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Porst Color-Reflex NC Auto 50mm F2 | | Latest Review Posted | Tokina AF 100-300mm F5.6-6.7
The other day I became obsessed with a lens. In most instances of this, the lens in question has been a high value or rare item. A Canon L or Pentax * costing over a thousand, or some lens of which they made three, two of which are owned by people who will never sell them, the other seemingly lost in a submarine disaster. Something radioactive with perfect bokeh that shows up on the final Tuesday of a year ending with a 9. This was not one of those instances.
The lens that I was looking at, and later bought, was a third party budget zoom from the 90's. On receipt, there was a toss up whether it was broken or not - turns out that the push-pull design means it always looks extended. It felt plasticky and cheap. With no real 'near end' of the zoom range (100-300) and no fast aperture (5.6 to, um, 6.7) it seemed my curiosity had managed to dip my arm elbow deep into a giant tub of rancid mayonnaise. Welcome to the Tokina 100-300mm f/5.6-6.7 AF.
But any 'new to you' lens is there to be taken out and about, so out we went.
There's a lot of talk about budget zooms, and most of the negative stuff is accurate. Silly barrel distortion at the near end, not as bad but still noticeable pincushion at the other. Grindy AF, literally. Heavy vignetting. Lack of sealing and shoddy zoom mechanisms making them prime candidates for gathering internal dust. Soft at the far end. Without IS, telephoto zooms are harder to use. Poor quality control, with bad copies floating around. Yes to all of the... | |
