Senior Member Registered: February, 2013 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 118
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 23, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Great contrast, sharpness, | | Cons: | Stiff focusing | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 10
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This is a lens that surprised me to no end. I never heard of it before until I tried it and seen the results. The lens did have a really stiff focusing ring. It was confirmed by another person that they all do. I don't see any aberration with this lens when stopped down. The lens is really sharp with great contrast.
Lilies by Jarrett_Hunt, on Flickr
Pine branch by Jarrett_Hunt, on Flickr
Flowers by Jarrett_Hunt, on Flickr
Flower bud by Jarrett_Hunt, on Flickr
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Forum Member Registered: January, 2015 Posts: 71 | | Review Date: January 28, 2015 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Excellent sharpness and color, tripod mount, build quality | | Cons: | No close focus, focusing ring is pretty stiff, heavy, big | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-50
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There are two versions of this lens, one with the tripod mount and 67mm filter threads, and one without the tripod mount and 62mm filter threads. The 62mm version is slightly shorter in length and while still pretty sharp, my copy suffers from CA throughout its aperture range and is less sharp at all settings. This review is for the 67mm version.
Pretty sharp wide open, very sharp by f/4.7 and tack from f/5.6 - f/11. A complete beast in both the image quality and construction department. I sought it out after reading the one previous review and my results were exactly the same. Some minor CA in certain situations but easily manageable in post. I own optically mint copies of the Super Takumar 200mm f/4 and Vivitar (Komine) 200mm f/3.5, both of which are highly regarded on these forums, and the Auto Sears beats them both in sharpness and color. I will admit that the Takumar is pretty close but I still give the nod to the Sears. The Vivitar is a nice lens but falls flat on its face in a side by side comparison.
You really need to grab around the entire focusing ring firmly to adjust the focus on this guy. It is very smooth when enough force is applied and the throw is quite long, but you're not going to move it at all with just your thumb and forefinger. Think of the wide ring like a giant steering wheel on a semi truck. Grip it and rip it.
The tripod mount is pretty slick and nice to have. You can use it handheld, but it's not something you want hanging around your neck for an extended period of time. Here is an example taken with the lens mounted on a monopod, wide open at f/3.5, ISO 800, 1/800 shutter. Night game but early innings so the sun was definitely helping. You can faintly see purple fringing in this shot, it would have been easy to remove but this is with no PP just to show what to expect. Very nice in my opinion. Of course the only way I'm getting this kind of shot is by pre-focusing where I know the action is going to be.
100% crop with the fringing clearly visible. Sharpness very good for wide open. Fringing goes away completely a stop down. I will be shooting at f/4.7 and up for day games in the sun. I have other more user friendly lenses that are sharp at 200mm when stopped down to 5.6 and smaller, so I'm not sure if this would be the best choice in bright sunlight when f/3.5 - f/4.7 is not required. I will give it a try though.
A side benefit of shooting with a giant lens with an integrated mount at a ballgame is that people think you know what you're doing and get out of your way. What they don't realize is that if you're lucky like me, this lens can be acquired for less than a hot dog and a couple of beers 
There is little flexibility here and the other drawbacks mentioned, but you would need to spend quite a bit of money to match this IQ at f/3.5 and 200mm. I see no scenario in which I'd ever sell this lens given the lack of attention it gets on the 2nd hand market.
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