[cbaldeck]

Part of the fun of owning a K1 is the challenge of finding and acquiring vintage K-mount lenses of the manual focus persuasion, many of which are quite good and available for reasonable prices.


So before starting a “lens hunt” for my K1, I carefully look over the user reviews here to identify the better reviewed lenses, so I know what to look out for. On one recent foray, hoping to find a Pentax-A 35-105mm f3.5, sometimes referred to as “a stack of primes” I found instead a Pentax-A35-135mm f3.5-4.5 in clean condition and offered for $80. So I checked back on the reviews for this lens to find that there were only 2 reviews (the fewest reviews of all the A-mount zooms), whereas the 35-105mm had 72 reviews. I also noted that the apparently related Pentax-A 35-210mm f3.5-4.5 had 4 reviews, some of which referred to this lens as “rare” and a “collector's item” but perhaps of questionable optical goodness.


So I'm wondering why there are only 2 reviews of the 35-135mm model? A Google search on this lens yielded almost no further information except the 2 reviews on this forum. Assuming that after a lens is discontinued and all those which were made have been “out in the wild” for a while, I would expect the number of reviews should at least roughly correlate with the number sold. By such a criteria, one might guess that relatively few were sold.


The35-105 was produced from 1984-1989 (5 yrs.) The 35-135 and 35-210were both introduced 2 years later, in 1986, but the 35-210 was discontinued after only 1 year, while the 35-105 and 35-135 were both continued for another 2 years until 1989. So is the 35-135 also a“rare” lens, or perhaps a “sleeper” which was produced for only 3 years before being discontinued? Or was it just a case that the optical quality of manual zooms over a 3:1 ratio could not be maintained at a desirable standard during the mid-80's era, and few people bought them?


Does anyone have experience with the Pentax-A 35-135 f3.5-4.5? Is it rare and/or a decent lens, and worth $80?

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Last edited by cbaldeck; 05-31-2019 at 10:14 AM. Reason: Spaced between words were dropped on upload of text.

[gofour3]

The35-105 was produced from 1984-1989 (5 yrs.) The 35-135 and 35-210were both introduced 2 years later, in 1986, but the 35-210 was discontinued after only 1 year, while the 35-105 and 35-135 were both continued for another 2 years until 1989. So is the 35-135 also a“rare” lens, or perhaps a “sleeper” which was produced for only 3 years before being discontinued? Or was it just a case that the optical quality of manual zooms over a 3:1 ratio could not be maintained at a desirable standard during the mid-80's era, and few people bought them?

The first Pentax auto-focus cameras (SF series) and lenses (F series) came out in 1987. As a result some of these manual-focus A series zooms had a short life and were replaced with the new F series zooms.

Phil.

[stevebrot]

So I'm wondering why there are only 2 reviews of the 35-135mm model?

Few surviving copies? One of the two reviews mentions scarcity.


Steve

[Snafu711]

Sounds you‘re on a quest to rediscover lost lenses ... .

Why don‘t you let your couriosity invest this humble sum and come up with a test report yourself?

[D1N0]

When I look at the specs, it probably shares it's lens design with the F version: SMC Pentax-F 35-135mm F3.5-4.5 Reviews - F Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[cbaldeck]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. I bought the A 35-135 lens on the chance that it will be a good one, but it may be a while before I have enough experience with it to add a review.