item is in great shape, it will be. But his prices are not bargain basement. You pay for peace of mind.

[whitecat]

His prices always seem high.

[jamiewakeham]

So that's why Pentax 85mm f/1.9 lenses are so hard to find - he has them all...

[Doug]

So that's why Pentax 85mm f/1.9 lenses are so hard to find - he has them all...It would seem like it, but I have one too. :)

I have bought from Kevin, and his gear is well-described and extremely well-illustrated. Prices seem a bit on the high side, but he's got the goods, and he's reliable.

[Charles Woodhouse]

You people must be loaded to pay Kevin's outrageous prices, and his photos are appalling. There are a lot of decent sellers out there who let the market dictate the price, show excellent detailed photos of the items and post internationally at cost. So why bother with "Buy at my price" Kevins (and Arsenall's, etc) unless you are rich or desperate.

[digitalintrigue]

If you find his prices outrageous, just don't buy from him.

He's got unique inventory, often with good selection of varying condition from average to mint, and has it available for immediate purchase; don't have to wait for an auction to end, only to find you missed out by $1. And many times I've seen auctions go way beyond the prices he's got listed...plus, he will negotiate.

Lastly, he backs up the sale. I bought a 50/1.4 Nikkor from him that shortly thereafter developed difficulties with the aperture; he did a CLA for free and turned it around in less than a week. Try that with various ebay auction sellers...

Highly recommended.

[colyn]

http://myworld.ebay.com/gokevincameras ?

His prices seem relatively cheap compared to other sellers. I was just wondering if anyone here had experience, positive or negative.

Thanks,
Crystal

I don't know what you think is cheap but gokevincameras is outrageously expensive on his camera gear.:eek: :eek: :eek:

[Meleica]

I have had many transactions with Kevin...buy and trade....and I always ask for 10% off and usually get it.... he has great, hard to find stuff....and yes, he has higher than ebay prices, but he also KNOWS what he is selling and takes returns. Thumbs up.

[Jerry Thirsty]

One thing I have never understood is why he appears to be trying to corner the market on the Tomioka 55/1.2?

About a year ago I read Mike Johnston's SMP article on the 'Glow' and thought it sounded like something interesting to try. So I went on eBay looking for one of the longish large aperture lenses MJ recommended and noticed this merchant, always with BINs for the Tomioka, but always for what seemed to me to be ridiculous prices. IIRC, when I first started looking, he was selling mint ones for about $650, and beaters for around $350. There was no way I was going to pay that much to try the experiment, so I went for a Super-Tak 50/1.4 for all of $50. But every once in a while, I run that search again. Now I see he's trying to get something like $900-1200 for them. Does anyone ever actually buy them? This may seem naive on a forum of Leicaphiles, but I simply can't imagine paying that much money for a 40 year old M42 normal lens just because it's half a stop faster than the more common ones. For that much, I could get my choice of Canon/Nikon/Minolta/Pentax 50/1.2 and a nice body to mount it on.

Or is there some Japanese cult market around that lens that he's selling to? I just don't get it.

[digitalintrigue]

If he's actually trying to corner the market, it's because of profit.

I am not familiar with this lens, but I'm sure there is a valid reason he's got it priced where it is.

One reason could be the China factor...some of my ebay sales have ggone to China with bids far beyond what I would have expected...

[Doug]

Kevin also keeps a good selection of Olympus Pen bodies & lenses on hand, and lens-mount adapters. Some collector issues there too of course.

[Charles Woodhouse]

To answer digitalintrigue, I don't buy from Kevin, and with so much good stuff going for reasonable prices on Ebay, I will never have to. But I do find it worrying that some people are actively trying to corner the market in collectables to force prices up. I am sure monopolies were not the original intent of Ebay.

[digitalintrigue]

Who knows whether he sells the lens in question for those prices; one can only assume if he doesn't, after a time, he will lower the price if he wants to move them. Or he may decide to keep the price where it is and be content waiting for the right customer to come along. That's certainly his prerogative, and it has nothing to do with monopolies (an entirely different subject) or ebay.

[Nando]

Yes, the prices on his website are high but like I said in my earlier post, Kevin is willing to haggle. I got my Summitar from Kevin, which included caps and I also bought two filters for it. After all was said and done, I managed to get about 30% off the listed prices for the lens and filters. When Kevin says a lens has perfect glass, it has perfect glass. I paid a more for my Summitar than current going rate but despite being the oldest lens I have (1946) and being the a bit rough cosmetically, the glass looks as if it is brand new and the mechanics are wonderful. The premium for the piece of mind was worth it for me. I have seen a few Summitars sell on e-Bay for more than what I paid for mine. Perhaps Kevin wanted to move that particular lens - I don't know. What I do know is that I'm a very happy man using the Summitar on my M3. I never gave any thought to the extra money I paid for it since I started using the lens.