Chinese Glass: Phenix MC Zoom 24-80 f3.8-5.6 Hands On

butangmucat · 08-09-2016, 09:29 AM

So I was hunting for some Chinese glass for my self (because we once had some rather high-quality glass with some character, just like the Soviet ones, but the Soviet glass copied German designs, we mainly copied Japanese ones, especially Minolta and some of them are said to be even licensed copies) and came across this 24-80 zoom with an max aperture of f3.8-5.6. The lens was made under the brand Phenix, which mainly produced PK mount lense, but this one came in a SR mount. The lens was advertised as NOS and costed me RMB 340 which is around 55 bucks including domestic shipping.

Before I bought the lens I did some research. Not a lot of reviews of this lens was available but I was able to find a review posted on a photography journal way back in 2004 by using a free journal database available in China. The reviewer tested this lens against Fujifilm Provia 100F and Fujifilm Superia 200 in an outdoor setting and found the lens to have a good contrast and distortion control, but has some color reproduction issues in high-contrast or backlight scenes. The report also mentioned the lens as 9 elements in 8 groups, including one group of glued elements. All elements are coated and 3 of them are coated with a multi-coating came up by Phenix. The lens also has pseudo-macro capabilities, with a ratio of 1:5 at its 80mm end. For a lens that costs less than 60 bucks NOS, this seems to be a deal.

The lens arrived today, and it is indeed bulky. This is the lens mounted on my Sony a5000, with a Canon 67mm UV filter.

The lens feels heavy, but it doesn't feel extremely solid. The 24-80mm has an equivalent focal length of 36-120mm on a crop sensor. The cap looks a bit wired and it doesn't have a native hood, which means I need to get a generic 67mm hood (and it is a bit hard to find a good one in China).

I took the lens out for a walk and here are some sample shots, exported directly from Lr w/o any PPing.

I would say that the lens has fairly good sharpness, and no visible CA so far. The color seems to be a bit flat which I believe is also somehow related to the default RAW development settings supplied by Sony and Lightroom. However flare seems to be a problem as seen in shot 3, where the sun was setting and light hit the lens hard. Another problem is that the front element rotates when I focus, and it can be a problem when I want to use a polarizer.

I am going to update this as I do have quite some chance to go out with this lens this week.

rawr · 08-09-2016, 10:38 AM

On the subject of Chinese glass, LensTip recently reviewed the Venus Optics LAOWA STF 105 mm f/2 [tested on Nikon, but also available for Pentax K], and they were extremely positive about the lens.

butangmucat · 08-10-2016, 03:22 AM

I went out with some friends today, and the weather here was clear with a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. This made some problems obvious which might not be reflected obvious.

First of all, I was able to find a hood on Taobao but it didn't arrive in time for my field test today, and I proceeded without the hood for all my photographs.

First of all, the lens is satisfactorily sharp when stopped down, and the color reproduction is not too bad.

However, the coating was so bad that more a third of the images I have taken suffered from flare, and the worst ones look like this

Another problem is that it seems that when exposed in sun, the lens starts go gather heat and gets warm, and starts to lose the ability to focus correctly. In the end, no matter how hard I try to focus, what I got looked no better than this (my guess, pending confirmation)

Considering this lens was manufactured in the 2000s, this seems to be a bit too bad.

butangmucat · 08-10-2016, 06:20 AM

Originally posted by rawr

On the subject of Chinese glass, LensTip recently reviewed the Venus Optics LAOWA STF 105 mm f/2 [tested on Nikon, but also available for Pentax K], and they were extremely positive about the lens.

From this review it seems that Chinese glass still has severe flare control problems, which is similar to what I have experienced.

08-09-2016, 09:29 AM	#1
butangmucat Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 709	Chinese Glass: Phenix MC Zoom 24-80 f3.8-5.6 Hands On So I was hunting for some Chinese glass for my self (because we once had some rather high-quality glass with some character, just like the Soviet ones, but the Soviet glass copied German designs, we mainly copied Japanese ones, especially Minolta and some of them are said to be even licensed copies) and came across this 24-80 zoom with an max aperture of f3.8-5.6. The lens was made under the brand Phenix, which mainly produced PK mount lense, but this one came in a SR mount. The lens was advertised as NOS and costed me RMB 340 which is around 55 bucks including domestic shipping. Before I bought the lens I did some research. Not a lot of reviews of this lens was available but I was able to find a review posted on a photography journal way back in 2004 by using a free journal database available in China. The reviewer tested this lens against Fujifilm Provia 100F and Fujifilm Superia 200 in an outdoor setting and found the lens to have a good contrast and distortion control, but has some color reproduction issues in high-contrast or backlight scenes. The report also mentioned the lens as 9 elements in 8 groups, including one group of glued elements. All elements are coated and 3 of them are coated with a multi-coating came up by Phenix. The lens also has pseudo-macro capabilities, with a ratio of 1:5 at its 80mm end. For a lens that costs less than 60 bucks NOS, this seems to be a deal. The lens arrived today, and it is indeed bulky. This is the lens mounted on my Sony a5000, with a Canon 67mm UV filter. The lens feels heavy, but it doesn't feel extremely solid. The 24-80mm has an equivalent focal length of 36-120mm on a crop sensor. The cap looks a bit wired and it doesn't have a native hood, which means I need to get a generic 67mm hood (and it is a bit hard to find a good one in China). I took the lens out for a walk and here are some sample shots, exported directly from Lr w/o any PPing. I would say that the lens has fairly good sharpness, and no visible CA so far. The color seems to be a bit flat which I believe is also somehow related to the default RAW development settings supplied by Sony and Lightroom. However flare seems to be a problem as seen in shot 3, where the sun was setting and light hit the lens hard. Another problem is that the front element rotates when I focus, and it can be a problem when I want to use a polarizer. I am going to update this as I do have quite some chance to go out with this lens this week.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
FA 28-80 f3.5-4.7 zoom ring	Tickolas	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	3	09-11-2015 02:31 PM
Vivitar MC 28-210mm 3.5-5.6 Macro Focussing Zoom	Sumit Floyd Chaterji	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	2	09-11-2014 12:00 PM
Sirius MC Auto Zoom 28-70mm F3.5-4.5	tommessenger	Pentax SLR Lens Discussion	2	05-18-2011 02:41 PM
For Sale - Sold: Ozunon 35-75mm F3.5-4.5 (MC Auto Zoom) (CONUS)	Clinton	Sold Items	2	08-25-2010 01:37 PM
For Sale - Sold: FS: Sigma 24-135 F2.8-4.5, Sigma 28-105 F4-5.6, TOU/FIVESTAR MC 70-200 F4 m	ramzey	Sold Items	2	12-31-2007 03:03 AM

08-09-2016, 10:38 AM	#2
rawr Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 11,913	On the subject of Chinese glass, LensTip recently reviewed the Venus Optics LAOWA STF 105 mm f/2 [tested on Nikon, but also available for Pentax K], and they were extremely positive about the lens.

08-10-2016, 03:22 AM	#3
butangmucat Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 709 Original Poster	I went out with some friends today, and the weather here was clear with a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. This made some problems obvious which might not be reflected obvious. First of all, I was able to find a hood on Taobao but it didn't arrive in time for my field test today, and I proceeded without the hood for all my photographs. First of all, the lens is satisfactorily sharp when stopped down, and the color reproduction is not too bad. However, the coating was so bad that more a third of the images I have taken suffered from flare, and the worst ones look like this Another problem is that it seems that when exposed in sun, the lens starts go gather heat and gets warm, and starts to lose the ability to focus correctly. In the end, no matter how hard I try to focus, what I got looked no better than this (my guess, pending confirmation) Considering this lens was manufactured in the 2000s, this seems to be a bit too bad.

08-10-2016, 06:20 AM	#4
butangmucat Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 709 Original Poster	Originally posted by rawr On the subject of Chinese glass, LensTip recently reviewed the Venus Optics LAOWA STF 105 mm f/2 [tested on Nikon, but also available for Pentax K], and they were extremely positive about the lens. From this review it seems that Chinese glass still has severe flare control problems, which is similar to what I have experienced.