| Latest Review Posted | Vivitar Auto-aperture MC close-focusing 24mm F2.8
I'd been searching for a 24mm lens for my Pentax MX and Pentax K1000 for some time. I already had an extremely cheap Vivitar 28mm lens and found usually myself wishing it was just a bit wider. I was also totally unwilling to pay the going rate for a used Pentax 24mm lens. So the day I saw this pop up on one of the well-known online used gear retailers for $45, I could hardly click "buy" fast enough.
Like other reviewers said, the image quality isn't any kind of standout; just a nice, competent lens. f/2.8 is usable, and stopped down even just to f/4 is more than good enough for my purposes. It flares very easily: just having a bright sunlit spot in the image is enough to reduce contrast in the rest of the image. Stopping down helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem. (I have used this flare characteristic purposefully, so it's not necessarily all bad.) 5-bladed aperture. Wide-angle lenses are never about bokeh; that said I haven't really noticed it one way or the other. (So, it's at least not bad.) Focuses crazy close, which is nice for a wide lens.
As far as build quality, it's all shiny plastic on the outside, with a metal mount. Seems physically durable, though the 3' mark on the focus scale on mine is worn off. (It's painted on, not engraved.) 52mm filter thread is totally different from all my SMC-M lenses, but then Pentax's own 24mm lens from the era had a 52mm thread as well, so you really can't take points off for that vs. a real Pentax lens. The focus rin... |
