New "Old Stock" ! Vivitar 2X Macro-Focusing Teleconverter.

Hi Pentaxians and friends.

I haven’t written anything for the past five days or so. My daughter and my granddaughter were visiting and we spent some times at Disneyland, California. I will post about that later on this week.

I was in Claremont, California, last week for business. While there, I spotted a small camera store in a strip mall along Foothill Boulevard. After my meeting, I drove back to the store. The store, "Claremont Camera & Video", is located at 863 W. Foothill Boulevard in Claremont. Like many of the smaller camera stores, it is having a tough time competing against the “ B&H Photo” the “Best Buy” and the Circuit City” of the world. In fact, the store has turned into a predominantly Scrapbooking store.

However, they still have a lot of photographic equipment for sale. It’s what we usually call “New Old Stock”, meaning of course that the equipment is new but outdated or new but not being manufactured anymore. Small camera stores l can be found in many Towns across the USA and probably other Countries as well. You owe it to yourself to visit them and take a real close look at what they have. You won’t find much of the newest digital autofocus lenses and high-end DSLR cameras. However, if you know what to look for, you can get great deals, much better that you can on EBay for example. In the case of filters, tripods, camera bags and many more items, it doesn’t matter if it’s old stock. I spotted full cabinets with lenses and accessories. None were autofocus but I noticed several Vivitar 2X Macro-Focusing Teleconverters for Pentax, Nikon and Canon. The prices were still as marked back then, I suppose. I purchased some filters at bargain prices, step-up rings and the Vivitar 2X Macro-Focusing Teleconverter for Pentax. I paid $35.00 for it and although not autofocus, I think I found a pearl.


If you like to shoot in Macro, you probably found that it’s often easier to shoot in Manual anyway. I used my Pentax “A” 50mm f/1.4 and I am very pleased with the results. You get a 2X multiplier to begin with and you can adjust the macro mode by simply turning the rubberized ring on the barrel of the Teleconverter. It has a range of 1:1.5 to 1:20. The one I purchase has all of the connections found on “A” type lenses and therefore everything is compatible with my K10D and K20D except for the autofocus.

All of the flowers above were less than 1/4" across.

I haven’t seen any Vivitar 2X Macro-Focusing Teleconverters for Pentax on EBay, but I’m sure they can be found occasionally. Check out small camera stores in your area, you might be surprised at what can be found if you look carefully. Ask the store manager if they have any “New Old Stock” items not displayed.

It makes me wonder why they don’t make an autofocus version for today’s DSLR cameras. Let us know if you have found “New Old Stock” items too.

Thanks for reading,

Yvon Bourque