| Author: | | New Member Registered: December, 2012 Posts: 8
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 18, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Price, built, light weight, sharp | | Cons: | f4.5, manual focus | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5IIs
| |
If you are against manual focus lens, you can skip this review. Or, check this lens out and get one from ebay, like I did and you won't regret.
I like manual focusing bcs none of my DA/FA lens auto focus right and, bcs of this, I have a more more range of lens choices when looking into the A/M/K/645 series and quite a lot of them are in really really good price. , like this one. Besides, the built quality of old time lenses are always a taste for me.
I agree that FA*80-200 is the best of the zoom lenses but it is really heavy and EXPENSIVE!!
To me, this lens is very easy to handle due to its weight and size. Focusing is as good/effective as any other A/M/K manual lenses i have and image is pretty pretty much sharp to a zoom lens. Bokeh is smooth. For what it can do, I believe this lens is very much under-valued.
Here is a sample the first day I get this lens handheld on a pretty bird just outside my garden.
 | | | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: March 7, 2013 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
very good lens!
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: January, 2013 Posts: 58 | | Review Date: March 3, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $35.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | pretty sharp | | Cons: | CA | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 10
Camera Used: k5iis
| |
    For $35 I am very happy. Sharp but CA can be a problem depending on the shot.
I think I got a pretty good copy.
Bokeh is donuts but it can be a nice effect on some shots.
It seems to be a chore to upload albums already on this forum to the review. Sorry
| | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 3 | | Review Date: February 27, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Amazing sharpness | | Cons: | Out-of-camera exposure is always a bit off | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
| |
I believe my lens is version 1. This one came in excellent condition.
The lens delivers amazing sharpness. I'm not sure how it is optically possible but it looks like sharpness would exceed the sensor resolution even at f4.5/200mm! Contrary to some reviewers, I don't see any softness at f4.5. Not even edge softness. It would be interesting to see what happens when this lens is attached to K-IIs.
DOF is quite shallow at f4.5 and shallow DOF combined to MF isn't the easiest combination to get right. K-30 phase detection system seems a bit ... generous and it can flash the in-focus red dot at the edge of sharp area rather than in the middle.
Highlight (purple) and shadow (greenish) edge fringing are apparent. However, those are easy to fix in Lightroom by pushing the defringe slider halfway.
Most of the time the lens combined to K-30 produces underexposure, slightly desaturated colors and WB in artificial light seems a bit too warm. Nothing that couldn't be post-processed but modern lenses perform better in this respect. Also, one could also argue that desaturation and underexposure are desirable features when shooting raw.
| | | | | | | | | | Review Date: September 11, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $32.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build Quality, IQ, | | Cons: | Weight, Zomm/Focus should have been a little more smoother | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-5
| |
I got the lense in today. I hooked it up, set the camera to use the Aperture Ring and it worked right off the bat. The focus indicator also seems to be working correctly. A couple of things I dont understand
1. if I turn the camera off and back on again, it's asking me to select a Focal Length. Just wondering what does that mean and what impact does it have on the Pictures.
2. If I change the mode to anything other that Av / M it walays says Av.
For what I paid this lense is worth every Penny. Yes I cannot take it to an event and start shooting as it is manual, but the IQ and BQ are awesome. If only it was a bit lighter. I see my wrist hurting from this a lot.  | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2012 Posts: 19
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 19, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $51.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, colour, contrast, build quality | | Cons: | Slight lens creep | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
| |
One of the most useful things I’ve found with Adobe Lightroom is that it takes very little time to find out if you’ve produced a pretty good image or messed up completely. The quality of the colour and contrast is immediately apparent from thumbnail previews and then the sharpness can be evaluated by selecting an individual file and examining it at full resolution. With a newly purchased legacy lens, this perusal is especially exciting, but for me always slightly worrying. Did I buy a dud copy, was my technique up to scratch and is the lens going to meet my expectations?
I’m delighted to report that this lens finally passed my scrutiny tests with flying colours. There are no significant flaws as far as I can tell. However, it is a fairly big, long lens and you need to make sure you are giving yourself a chance of doing justice to its attributes by sufficiently short shutter speeds. I initially went out with the zoom set at 200mm and foolishly chose 100 ISO on a cloudy morning. Although there was a reasonable amount of colour recorded, practically nothing was properly in focus. Towards the end of the shooting session I’d figured out the errors of my ways and adjusted the ISO setting, but probably then chose focal points that weren’t suitable, given the slender depth of field offered by the set focal length.
I had another go today and chose 100mm and started with a safety-first 400 ISO. The improvement in my results was out of all recognition. The camera gave its reassuring bleeps to confirm manual focus was in order. I then pressed the green button and deliberately braced myself even more than usual before activating the shutter. The metering with my K-5 was absolutely first rate and once again, the camera previews indicated that colours were being accurately recorded. I took my usual test shots of boats and beach huts, before meeting a woman walking her Golden Retriever dogs. She agreed to let me photograph one of them and it was patient enough to sit still and pose attractively for my camera.
The sharpness with this lens at 100mm is as good as anything I’ve yet tried on my K-5, with the possible exception of an excellent and deservedly lauded SMC Pentax-M 50mm f1.7. Colours are truly superb. I can thoroughly recommend it. To those of you who believe that modern digital zoom lenses have a definite edge, let me tell you that I recently part-exchanged my Panasonic Lumix 45-200mm f4-5.6 lens, which has built-in stabilisation. The Pentax lens cost one-tenth of the purchase price of the Panasonic and is superior in every respect. I was very fortunate to get a pristine copy that was previously owned by a collector who made hardly any use of it. But all I can say is that if you are prepared to be patient with manual focus and have a reasonably steady pair of hands or don’t mind using a tripod, this lens could be exactly what you are looking for.
This is a brilliant lens. Buy with confidence and you could pick up not only a bargain but a real treasure.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2010 Location: Oegstgeest Posts: 4
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 28, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | vanaf 5.6 zeer scherp, mooi bokeh en kleurdoorlaatbaarheid | | Cons: | geen | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 9
| |
Dit is een opmerkelijk mooi obejectief. Gebouwd als een tank. Ik heb het nog niet zo lang, maar gebruik het voor zowel, portet- als tele, en macro fotografie. Samen met de DA 4/16-45mm en de smc macro 4/50mm behoort deze lens tot mijn "walkaround" set.
voor voorbeelden van de de hoge optische kwaliteit verwijs ik naar flickr (ivoverboon) "van Katwijk naar Noordwijk" (tele) en "polder omgeving Hazerswoude" (macro). Ook al omdat ik graag alles handmatig instel, is dit een heerlijk objectief. Kan deze lens dus van harte aanbevelen.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Toronto, ON Posts: 15
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 24, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp (!), cheap, light | | Cons: | manual focus, little slow compared to modern teles | |
One of the first lenses I purchased for my DSLR, I've ow been using it both on digital and film bodies and it's one of my favourites. Extremely sharp wide open, light, small, well built and easy to use. The only downsides to this lens are the obvious ones - it's manual and a little slow at f/4.5.
These lenses are a bargain, I'd strongly recommend picking one up if you get the chance.
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2011 Location: Melbourne Posts: 5
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 28, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 8 |
|
This is my first M lens, used on a K-r.
I'm still learning to use the lens and Manual focus, but have found it to be a good lens, probably slightly better/easier to use at the shorter end.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2007 Location: Newcastle Australia Posts: 5,284
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 17, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp throughout, lightweight, stopdown. | | Cons: | Minor lens creep, minor CA, some blue fringing in bright light. | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 8
| |
I was given this lens at least 12 months ago. I have just brought it out to give it a run on my K5.
Honestly, I was very pleased I did. I was surprised with the results achieved.
I must agree with others, the pull out lens hood seems to be more a gimmick than useful.
(Non working links removed)
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2007 Location: Prevost, Quebec, Canada Posts: 508
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 16, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, well built & size/weight | | Cons: | Not an A lens, a bit soft wide oprn, tends to creep down | |
Sharpness 8
bokeh 7
Color 8
Handling 8
Build 8
Distortion 8
Aberations 8
Value 9
Just bought this lens within a package of 3 lens and it surprises me for its sharpness from 5.6 to 11. Well built. The colours are not as punchy as my A 50 1.7 lens or DA but nothing that cannot be improved with post-processing.
A good purchase.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: March, 2009 Location: Australia Posts: 207
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 11, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, good IQ | | Cons: | Flimsily attached built-in lenshood | |
Very sharp, easy to use despite being entirely manual. Excellent IQ.
Its a pity the lenshood is so flimsy (often use a third-party screw in hood).
I like to use this lens for close-up photography with a Nikon 6T supplementary lens: the results are very acceptable IMO.
I'm not quite sure, but (because of the lenshood being so flimsy) I imagine mine to be the later version.
As a lens, however, it performs very well.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: August, 2009 Posts: 128
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 27, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Build Quality, image quality, inexpensive | | Cons: | Somewhat slow, softer long-end. | |
I've used two different copies of this lens, shooting mainly slide film. It performs wonderfully in bright light, is nice and contrasty and decently sharp throughout the range. Sweet spot seems to be between 80-120mm. In that range at f8-5.6 it can easily match my M-50mm prime. At longer zoom levels and wide open it is somewhat soft, but not too bad.
Build quality is excellent, all metal, nicely damped focus ring and although a bit heavy, balanced out my system nicely. In comparison, I thought it blew a SMC-F 80-200mm I had out of the water, and you can't beat it for the price.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2008 Location: Den Haag, Netherlands Posts: 207
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 3, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp, light, cheap | | Cons: | Lens creep | |
Got the lens for next to nothing on Ebay. Quite a nice surprise considering the sharpness this lens delivers at the long end.
The lens creep can be somewhat annoying but the focussing is very smooth and zooming is very smooth also.
Using it on my K20D this old lens still delivers enough resolution and contrast.
An example of the sharpness at the long end although some PP was applied. EXIF will show 135mm but the shot was at 200mm. Didn't bother to change the focal lenght by putting the camera off and on again.
Would have bought at a higher price, still a fine lens to experiment with manual focussing.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: August, 2008 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 19
1 user found this helpful
| | |
;)
;)
