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10-23-2019, 03:24 AM   #46
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QuoteOriginally posted by Gianclaudio Quote
-D FA 100mm macro. Is an old optical design and renders like one: loses contrast very easily in harsh light, massive purple fringing through all the apertures, meh rendering when outside of the macro range. Excellent as a macro, mediocre for everything else. I sold a 35mm macro ltd to get it, and feel remorse every single second I think about it.
I should use my DFA 100mm and see about your experience. I've used mine but i haven't maximized its use.

10-23-2019, 04:32 AM - 3 Likes   #47
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QuoteOriginally posted by Dartmoor Dave Quote
Well this is an easy one. The lens everyone seems to love but I never liked?

Autofocus lenses. All of them. I've tried them again and again, and every time I've ended up either selling them or sometimes just throwing them away. They seem to give me only two choices: either I hope that the camera will randomly select a focus point that's somewhere close to what I want, except that it usually isn't so I have to waste time correcting it, or I have to focus and recompose. Either way, it slows me down and I miss shots that I'd get easily with a manual focus lens.

The only good thing about autofocus is that at least you've usually got some way of turning it off.
Really glad to see this different opinion here. I've always felt much the same way especially because most of my shooting is landscapes and close-ups. AF wide angles for landscapes are never needed. Maybe some others realize the hindrance using AF wide angle zooms for landscapes on a tripod. "Modern" lenses usually lack a depth of field scale and it seems the distance scale often can't be trusted. There is so much talk of methods for adjusting focus but MF lenses were built to BE focused at infinity when set at infinity. Some actually use tables or databases to get the DOF info.
AF lenses are usually heavier and far pricier.. I prefer the handling of older primes too. Using AF with some of the smaller lenses works for me for just certain situations and I don't want to pay the much higher costs for more than a couple.
10-23-2019, 05:14 AM   #48
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For me, as stated here, it has to be the FA31 Limited.

I know, I know, I'm speaking against gospel.

As fine as it is optically, the focal length never did it for me and it's one of the few lenses that I really didn't mind seeing leave.
10-23-2019, 05:41 AM - 1 Like   #49
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I have two. The SMC-A 400mm f5.6 and SMC Limited 21mm. Bought, used and sold two copies of the 400 f5.6. Great color rendition but the IQ of each copy was worse than my 300 F4.5 SMC F with a Tamron 1.4x or my Sigma 120-400. Then there’s the 21mm Limited. I truly wish I’d never blown my money on that little overrated camera bag space taker. I can cover the 21mm focal length with several zooms. I bought the 21mm believing it would be much better at wide apertures, sharper, better IQ, less distortion. Nope, just less distortion.

10-23-2019, 06:31 AM - 1 Like   #50
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QuoteOriginally posted by DeadJohn Quote
Very polarizing opinions in this thread. I wonder how much of it is lemon lenses ("sample variation") versus different preferences. I like my DFA 100 for portraits, landscapes, and astrophotography so for me it's good at all focal lengths not just macro. I feel like the only issue I have in common with your experience is the purple fringing (I correct it with software).
Possibly lemons, possibly expectations. It's not an optically perfect lens, it has some compromises that keep it small and relatively inexpensive. I agree with your assessment though, purple fringing is about the only thing that goes wrong for me, but I always know when it's going to happen (very high contrast edges, and especially at wider apertures). It does exhibit a loss of contrast when the light source is hitting the front element (veiling flare), but it's usually easy to prevent this with a free hand if the hood doesn't cover it.
10-23-2019, 09:20 AM - 2 Likes   #51
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QuoteOriginally posted by Dartmoor Dave Quote
Autofocus lenses. All of them. I've tried them again and again, and every time I've ended up either selling them or sometimes just throwing them away. They seem to give me only two choices: either I hope that the camera will randomly select a focus point that's somewhere close to what I want, except that it usually isn't so I have to waste time correcting it, or I have to focus and recompose. Either way, it slows me down and I miss shots that I'd get easily with a manual focus lens.

The only good thing about autofocus is that at least you've usually got some way of turning it off.
Now that's a radical statement right there I think regarding focussing speed and precision, you'd be a candidate for a mirrorless camera system. Of course, that would take away the joy you're certainly also deriving from the process of manually focussing and photographing...

------------------

Regarding the topic question, for me it'd be the 55-300 PLM that I haven't grown fond of in the (admittedly short) while I've had it so far. Sure, it's light and sharp, but the requirements that 300mm bring with them regarding stabilization -> fast shutter time -> and with a 6.3 max aperture -> high ISO... unless there is really much light, I see no point in using it at 300mm for something other than documentation, but the high ISO takes away all sharpness and brilliance the lens may be capable of. A newer body than my K-S2 like the KP may improve upon this a bit (through both better IBIS and better high ISO), but for getting better pictures from the lens I'll have to put in more work than I had hoped for regarding quantity and quality of light, getting closer to the subjects, perhaps even using it with a tripod to be able to reduce exposure times... I guess I will have to work on myself and my technique after all instead of just buying new gear

Last edited by ehrwien; 10-23-2019 at 09:39 AM.
10-23-2019, 10:12 AM - 1 Like   #52
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Cool topic. Another vote for the 21mm limited from me. It's compactness was a plus of course but it's the only limited prime I didn't warm up to for three reasons. 1) Colors were always too cool for my taste. I could fix that in post but I had no problems with that from the other limited primes. 2) While this probably has to do with me not doing anything professional, the focal length is too similar to cell phone equiv. focal lengths. I found myself wanting a different perspective than the ubiquitous cell phone shots online. 3) Too soft wide open. Was disappointing to have to stop down all the time.

------------------------


And I'll throw in another vote for being pleasantly surprised by the DA*16-50. Maybe it's the low price I got for it but I haven't been able to let it go, not just because of it's versatility, but I'm able to get limited-like images from it. I don't give a flip about it being screw drive now.

10-23-2019, 01:25 PM   #53
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While there seem to be too many bad copies of the DA* 16-50 running around, a good copy is a wonderful lens, whose greatest weakness is the tendency to flare and show optical reflections at 16mm. Its strongest range is about 20-45mm but it is a nice portrait lens at 50mm, just a slight loss in contrast compared to at 45mm. If you want edge sharpness wide open this is not your lens, but it is a great picture taker.
10-23-2019, 01:48 PM - 1 Like   #54
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My least used lens that I currently own is the plastic fantastic DA 35/2.4. It's very sharp, performs well, but to me the length is just awkward. I mostly use it when I'm taking some tabletop photos of objects. I have sold other lenses that I rarely used, but the 35 is cheap and doesn't take up much space. None of the lenses were problematic, I just didn't use them enough. A lot of people mentioned the DFA 100 macro, which I did have and sold, I liked it but didn't use it much. Now, a few years later I have a manual focus Sigma 50 macro and an auto focus Tamron 90 macro. I would rarely use a macro without a tripod, so auto focus is not needed, but I got a good deal on the Tamron. I do use them more than I did the DFA, so things can change,
10-23-2019, 01:53 PM - 5 Likes   #55
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QuoteOriginally posted by gofour3 Quote
FA20-35/4 AL zoom.

Every time I use it I have to bite my tongue and try to be nice to it.......

Phil.
I moved mine on pretty quickly.... like my first wife. (ok ok.... she went looking for a new camera body.... ok ok..... she went back to an old format.... ok ok.... just to many focal lengths for me to make sense off at the time..... jeeze.... tough thread ). I'm also not fond of my 77.... but to scared to comment on that.... who knows what I might learn about myself.....
10-23-2019, 01:54 PM   #56
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
Any of the Asahi or Pentax f/1.4 fast 50s.
Does that include the DFA* ?
10-23-2019, 02:01 PM - 1 Like   #57
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It amuses me how many posters are dissing lenses they haven't used.

For me, the DA*60-250 is a highly regarded lens I just can't warm to. I'm on my second copy after a break of several years. The zoom creep when walking with it really irritates me, and the focus breathing limits its usefulness for wildlife. It's a fine landscape lens though.
10-23-2019, 04:55 PM   #58
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QuoteOriginally posted by Sandy Hancock Quote
The zoom creep when walking with it really irritates me,
I've never had that. But I mostly carry it with a Peak Design strap attached to its foot, so maybe the balance is better.
10-23-2019, 06:07 PM   #59
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QuoteOriginally posted by ramseybuckeye Quote
My least used lens that I currently own is the plastic fantastic DA 35/2.4. It's very sharp, performs well, but to me the length is just awkward.
That was one of the first lenses I picked up for my K50 a few years ago. I liked it OK at the time but it never seemed as sharp as everyone was claiming. Sold it on eBay.

Then two years ago I picked up another copy on the cheap, figuring it would make a decent lens to toss in the slingbag for those "just in case" times. I think I used it twice in teh past two years and TBH not even sure where it is at the moment. Still not one I really wanted to use and so I didn't.

I'm personally not impressed with it.
10-23-2019, 06:24 PM   #60
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Mine would be the 18-135mm.....Had two copies and neither did a thing for me !

---------- Post added 10-23-19 at 18:27 ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by gofour3 Quote
FA20-35/4 AL zoom.

Every time I use it I have to bite my tongue and try to be nice to it.......

Phil.
lolol.....and that's the lens I borrowed for a month and am still looking for my very own copy !
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