| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: September, 2012 Posts: 107
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 15, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Fairly sharp, cheap | | Cons: | Construction, flares | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: MZ-M and K-r
| |
I've had this lens for about 10 years now, and it has held up quite well. It takes sharp pictures when stopped down to about f7, but wide open it's a little soft. The focus ring feels loose and drifts when in MF mode (the AF on my K-r keeps it in check though). I got it for $200 brand new, but like I said, that was about 10 years ago. Now, if you find a used one they go for $50 or less, and for that price it's a great walk-around lens with which you can get some surprisingly good and sharp pictures. Here are a few examples, all shot with the K-r:
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: October, 2011 Location: Greenhithe, Kent UK Posts: 63
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 23, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, fast focussing, lightweight | | Cons: | not experienced plastic mounts before so not sure of durability | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K5
| |
I managed to get one of these on ebay recently for £15 +£5 postage. It arrived yesterday so I put it on the camera and tried it out today whilst walking the dogs. WOW! for the money I paid, I am well pleased with it's sharpness and ease of use. I found it focussed quickly on the subjects. I even tried doing some comparison shots with my DA 50-200 at same focal length equivalents and found it sharper. I don't mind keeping this on the camera for general use when out walking as it is light and for what I paid I won't mind if it takes a few knocks when slung over my shoulder. I haven't experienced using plastic mounts before so I don't know how durable the are.
I have uploaded an album - see my album on Testing the lens.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2011 Location: Murfreesboro Tennessee Posts: 3,458
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 16, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | light weight sharp | | Cons: | slow | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 4
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
| |
I won this lens for a $2.34 on ebay I didn't expect much. I was totally blown away with the sharpness and speed of AF on both my DL and ZX-7. It has become my walk around lens
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: August, 2008 Location: Winter Haven Florida Posts: 15
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 20, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Very light weight, AF is quick, IQ is surprisingly good | | Cons: | cheap plastic body. | |
I'm surprised no one else has reviewed this lens. This lens came with an older film camera I purchased on ebay. I haven't had the chance to try it out in practical use but, I just spent a couple hours comparing this one against several other lenses in this focal range that I own. they include the Tamron #44A-28-70mm #27A SP28- 80mm #159A 28-70 and the classic SP90mm macro. my conclusion, at 6.5ft from my chair to the speaker on a corner shelf in my computer room...
the IQ is so very close, if it wasn't for the macro use of the SP90, I wouldn't pay the extra $100 for the sp90mm!
I'm going to try to link the images to this so you can see for yourself.
Well, I'm not sure what happened but I've lost those pix, I'll try to find them an re-post.
Pentax 35-80 @ 80mm
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2022 Location: Gosford, NSW Posts: 8 | | Review Date: January 2, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | featherweight, decent image quality | | Cons: | construction feels a little flimsy, no weather resistance | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K70
| |
Just picked up one of these Brand New In Box (yes, sitting un-touched in some storage for at least 17 years). Over the last couple of days I have been doing my own comparisons with 2 other small zooms, namely the F35-70mm and the DA18-50mm. I am no expert but I have to say that this one stacks up quite well in terms of image quality. This FA35-80mm has the plastic mount, like the DA18-50mm, but no weather resistance. The F35-70mm is slightly heavier, with its metal mount. Focusing on the FA35-80mm is swift and accurate, and I find the noise is not too bad, certainly less than the clunk from the camera's mirror. Like the F35-70mm, but unlike the DA18-50mm, the FA35-80mm gives you all 3 rings: focus, zoom and aperture. They don't feel particularly robust, and I think handling with care will be required, but maybe no more care than with the DA18-50mm which I think is also flimsy. Macro on the FA35-80mm is just a further turning of the focus ring, whereas the F35-70mm has the macro feature as part of the zoom ring. I am quite impressed with the macro ( or really , I suppose, just close focus) image quality from the FA35-80mm, like wow.
The purpose of doing my comparison was to work out which of these I would choose if I only had limited space/weight available and could take only 1 small zoom lens. The FA35-80mm wins for me, except in rainy weather, in which case the DA18-50mm would get the nod. The F35-70mm is also a fine lens but will have to bide its time until the FA35-80mm fails.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2020 Posts: 132 | | Review Date: October 18, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Colour, overall rendering, price, availability | | Cons: | Build quality, sample variation, sharpness | | Sharpness: 5
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 6
Value: 10
Camera Used: Kr, KS-2, Samsung GX10
| |
I've owned 3 copies.
The first was a good one. I bundled that with my K-r when I sold it, thinking I could easily pick up another one.
Even the good one whilst nicely sharp in the centre was softer on the edges but that's ok...
All 3 copies had great colour straight out the cameras and produce nicely rendered jpegs at the long end.
My first copy was also acceptable at 35mm but benefitted from stopping down.
The next 2 I acquired were awful, blurry at the wide end even in the centre unless you stopped down to f8 or more, even at f8 I've never really been happy with them.
They had the potential to be great on the KS-2 with the better ISO performance but the very uneven performance really made/makes me avoid them.
Sure you can have some fun with these and the colour is superb. They are in plentiful supply but there are better and probably more reliable cheap zoom options.
Overall they handle quite nicely, very light, AF is ok but not always accurate. One copy was either wearing out or had some grit in the focussing mechanism - much noisier and felt horrible switching to MF (not that you do that much with this kind of lens anyway).
I find the focal length great for APS-C. I think it's similar to using primes in that restricting range to normal to short-tele, I tend to pay more attention to composition rather than hurriedly zooming wider or longer than I should.
Overall I think this is a flawed lens that can still be put to good use.
| | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: August 12, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great Color, Fast AF, Sharpness, Light Weight, Cheaper prize | | Cons: | Soft at wide aperture | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 5
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-x
| |
I read the reviews here and searched for a good piece of this lens.
Lucky!  I got a good one for around $50 in a very good condition.
It produces great and pleasant to eyes color and the AF is lightning fast!
But, I maintained f= 6 to 8 for all the shots to get decent and sharp images.
If you try to use this at wide apertures, you will get some soft images (if you intend to take
soft images, this should be perfect for you).
I tried with my K-x and very much happy with the results . I have yet to try with my K5IIs
which I primarily use with other premium class lenses.
This light weight lens is much better than the 18-55 kit lens. If the focal length range is suitable for your style of shooting, don`t miss this lens.
A nice walk-around lens and sitting on my K-x always for street snaps! | | | | | Junior Member Registered: June, 2012 Location: Prague, Czech Republic Posts: 36 | | Review Date: November 14, 2012 | Recommended
| Rating: 7 |
|
Not a bad lens. For the price, of course. In terms of IQ it is on par with the digital basic lens - the 18-55. And since you can get this piece of glass and rattling plastic almost for free, it's worth a try as a longer alternative to the kit zoom. On film it is even more usable, the range becomes more useful and the lens really is small and light. But don't expect miracles - noisy (but fast) AF, rotating front element, no hood, awful build quality, plastic bayonet, clumsy aperture ring, no DoF scale, slow...
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2008 Location: Madison, WI Posts: 2,165 | | Review Date: June 4, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Light weight and compact, useful range, close focus | | Cons: | Slow, mostly plastic including the mount | |
This is a nice inexpensive lens. It is incredibly light and very compact for a nice outdoor walk-around lens. Close-up focusing is available throughout its range, and quasi-macro (1:4) performance is quite good. It is pretty slow and not that wide, so not ideal for indoor use. I find at 35mm I can snap pictures of my kids in a scene, while zooming in to 80 gets me up to their faces for candids. I've had pretty good luck with this and with the F version, especially using a hood - pretty similar IQ to the DA 18-55. I wouldn't spend more than $25 or so on one, but at a low enough price point the lens can be useful.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Maine, USA Posts: 424 | | Review Date: February 2, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $27.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | Nice soft lens (when that effect is desired), light, cheap, useful focual range, works on digital and film cameras. Auto focus and manual focus. | | Cons: | Slow aperture. Kinda plasticy build but not flimsey. | |
This review is relative to the low cost of the lens, it's super affordable.
Nice soft lens (when that effect is desired) :
Do we always want razor sharp photos ? No. For example, when shooting a person with skin blemishes or wrinkles, do you want those imperfections in sharp focus ? Another example, when selling things on eBay or Craiglist do you want the dust to show ? I think there is a place for a lens that is not razor sharp.
Light :
It's as light as a DA-L lens
Cheap :
In 2010 it's always less than $30 US delivered.
Useful focal range :
35mm is "normal" focal length for 1.5x crop cameras (like 50mm on film)
80mm is "portrait" focal length for 1.5x crop cameras (like 120mm on film)
Works on digital and film cameras :
The lens can be auto focus or manual focus, auto aperture or manual aperture.
It's OK for the price | | |
;)
;)
