The "Cheap AF 28ish-80ish zoom lens" club

**goatsNdonkey** · 12-18-2016, 09:44 AM

Originally posted by paulh

Hey, that 24-50 looks pretty decent! Your photos look better than the reviews indicate for this lens - congrats. I would think you should be able to manually focus a non-working AF lens, depending on the lens. I have a Sigma UC II 70-210 zoom that looks brand new, but will not AF on any of my bodies. But put the camera in MF mode, and it focuses by hand just fine. I think that would be the case most of the time.

Thanks for the info, Paul. That let's me be more brave about bargain AF lenses that might or might not have broken AF.

It's hard to find anything like our usual PF reviews about that Sigma UC 24-50. But our review of the Sigma UC 24-70 here at PF makes it look bad by association. I'm pretty happy with it, so far. And as mentioned earlier the auto focus is very fast with it!

**paulh** · 05-11-2017, 11:29 AM

posing willows - Sigma 28-90:

**paulh** · 05-20-2017, 09:21 AM

Tokina AF 28-70/3.5-4.5

royden · 05-20-2017, 09:28 AM

Nice lens. Where did you pick that up. Lol.

**paulh** · 05-20-2017, 09:37 AM

Originally posted by royden

Nice lens. Where did you pick that up. Lol.

I just kinda stumbled onto it

.
I'll send you a pm....

**paulh** · 06-16-2017, 11:02 AM

Tokina 28-70 again:

**paulh** · 06-27-2017, 01:02 PM

Tokina 28-70 I acquired from Royden. What a nice lens! (K10D):

**paulh** · 05-01-2018, 09:49 AM - **1 Like**

Giving this old thread a boost - F35-80 on K-5:

**tonezime** · 05-28-2018, 11:13 AM

Tamron 28-105 masquerading as FA 28-105 in the EXIF data.

This was the first lens I got when I started dipping my toes into the world of legacy AF lenses for my K-30.

catwalk · 07-12-2018, 12:30 AM

Picked up a Pentax-F 35-80 today for $30. It is cheap, plastic, and the focus has a ton of play. It seems soft at any aperture, and there is something either in the lens or stuck to one of the elements that creates this interesting noise pattern (no it's not the ISO, you can see it through the viewfinder easily at 80mm). But it manages to deliver!

catwalk · 07-12-2018, 11:36 PM - **1 Like**

Got to take F 35-80 for a real test drive today. Autofocus is pretty terrible but I'm impressed with its macro performance.

**paulh** · 07-19-2018, 09:10 AM - **1 Like**

F35-80 on K10D:

bladerunner6 · 07-27-2018, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by catwalk

Picked up a Pentax-F 35-80 today for $30. It is cheap, plastic, and the focus has a ton of play. It seems soft at any aperture, and there is something either in the lens or stuck to one of the elements that creates this interesting noise pattern (no it's not the ISO, you can see it through the viewfinder easily at 80mm). But it manages to deliver!

I love the expressions in the top photo.

catwalk · 08-06-2018, 11:31 PM

Originally posted by bladerunner6

I love the expressions in the top photo.

Yes! My cats are very puzzled why I keep shoving this black box in their faces all of the sudden.

More with the F35-80.

Originally posted by paulh

F35-80 on K10D

I like that middle one, good one Paul!

E-man · 02-16-2019, 07:29 PM - **4 Likes**

I think at least half of my lenses fall into this category: Sigma 28-80 macro ($30-ish), Quantaray 28-90 non-macro ($36), Tamron 28-105 ($32), Sigma Zoom Master 35-70 ($7), Pentax FA 28-105 power zoom ($28). The newest addition to the collection is a Takumar F 28-80 macro that I picked up last month for $14 ($8 plus $6 shipping). Here are a couple of the first shots I've taken with it on my K30. I especially like the fact that it doesn't oversaturate the reds.

07-12-2018, 12:30 AM	#145
catwalk Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery Posts: 48	Picked up a Pentax-F 35-80 today for $30. It is cheap, plastic, and the focus has a ton of play. It seems soft at any aperture, and there is something either in the lens or stuck to one of the elements that creates this interesting noise pattern (no it's not the ISO, you can see it through the viewfinder easily at 80mm). But it manages to deliver! Last edited by catwalk; 07-12-2018 at 12:38 AM. Reason: Picture upload failed

07-12-2018, 11:36 PM - 1 Like	#146
catwalk Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery Posts: 48	Got to take F 35-80 for a real test drive today. Autofocus is pretty terrible but I'm impressed with its macro performance. Last edited by catwalk; 07-12-2018 at 11:37 PM. Reason: grammar fail

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12-18-2016, 09:44 AM	#136
goatsNdonkey Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Fulton County, Illinois Posts: 3,727	Originally posted by paulh Hey, that 24-50 looks pretty decent! Your photos look better than the reviews indicate for this lens - congrats. I would think you should be able to manually focus a non-working AF lens, depending on the lens. I have a Sigma UC II 70-210 zoom that looks brand new, but will not AF on any of my bodies. But put the camera in MF mode, and it focuses by hand just fine. I think that would be the case most of the time. Thanks for the info, Paul. That let's me be more brave about bargain AF lenses that might or might not have broken AF. It's hard to find anything like our usual PF reviews about that Sigma UC 24-50. But our review of the Sigma UC 24-70 here at PF makes it look bad by association. I'm pretty happy with it, so far. And as mentioned earlier the auto focus is very fast with it!

05-11-2017, 11:29 AM	#137
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	posing willows - Sigma 28-90:

05-20-2017, 09:21 AM	#138
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	Tokina AF 28-70/3.5-4.5

05-20-2017, 09:28 AM	#139
royden Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Atlanta, Ga Photos: Gallery Posts: 297	Nice lens. Where did you pick that up. Lol.

05-20-2017, 09:37 AM	#140
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	Originally posted by royden Nice lens. Where did you pick that up. Lol. I just kinda stumbled onto it . I'll send you a pm....

06-16-2017, 11:02 AM	#141
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	Tokina 28-70 again:

06-27-2017, 01:02 PM	#142
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	Tokina 28-70 I acquired from Royden. What a nice lens! (K10D):

05-01-2018, 09:49 AM - 1 Like	#143
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	Giving this old thread a boost - F35-80 on K-5:

05-28-2018, 11:13 AM	#144
tonezime Site Supporter Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 445	Tamron 28-105 masquerading as FA 28-105 in the EXIF data. This was the first lens I got when I started dipping my toes into the world of legacy AF lenses for my K-30.

07-19-2018, 09:10 AM - 1 Like	#147
paulh Site Supporter Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: DFW Texas/Ventura County, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 33,252	F35-80 on K10D:

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07-27-2018, 01:58 PM	#148
bladerunner6 Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2014 Photos: Albums Posts: 2,080	Originally posted by catwalk Picked up a Pentax-F 35-80 today for $30. It is cheap, plastic, and the focus has a ton of play. It seems soft at any aperture, and there is something either in the lens or stuck to one of the elements that creates this interesting noise pattern (no it's not the ISO, you can see it through the viewfinder easily at 80mm). But it manages to deliver! I love the expressions in the top photo.

08-06-2018, 11:31 PM	#149
catwalk Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Location: Arizona Photos: Gallery Posts: 48	Originally posted by bladerunner6 I love the expressions in the top photo. Yes! My cats are very puzzled why I keep shoving this black box in their faces all of the sudden. More with the F35-80. Originally posted by paulh F35-80 on K10D I like that middle one, good one Paul!