| Review of: Tamron SP AF AD Aspherical [IF] 24-135mm F3.5-5.6 by NewTake on Wed April 27, 2011 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 69458
Reviews: 14
| I bought this lens so I can have a good all around lens, when carrying multiple primes and other lenses isn’t ideal. This certainly fit the bill. I researched other lenses close to this focal range (even the 18-135 pentax da) and this one seemed to have the best image quality, and you cant go wrong with the 6 year warranty, which blows everyone else out of the water. The other ‘super zooms’ like the 28-250’s and the like seemed to sacrifice a lot of image quality for the useful range, which this one does not seem to do. I had many photos taken at the long end of 135mm and they came out great. I paid a bit more than most people did here, but it is because it has been discontinued and I bought it new. I used it daily when I was on vacation, and so far I am pleased with the results. I also own the tamron 10-24mm, so these two lenses together can have me covered for almost any type of landscape, portrait, or architectural shooting. It is heavy, but it is also compact in length at 24mm and balances well on the k7 w/battery grip. Without the grip it may be a little large in diameter. There is small amounts of CA, in both the magenta/cyan and blue/yellow ranges, so it can take a little more time to correct than a lens that just has one type. I am sure once I get some presets set up in Lightroom to correct it, it will be a lot quicker. No noticeable PF as of yet, which is good. The sharpness across the frame seems good for this wide focal range. After more usage I will edit this, if necessary, but I am very happy with it so far, and give it a 8 for the image quality for this useful zoom range. If you can only take one lens with you, this will be it. Update 4/9/12: Still enjoying this lens for landscapes. The colors are just excellent with it, especially with a polarizer. A very good 'landscape' walkaround lens. I have only used it minimally for a 'portrait' lens, and I don't think it is the best choice for that. This will be a beneficial lens once Pentax releases their FF :D
Update 12/29/16: I have still used this lens, up to this point, but I find myself trying to use other lenses (primes) when at all possible. I can't say this is a good 'all around' lens, as I really dont care for any people-shots I take with it. I have taken a ton of great landscape photos with it, but anything with people are just blah. I chalk this up to the lack of shallow depth of field and lack of good bokeh. The lack of shallow depth of field can be a bonus in many landscape situations though. That is probably one of the strongest points of the lens, and the sharpness is relatively uniform across the frame. I just picked up a sigma 17-50 2.8. While I know the bokeh is not excellent by any means on that lens, I know it is better than this one for portraits. I have not had good luck in the past with Sigma lenses (always major focusing issues, sometimes very soft corners), however so far so good on the 17-50. I do like the colors Sigma lenses have and it produces a more film-like quality, in my opinion. All that said, it has served me well in many situations for over 5 years.
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| Review of: Ricoh Rikenon xr 35mm F2.8 by NewTake on Thu March 31, 2011 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 27464
Reviews: 6
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Like all my other Ricoh prime lens reviews, I give this an 8 for sharpness and CA. It does not get a 9 or a 10 due to color and contrast lacking, like their other ones. I have to hand it to Ricoh, they do seem to make a consistent prime lens.
It doesnt get used by me all that often, as I have the pentax m 28mm 2.8 and 3.5 which is very close in focal range with better color/contrast. I will just hold on to this one because it is a rarity.
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| Review of: Riconar 55mm F2.2 by NewTake on Thu March 31, 2011 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 40326
Reviews: 5
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This is a sharp lens, like most of the other Ricoh primes. Also has little to no CA like other Ricoh primes as well, which is a huge plus. However, like most of the other Ricoh primes color/contrast is not up to par with the good Pentax primes. I have the Pentax-A 1.4 50mm, so this lens does not get used anymore... but if something were to happen to that one I would have no issue going back to this one. It is definitely superior to the Pentax 50mm f/2 (both M and A), but not the 1.7 or 1.4.
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| Review of: Ricoh Rikenon XR 28mm F2.8 by NewTake on Thu March 31, 2011 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 65000
Reviews: 10
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This is a good lens... I have tested many other third party 28mm lenses and this one only falls behind the Pentax M 2.8 and 3.5 (between those two I cannot tell a big difference, except the 3.5 has more contrast).
It is definitely sharp, and the color is not bad... just not as good as the aforementioned. I gave it to my brother since I have the 2.8 and 3.5.
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| Review of: Tamron SP AF Di II 10-24mm F3.5-4.5 by NewTake on Tue March 29, 2011 | Rating: 9 | View more reviews | |
Views: 107378
Reviews: 18
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I bought this lens as I wanted something non-fisheye. I own the Pentax zoom Fisheye, and do like it, but the purple fringing drives me nuts. Everything else about that lens is awesome though, sharpness and color especially...
Anyway, back to this lens, little to no purple fringing, you wont find yourself desiring any more sharpness as it is quite good, and the CA that is present is easily removed (I have found their are some lenses with CA that are not easy to remove). The range on it is great compared to others in its class, so you wont have to switch lenses as much since it goes to 24mm.
Some have commented on the price being expensive... I was lucky to buy mine when tamron was running a 100.00 rebate on it which sealed the deal. Although I think that 475.00 is still a great price for this lens especially compared to the closest thing from Pentax, which is actually made by Tokina, but costs twice as much as the canon or nikon mounts for the same lens (grrrr).
If you want filters you will have to shell out some dough for them though... so I guess if you include that in the price, it makes the lens a bit more expensive, unless you have 77mm or higher in your arsenal. The 77mm filter ring is necessary to avoid excessive viginetting.
The lens seems well built and it is my heaviest lens. However, since it is short it is actually a nice balance on the k7 w/battery grip.
I really can't see anyone disappointed with this lens, and if you have never had a 10mm before, you will love the new photo ops that this lens will open up for you.
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| Review of: Vivitar (Cosina) 19mm F3.8 by NewTake on Mon July 26, 2010 | Rating: 8 | View more reviews | |
Views: 85124
Reviews: 14
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Camera used with: k10d
These days, it is hard to find a decent prime lens for 20mm or under, at a reasonable price. That is why I snagged this lens. I read some mixed reviews about this lens, but many of them were for different brand cameras as well.
In short, this is a better quality lens than the kit lens at 19mm, but not as good of quality as some other 28mm primes. I don't like to compare lenses that have different focal lengths, I just dont want you to be expecting the same image quality as say the pentax-m 28mm 2.8.
The edges are a bit soft even when used at a sharp f stop such as f/11, but not horrible, and less soft than the kit. Less c.a. than the kit lens and sharper as well.
I do not have any other similar focal length lenses to compare this one to, I am sure there is better, and I know there is worse. Just try finding a good one for under 100.
It gets an 8 for quality + value. I would like to see some other reviews of people with this lens and other similar focal length lenses to really get a feel of how this one stacks up.
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| Review of: Makinon Auto 28mm F2.8 by NewTake on Tue June 29, 2010 | Rating: 1 | View more reviews | |
Views: 79602
Reviews: 6
| I did a four lens comparison of 28mm prime lenses. Pentax-M 28mm 2.8, Sears 28mm 2.8, Super Albinar 28mm 2.8, and this one. I mainly based my comparison on the fairly objective aspects of sharpness and C.A., as these are the two most important things to me in a lens, and is not as subjective on aspects like whether or not I liked the bokeh. Long story short, they placed in the order I have them above, the Makinon being last. The Super Albinar was pretty bad but not as bad as this one. It is too bad because this lens was in the best cosmetic shape… looked brand new! Very soft focus and large amounts of C.A.. I should add that I tested these on a K10d so results may differ on a 35mm camera. | |
