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07-08-2018, 05:27 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by victormeldrew Quote

- While it is recyclable, most of it ends its life in landfill at best, or the ocean at worse, where it will cause problems more or less forever
Yup, that's my main gripe against plastics in general.

07-08-2018, 05:40 AM   #17
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Heavy = expensive = good

07-08-2018, 05:57 AM   #18
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Plastics used today in the manufacture of lenses and cameras have nothing to do with the plastics used some decades ago, when these complaints were mostly valid. Some people just haven't change the talk and realized this.
07-08-2018, 06:09 AM - 2 Likes   #19
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The guys over at lensrentals.com at one point were laughing about people going on about plastics. Many people quoted examples of lenses they thought were all metal that had very large plastic components. You think you know what's plastic and what's not, but have you actually taken your lens apart to find out?

I ike plastic going into landfill. We took it from the ground, we put it back in the ground, we just borrow it for a while.

Some people are just prejudiced against plastic. Almost always completely without cause. Plastic can be cheap, metal can be too thin. Companies that build cheap throw away product can make use of either. Plastic has no monopoly on poorly made.

07-08-2018, 06:33 AM - 1 Like   #20
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In my experience compared to a Pentax manual focus lens and camera,
early Pentax autofocus lenses and cameras do not have the same "feel".

They do not operate with the precision of the old designs and do not inspire confidence.

Presumably newer models have improved. But you can keep them!

Chris
07-08-2018, 06:56 AM   #21
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In my formative, early employment years I worked for a major aerospace company in their plastics and composite materials labs. This was in the early eighties. I was introduced to polymers which were astonishing in terms of strength and stiffness. These engineering polymer materials are finding their way into everyday life and make a huge difference to what we used to call “plastic”. I have been looking at some of the plastic lenses and I think we are seeing some of these engineering reinforced polymers being used here.
07-08-2018, 07:40 AM   #22
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I have no problem with well-crafted plastic lens barrels that can save weight but I draw the line at plastic lens mounts. I have a couple and they just feel cheap and flimsy to me. I just prefer the perception (and yes, I realize it's mainly just perception) of solidity that a metal mount delivers when it clicks into place. Plastic on metal just doesn't get it for me.

07-08-2018, 07:45 AM   #23
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChrisPlatt Quote
In my experience compared to a Pentax manual focus lens and camera,
early Pentax autofocus lenses and cameras do not have the same "feel".

They do not operate with the precision of the old designs and do not inspire confidence.

Presumably newer models have improved. But you can keep them!

Chris
Back in the days of manual focus I was always making minor adjustments to my focal point, to alter the depth of field. Forward or back depending on the image, AF can't guesss what you want to do. You can't expect an AF system to make such adjustments, if you want that kind of control go to manual focus. That has nothing to do with Pentax by the wy. That's just AF. However for wildlife or birds in flight AF can make adjustments much faster and accurately than MF. Out in my blind MF is slow, unpredictable and will cost you many images. So, I don't know what you shoot, but my guess is, your opinion is based on stationary objects. The fact that AF is an amazing thing, doesn't negate the need for MF where really tight control is required. The problem being, you're asking AF to do more than it's capable of. When I'm out in the field shooting mushrooms etc. MF using "live view" is every bit as good if not better than my old split image focussing screen. You just need to learn to use your camera to it's strengths.

---------- Post added 07-08-18 at 10:55 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by E-man Quote
I have no problem with well-crafted plastic lens barrels that can save weight but I draw the line at plastic lens mounts. I have a couple and they just feel cheap and flimsy to me. I just prefer the perception (and yes, I realize it's mainly just perception) of solidity that a metal mount delivers when it clicks into place. Plastic on metal just doesn't get it for me.
If you are going to use that criteria to select lenses, you're probably going to miss out on a few lenses you might otherwise enjoy.

Last edited by normhead; 07-08-2018 at 07:50 AM.
07-08-2018, 08:46 AM   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by ChrisPlatt Quote
In my experience compared to a Pentax manual focus lens and camera,
early Pentax autofocus lenses and cameras do not have the same "feel".

They do not operate with the precision of the old designs and do not inspire confidence.

Presumably newer models have improved. But you can keep them!

Chris
I'm not sure what this has to do with plastics. My first autofocus camera was a {shh} Canon. The USM lens that lured me away from Pentax for twenty years was mostly plastic - including the mount - but it served me well for eleven years. Properly used, space-age plastics can provide the strength and durability needed; metal provides "heft". In my various discussions, I've found that Pentax and Nikon users seem to greatly value "heft", assuming that it leads to performance. I believe reduced mass of the focusing unit is one key to a lens that focuses quickly.

Incidentally, Pentax Q-mount lenses remind me a lot of the Canon system I left behind three years ago.
07-08-2018, 10:24 AM   #25
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1) Plastic never looks or feels "right" when compared to a well-made lens that uses metal. My Pentax-M f/1.7 50mm lens looks and feels better than anything plastic made today. Yes, I may be a little old school with my thinking, but it is true.
2) There is nothing wrong with plastic for those who aren't likely to abuse lenses. Plastic will last if used occasionally (not shooting with it every day) and/or if taken care of properly. Plastic lenses are lighter, which is an advantage.
3) The idea of a lens is to reproduce life, and the design of the elements with the coatings (and sometimes plastic) is all necessary to do this. Balancing the reproduction of a living scene with things like corner sharpness (which no one should care too much about for an 8 x 10 photo with today's sharper lenses), distortion, aberrations, bokeh, use in low light, etc. makes lens design complicated, sometimes requiring the use of some plastics.
4) Photographers worrying about plastic vs. metal are an anachronism, anyway. Today, the only camera most people want happens to be part of their smartphone, and they have no idea what materials were used in its construction.

Last edited by quant2325; 07-08-2018 at 10:33 AM.
07-08-2018, 01:06 PM   #26
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Last time this topic came up, I posted the following and it still represents my thoughts on this topic. With my K-5 and K-3 bodies, I have an assortment of plastic (FA 50mm f1.7, DA 16-85 and DA 55-300 PLM), Plastic and metal (F 28mm f2.8, DFA 100 macro WR) and metal ( M50 f1.7, all 5 DA Limiteds, DA* 200 and 300 primes) lenses. While the two zooms are plastic, they feel solid and well built with nothing loose or wobbly and give me no worries about them failing due to poorer quality materials and build quality. The older FA 50mm does feel "plasticky", especially compared to its M50 f1.7 counterpart, however I use the FA 50 far more than the M 50 due to what seems to be better versatility and image quality. The metal lenses just feel better but I think a lot of it is perception more than anything else especially with higher quality plastic lenses. My one concern with the plastic lenses is the durability of the filter threads. I think this is where metal has a definite advantage.
07-08-2018, 01:14 PM   #27
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I think the plastics used in many modern lenses feels great in the hand and helps with the weight which is becoming outlandish.
07-08-2018, 01:20 PM - 1 Like   #28
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Many of today's users have never handled a substantially metal camera body or manual focus lens.
They will likely never know the difference.

Chris
07-08-2018, 03:12 PM   #29
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Plastic dont mean anything same if you say metal or wood or food.

95 % of peoples cannot make difference between type of wood or metal , imagine plastic.

For anything, chosing the right material(plastic, metal or others) for an application is critical and cost is not the only criteria in most part.
07-08-2018, 04:58 PM   #30
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My wife's Mercedes convertible has a plastic composite roll bar with a fake brushed aluminum cover.
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