| Author: | | New Member Registered: May, 2021 Posts: 14 | | Review Date: June 5, 2021 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp, good range, pretty snappy autofocus. | | Cons: | Loose focus ring in manual mode. | | Sharpness: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: istDL
Focusing: 7
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I bought this lens 15 years ago (or so) as an occasion. I wasn't into IQ aspects too much back then, I choose it because of its reasonable cheap price (can't remember what I paid for it though) and handy size and range. I just took a lot of snapshots with it without giving it too much thought. One day the camera was in reach when my cat suddenly decided that she wanted to become a photo model and posed beside a window. So I grabbed the camera, just pressed the button and bingo. 1/15 sec handheld on an istDL taken in a hurry tells me that this is a handy walkaround lens capable of great pictures. I don't think that I would have been able to take a sharp one with a heavier or more bulky lens attached. The balance on the istDL felt just right.
The only drawback as far as I am concerned is the insane loose focus ring in manual mode. When I start to test this lens on my next Pentax for a cityscape project I will have to tape the focus ring in order to prevent the focus from shifting during the shoot (on tripod of course). The 9 for focusing is for the autofocus, manual would get a 3 or so. So maybe I better should change the 9 in 9 + 3 / 2 = 6. Oh.. it just occurs to me that the autofocus magic is partly done in the camera and not the lens.... ok I make it a 7 because I like the lens : )
Date 2006. ISO 400 F8 1/15s Camera istDL, a little PP to remove a white window in the background, some curves adjustments and sharpening.
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2020 Posts: 120 | | Review Date: July 22, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $9.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | inexpensive, range, build quality, bokeh | | Cons: | heavy, mfd, contrast | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: Kr
Focusing: 8
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This was an impulse buy from ebay. I stumbled on an auction without bids in dying minutes with no time to research lens.
After briefly seeing the very positive reviews of the SMC version I soon realised that was not the lens I purchased. I paid around 8 GBP including postage.
2 stops down it is acceptably sharp but nothing special. Wide open it is pretty poor at both ends.
Contrast seems quite low, even with a hood.
A fair amount of barrel distortion at "wide" end. CAs seem ok
I found it is possible to improve things with some post processing. With contrast adjusted things start to look a lot sharper.
Handling takes some getting used to. Normal minimum focussing distance is 1m throughout range. To get closer you zoom past 80mm to the macro mode - still 80mm. You can then focus on objects much closer - results are qutie soft even at f11. There is however a distance that falls between normal and macro focussing.
The Bokeh is neutral, quite smooth for a zoom.
My copy has 8 aperture blades. I am not sure if that is a mistake in specs listed here (and elsewhere) or I have a variant.
AF is quick, even violent but seems accurate. Build is very solid - metal lens barrel - and as a result the lens is quite heavy.
For the price it is impossible not to recommend this lens, it does the job. But I think I will keep this for when I don't want to risk anything else, even the kit lens.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2018 Posts: 1,065
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 7, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, macro, solid build | | Cons: | Not the lightest | |
I used this lens in the Single in June 2020 challenge and got to know it really well. I think I picked it up with a film camera body and another lens that I wanted and didn't use it much for a while. When I looked into the reviews a bit I discovered that I had this version with the all white writing.
For the challenge I wanted to use an autofocus zoom lens on the K1 and picked this one over the F 35-70 after a day shooting with them both. This just gave me better results that day.
Focus is fast and accurate, the zoom range is useful on FF and the macro setting works well. I also paired it with the Raynox 150 for even closer shots. I shot everything from flowers to landscapes over the month and was more than happy with the results. The biggest surprise was the bubble bokeh that it happily produced and that I like a lot (although I know that taste in bokeh is a personal thing).
If you are looking for a walk about lens that will not cost much and will produce good results then I can recommend this one.
Personally, I always like to see pictures from a lens in a review rather than someones opinion so here they are.
 Bee by Mini Monster, on Flickr
 Lavender by Mini Monster, on Flickr
 Weston Park Museum by Mini Monster, on Flickr
 Cottages by Mini Monster, on Flickr
 The word on the street. by Mini Monster, on Flickr
 Poppies by Mini Monster, on Flickr
 Former pop museum by Mini Monster, on Flickr
The full album from the month is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/138808196@N04/albums/72157714541619511 | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2014 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: November 20, 2014 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: k-5
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I bougt takuma F 28-80 non smc but i abrupt it take to me.
it's verry Sharpness but too heavy   | | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: November, 2012 Posts: 66
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 23, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, useful focal range | | Cons: | maximal aperture, plastic cover | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K5
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Since I bought this lens, it has stayed for 9 months in the closet. I got it from an old lady who was telling me that she got nice pictures with it in her old days. I have read the reviews and I thought buying this non-smc was a mistake and I should forget about it.
Few days ago, I took it to make few shots with it and sell it. Surprised, I am going to keep it instead.
I found it was very very sharp in the center, and very good in the corners.
The focal range is very useful from the FF equivalent of 43mm (normal lens) to 120mm. The only "problems" which differentiate it from primes are the maximal aperture and the lousy toy plastic used for covering it. The inner barrel is solid metal.
For its price, I recommend trying it without any hesitation. There might be a strong variation in quality as usual with kit lenses. There is also some unfortunate prejudice against old and cheap lenses.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Brno Posts: 295
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 15, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | cheap, fast focusing | | Cons: | long minimum focus distance, weak image quality, strange bokeh | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 4
Handling: 7
Value: 8
Camera Used: K20D, K5
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I bought this lens few years ago with damaged SF-7 camera for very low price. I used it few times on film camera and more on K20D and later K5. It focuses extremely fast as the focusing screw is very steep. Its even faster than FA*24/2, which already is quick. It does zero to infinity and back under one second on K20D/K5!
Resolution wide open is weak, central part is usable at F5.6, but borders are soft. Better image can be taken at F8-F11. Lens has low contrast.
At normal 28-80 range it needs 1 meter ( !! ) distance to be able to focus, which makes it quite difficult to use. Macro setting at 80mm is interesting and enables you to come closer at about 30cm (at 80mm only), but lens needs to be stopped to about F11 to get usable image at this setting.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2012 Location: Fredericton, New Brunswick Posts: 632 | | Review Date: April 19, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, Sharp When Stopped Down, AF, Slightly faster than kit lenses. | | Cons: | No SMC, Funky(But not hard to use) MF Ring | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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Nice lens, takes sharp images when stopped down to 5.6 or smaller - Somewhat decent macro shots. Interesting Bokeh.
| | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2011 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: December 26, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 4 |
| Pros: | nice zoom range | | Cons: | poor color and contrast, fuzzy images (not at all sharp), slow, difficult to focus, cheap build, clunky | | Sharpness: 5
Aberrations: 4
Bokeh: 2
Handling: 2
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If given the choice between a nice point-and-shoot or a dslr with only this lens I would choose the point-and-shoot in a heartbeat. That's how much I found this lens to be a piece of junk. The contrast and color are horrible and the images are very fuzzy except with the higher apertures. It's also very clunky and cheaply built. The F 35-70mm f3.5-4.5 and the modern DA kit lenses are much, much better than this hunk of plastic.
  | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: January, 2011 Location: Skåne, Sweden Posts: 482 | | Review Date: January 8, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | cheap, relatively sharp, solid (compared to 18-55), (1:4) macro | | Cons: | poor contrast, manual focus ring, rotating front element | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 6
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-x
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A cheap and useful alternative to the DA-L 18-55 kit-lens.
Bought this to experiment with reverse adapters, bellows etc where I needed manual aperture settings, but I ended up using it far more than the kit-lens (SMC Pentax-DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL), mostly because I find it sharper and the zoom-range is more to my liking. The colors are average, but poor contrast removes some of the depth in the pictures, some post processing can help a lot though. It is relatively sharp and useful wide open, but like always gains from being stepped down.
It feels solid and it weighs considerably more then the DA-L 18-55. I wouldn't say "built like a tank" though, more that the fact that it is heavy that makes it feel pretty solid. Manual focus is not excellent (F-series has a very small focus ring), but possible. Auto-focus is pretty accurate and similar to the kit-lens, but it is far more noisy and very "clunky" (it hits the ends of the focusing range quite hard). Macro function useful and fun, although far from a true macro.
| Pentax K-x | ISO 200 | 80mm | F11 |
| Pentax K-x | ISO 200 | 80mm macro-mode | F11 |
| Pentax K-x | ISO 200 | 80mm macro-mode | F4.5 |
 | | | | | Junior Member Registered: July, 2008 Location: Chisinau (Moldova) Posts: 27 | | Review Date: August 3, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, cheap, good bokeh for a zoom, good range, good colours | | Cons: | macro only 1:4, minimal distance of focusing in a simple mode aprox. 1 meter (in macro about 30 cm), not SMC | |
First opinion was that it is a cheap not very high quality KIT lens, but when I made with it first portrait shots - I had changed my opinion about it. It has a nice breedind Pentax bokeh. It`s a pity but modern Pentax zooms (in exception of "star-series" zooms) haven`t such good bokel like this lens. It has a good sharpness and a good focus range. Also i like it colours.
Beside my DA*50-135/2.8 and FA50/1.4 I always put this 28-80 in my travel bag.
My colleague from Moscow has both: the SMC (https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/showproduct.php?product=177&cat=45) and this NON-SMC versions and his opinion: the colours of non-SMC version are better but in MACRO the SMC will be more preferable (these lenses are very similar from the exterior, but have a different optical scheme).
HIGHLY RECCOMENDED
Here is an example (click to see it in original dimensions) made on my K10D with this lens.
Apperture: 4.5
Focal length: 80mm
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