| Latest Review Posted | SMC Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5
I really like this lens a lot. I picked it up a few weeks ago on ebay, and took it out on three evenings and Sunday afternoon to give it a try. I found that it worked best in good light, but I guess that's true for most lenses, particularly one that is a bit on the slow side wide open. Not that F3.5 is bad, it just isn't great in poor lighting.
Knowing that the lens is a "stack of primes", I went out hoping that I would get sharp, sharp shots as in "sharp like my M50 1.7". That didn't quite happen, but the shots are still quite good, even while peeping pixels. It produced some very nice shots, with good colour and contrast throughout the range.
I'm in my 50's now and need reading glasses, so manual focus is a bit of a challenge at the best of times. I purchased a magnifying diopter at about the same time as this lens, so I was using them both for the first time. I found that I got really good results with this lens while using the new diopter and I imagine people with good vision will have no issues focusing with the standard diopter. The focus ring is long and smooth so it is easy to hone in on the correct focus, providing the lighting is good.
The focal range of 35-105, as well as the macro switch made this a really versatile lens for walking around. You can take fairly wide shots, zoom shots, and then you can get right up close with the macro ring to capture an insect on the flowers. It's a heavy, solid lens, and that is a downs... |
