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Showing all 63 reviews by Skodadriver

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 (44A) 28-70mm F3.5-4.5 by Skodadriver on Sun November 1, 2020 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 73116 Reviews: 10 Bought this lens with Pentax adaptall along with a 70-150mm also equipped with mount for only $16 including p&p. I bought this to replace another 44A lens that I had for a short while before the lens locked solid. I was rather pleased with it's performance from 50mm to 70mm telephoto end but not so much with the wider angle end. The lens is gritty and for some reason my PK-A mount does not lock on it, other PK mounts do so perfectly. I suspect this lens will also lock up solid at some time in the future. I cannot suggest the lens is a good buy at anything more than a few dollars if others will also suffer from my problems but from say 35mm to 70mm it can compare well with legacy 35-70mm lenses like Pentax own. So I am going to recommend it at the price I paid.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 (104A) 75-250mm F3.8-4.5 by Skodadriver on Fri October 18, 2019 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 31912 Reviews: 6 The cost of this lens included postage. My awarded points are relative to other manual zooms of a similar range. My copy is in very good condition and came with a Minolta "A" adapter so it can be used on my Sony too ( and my Canon with a M42 and M42 to EF adapter). Good points; Takes nice images, maybe needs the occasional boost of contrast and/or colour. As with most non SP adaptall zooms, can be found to suit the meanest budgets. My copy at least has no zoom creep and the focussing ring is well damped. Makes a good option with the PK-A adapter focussing by eye and focus confirmation. Did I mention the price? A great alternative to Tamron 70-210 or 80-210mm, with a fair bit extra at the long end which is sharp enough stopped down. Not so good points; Not sharp wide open...no surprise there then. Not easy to focus by eye on my Sony, no auto stop down either. Some purple fringing, but I have seen worse on other Tamrons including AF. Summary; Like most Tamron adaptalls it is great value for money if cost is a major factor. I have seldom been disappointed with the old manual focus Tamrons.

Review of: SIGMA AF ZOOM 55-200mm F4.5 by Skodadriver on Thu August 8, 2019 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 2894 Reviews: 1 I received this from a seller on ebay today having bid on what seems to be a rare lens. Put some batteries in, attached it to my K-5 on MF and took a few images to see how well it would AF and what the images might look like. Too early for me to have used it on a MF film body but that was it's raison d'etre so will get round to it....sometime.;) It operates just like any P-KA lens except for it's ability to provide AF. The small focus ring at the front of the lens is not too bad. The FL selection is a bit small too but they can be found by touch if not very easily. The power switch and AF button are easy to find by touch. The batteries feel a little loose in their holder and the cover feels a bit flimsy but it looks so much better than my zen coated film lenses. I have given it an 8 overall on the basis that it works and did not cost a fortune, the other scores will require some time to decide and will no doubt change the overall score. I am hoping that some forum members with experience of this lens might review their findings.

Review of: Soligor Auto-Zoom 90-230mm F4.5 by Skodadriver on Sun August 4, 2019 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 8089 Reviews: 1 Mine is a Tokina made, Soligor branded preset lens with a T mount, integral hood (too short) and a 58mm filter thread. Bought at a boot sale this morning, covered in dust with no caps. A quick clean up, found a couple of generic caps and stuck it on my K-5. The T mount is wide enough to prevent light leakage into the body, it is a long narrow lens and weighty but the lens does not extend with changes to the focal length, just the focussing. The tripod mount is a bonus but I have not as yet used it. It is not an unknown lens, searching the www finds a gentleman suggesting that this can make a reasonable macro lens. There are other owners of this lens (under many brands) and even a question on the forum asking why nobody has reviewed it yet. Hopefully this will kick start some reviews from them too. The only problem that is obvious is the colour fringing in high contrast areas, I checked the sharpness with some tiny written text and it is sharper than I expected. Taken at F:8 s.o.o.c jpeg, no processing.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 SP Mirror (55BB) 500mm F8 by Skodadriver on Tue March 12, 2019 | Rating: 10 View more reviews

Views: 109212 Reviews: 32 Yet another lens with fungus bringing the cost down, a clean lens would be worth much more than the one I bought. This was auctioned as having the fungus but was in good condition otherwise and after reading up in the forums about how to clean it I bought it had a go myself. I did not break anything so maybe I was lucky but after the event a forum member in North Wales did point out that the method I used (entry through the front element) could have resulted in a poorer IQ due to the very tight tolerances. Any inexperienced dabblers beware. Thank you Marcus. I am very pleased with this lens, it may not vie successfully with the better refractive lenses lenses but it is the best 300mm plus lens that I own. There is no CA apparent as far as I can see , it is quite sharp even hand held! and can be focussed by eye in bright sun quite easily. Not that I would be tempted to use it much without some sunlight. It has a close focus ability that makes it better than my 300mm plus lenses in that regard. The ring bokeh can be awful but can also be used for effect. On the down side, my using it hand held when my aging body is continually moving and my hands tremble does mean some images OOF due to it's small depth of field. Yet another Tamron SP adaptall that is good. On todays modern digital cameras with focussing aids and ISO 800 plus abilities, it is probably great for it's cost. There were apparently lots of these sold so no reason to avoid buying one and enjoying it.

Review of: Vivitar TX / fixed / t-mount 400mm F5.6 by Skodadriver on Fri November 30, 2018 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 84066 Reviews: 7 Mine is the pre-set version, long and bulky but having an aperture of F5.6 rather than the F6.3 some cheaper lenses boast is much better for focussing. I have only just started using it and do need to think about using a tripod or monopod as it is quite unwieldy and heavy to hand hold. Having just mounted it on my camera I saw a squirrel a nd captured a couple of images. Hope Rupert doesn't mind but I did think of him. One image cropped, taken at between F6.3-8, note the fringing.

Review of: Makinon ( Prinzflex Hanimex etc etc ) 200mm F3.3 by Skodadriver on Sat September 29, 2018 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 21692 Reviews: 4 I bought a Hanimex 200mm F3.3 M42 today along with a case (not branded) and a Canon LENS MOUNT CONVERTER P. The price was too good to miss, it has an auto pin and M and A switch, a little dust in it but all works smoothly apart from the incorporated hood which is loose and annoying. I also have a Makinon 200mm F3.3 with Konica AR mount to compare it to and there is a difference, the Makinon has a minimum aperture of F16, not F22 that the Hanimex boasts. I have an image of them both side by side, the rest of the lenses are near enough similar to assume they are probably the same lens. Good points; Obviously cheap, I would have been happy with a $20 price tag, Sharper than many budget zooms at 200mm, probably on a par with my Chinon 200mm F3.5. It is a prime and F8-11 are sharp enough for me. It seems well made and has the A-M switch so the auto pin does not have to come into play with my Pentax M42 to K adapter. Bad points; It is quite heavy but not unwieldy on my K-5, a Kr or Kx might notice the weight a lot more. F3.3 is a little soft and the lens only has full stops. The wider apertures provide CA (purple and green seen so far) but F8 onwards is good. The A-M switch is too close to the aperture ring and camera and very easy to move but changing the aperture with fat fingers can also move the A-M switch. As I mentioned earlier the hood has a loose fit. I'm rating this an 8, which might seem excessive but the value for money is so good. Incidentally both my lenses have a 67mm filter thread, not 62mm.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 (02B) 28mm F2.5 by Skodadriver on Fri September 21, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 120979 Reviews: 19 I have not given a cost for this lens because I bought it with a Canon FD breechlock adapter which may have put other buyers off. Not a problem when you have a PKA adapter to be able to put on. Tamron did a good thing with the adaptall mounts. It cost $8 at todays exchange rate! It is not a great lens, some green fringing can become apparent at wider apertures but in the main they are absent to the naked eye. It is reasonably sharp from F5.6-F11, peaking perhaps around F10. Not so sharp as to be pleasing at wider apertures but images are not unpleasing. In bright sunlight wider apertures exhibit some glow (or whatever it is called) from some subjects that reduces the lens to needing a pretty long hood (I used a telephoto hood with a 49-62mm step up ring) to reduce the effect. I quite like this lens, having an "A" setting is great, the focus ring feels like it is a precision instrument. Better than my Sigma 28mm mini-wide version 1 with no "A" available.

Review of: Sigma Super Wide II 24mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Thu September 20, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 233845 Reviews: 26 I have had this lens since yesterday and have given it some stick to find out whether or not previous reviews would apply to my copy. My copy is in reasonable condition but the finish is poor regarding the painted numbers on the barrel. It clicks over to "A" and back with no trouble and has very little dust and no sign of any internal problems (to my eye anyway) and included the hood. . Good points. Near subjects; Focusses nice and close and the bokeh is not terrible. Acceptably sharp from around F3.5 to F11, super sharp from F5.6 to F8-F10. I am not worried about any distortion and am happy with the exposures and contrast. Bad points. Far subjects; Mine does not seem very sharp at any aperture, certainly acceptable at around F5.6-F11 but not especially pleasing. I do not like the fact that the focussing ring goes from 5 feet to infinity in about 1/4 of an inch. Focussing by eye is problematic for me on wider MF lenses and focus confirmation seems a bit less trustworthy than I would like. My Sigma mini-wide 11 28mm F2.8 gives a lot less trouble. Exposures are not always spot on, today being overcast and the ambient light being steady I found that I sometimes needed to under expose by anything from -1/3 to -1 at some apertures. I could not discern any linear compensation that could be applied. If I were adept at post processing in anything other than Picasa I imagine I would under expose a little all the time for far subjects. Mid distance subjects and using flash; Good and can be sharp or sharp enough at all but the widest apertures. The AWB set to flash rather than auto gives a slightly warmer image. Seems quite good. I have recommended this lens based purely on the close and mid distance subject performance as I feel to far distance IQ may not be as good as the results of my 18-55mm kit lens which has a lot more versatility. Hopefully it is my copy and others have better ones judging by other reviews

Review of: Vivitar (Kiron) close/macro focusing zoom 70-150mm F3.8 by Skodadriver on Thu September 6, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 77736 Reviews: 11 A bargain at $12, push pull one ring lens (Kiron) including a matched 2x multiplier in it's case. The lens seems well made, not large or heavy, no zoom creep, smooth and positive in action and mine is in almost mint condition. I like the fact that 150mm is the shortest the lens can be while 70mm it is fully extended. It is quite sharp for a zoom lens, equal maybe to the Pentax 75-150mm but; It can show some CA at wider apertures! The matched multiplier works well though it does exacerbate the CA at wider apertures. With digital cameras offering such good images at ISO 800 (and more) it is still very usable in bright conditions. The lens has a short throw from 20 feet to infinity which makes focusing on distant objects require care but closer than 20 feet focussing is quite easy. The lens cost to me was probably me getting lucky but the 2x zooms in this range seems quite common so film users must have liked it too. A great bargain, I like it. An image and crop taken this morning while appreciating some sun. F:8, from about 8 feet, ISO 400 on my K-5, hand held.

Review of: Sigma DC OS HSM 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 by Skodadriver on Mon August 27, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 52413 Reviews: 7 I saw this for sale and wondered about the effectiveness of such a large range of FL's. Now there is even wider ranging zooms! It works fine with on board and hotshoe flash, has an effective in lens shake reduction (I tried it against my in body SR and it was as good) and can produce reasonable images throughout the range if one is not aiming to sell the images. This was taken on an overcast day focussed less then 6 feet to look at the bokeh. A crop is provided too. It may not quite replace a 1 8-55mm and 55-300mm pair in image quality but if you are not willing to swap and carry an extra lens it is good enough to avoid disappointment. FL is 53mm at F4.5 Update, I have tried it on my K100D Super and it works well with it. Here an image and a crop from today. Not the sharpest lens but usable for some cropping.

Review of: Komura 75-150mm F4.5-32 by Skodadriver on Sat August 25, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 4437 Reviews: 1 Bought on a whim with a last minute bid without knowing anything about Komura or the lens but my Pentax is a good one so I thought I would compare. The listing was not very informative but what I could see the body of the lens looked good (apart from coarse dust) even if I could not see the state of the optics. On arrival it came in a hard lens case that the foam at the top and bottom had rotted away and was all over the lens so my heart sank a bit but after a vacuum it came up nice. A quite hefty lens, it s a pleasure to use, all rings well damped but not stiff, a near 360 degree focus ring, no zoom creep and no problem selecting an aperture (half stops available between F5.6 and F32). Having read some of the information available I am assuming this lens was made in the 70's, the Unidapter mount means I can look at some of the other lenses in the Komura range which I might do as their primes seem to be well rated. Images seem to have good colour (no indication that it has coated optics) and is quite sharp. There is an integral hood which is a good fit and I believe a 58mm filter thread. The cap fits over the lens (or filters) and inside the hood. I was lucky with this lens, it looks almost mint and handles like it too. Recommended!

Review of: SIGMA multi coated Zoom-Delta III 75-200mm F2.8-3.5 by Skodadriver on Wed August 22, 2018 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 14483 Reviews: 3 I have given this lens 8's because my copy has problems and it feels like it might be that good or better. I have liked the idea of a 3x telephoto zoom with F2.8 since seeing the Kominie series 1 Viv 70-210mm reviews, this Sigma showed up at auction listed as never used and looked in good condition. Problems with the lens on arrival were limited to fine fungal spores in the optics. The was no zoom creep and the focus was well damped, the aperture ring worked well. Apart from the fungus it was as new. The 2nd problem was when I tried the with the aperture at "A", the camera refused to go wider than F4 at either end. Checking the lens manually off camera showed the lens opening up wider than F4 when manually trying F3.5 and F2.8 so I tried it on another camera body, same problem. On camera the aperture will open no more than F4. The images I have taken look good from F4 onwards, lacking in contrast which I am assuming is the fungus but adding contrast in pp brings a much nicer image. I am hoping pgamble has used his on his FF camera and will update his review. Iris is 8 st raight blades. Weight is 650 grams (with caps) Length is 15cms to 19.5 cms fully extended (again including caps. Width is 7cms. It has a PKA mo unt with Ricoh pin but the pin does not give a problem, it is rounded. 67mm filter thread. Push pull action. Min focussing distance 1.2 metres.

Review of: Tokina SL28 28mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Sat August 4, 2018 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 25594 Reviews: 6 Bought this 49mm filter thread version based on the previous reviews and on first use on my K-5, I was not impressed. On a sunny day the colours were pale and the sharpness not as good as I had hoped. After some changes to my set up, centre weighted instead of matrix metering, applying a slight underexposure I found the lens to have much better colours and appear sharper. I do not know the reason for the matrix metering giving me over exposed images on the K-5 so I tried it on my *1st DL2. Slightly better colours but still needed a tweak of underexposure for them to look good. It may have been my subjects, the harsh bright lighting or something else in the communication from lens to camera, the iris blades are snappy and no sign of them having any problem. Maybe schj's review gives an indication that I am not the only user with a problem. Sharp stopped down, worth a 9 but not so good at wider apertures, F2.8 could be forgotten as I did not like the lack of sharpness there. I found some CA when high contrast overexposed images were taken at wider apertures but not enough to be a problem for me. Check your exposures and compensate where needed and this is a good 28mm but not a great one. Note, before fitting one to your digital body, read the description header, there are 2 items that should be read regarding fitting the lens. Update, I took out my Kominie made Vivitar 28mm F2.8 close focus to take similar images. I found this to meter perfectly and it was sharper at wider apertures though much the same at distance. With the benefit of closer focussing this means the Tokina is never going to be my favourite 28mm lens.

Review of: Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC - Zebra 135mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Fri August 3, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 99819 Reviews: 19 Listed as having clear optics and no mechanical problems I read the reviews here and bid for it. Having had 2 copies of the MC Sonnar I was anticipating it to be sharp and it is! F3.5 may not be as sharp as the rest of the apertures but it is very usable. I received the lens today and found that on fitting to the camera the base had a slight rock to it. I took off the ring and tightened the screw (there are 2) that was a little loose and that rock is barely perceptible now. Some heavy handed handling no doubt! I went out into the back garden with it fitted via a flanged M42 to K adapter (the lens is quite weighty) as I was not too worried about infinity focussing and was very pleased with the images it took. The big con is the stop down switch, I have enough trouble with trembling hands and a nodding head without having to remove my left hand from the lens to activate the switch and maintain focus. I shall have to find a way to hand hold easier. I then fitted a close up lens (Nikon No.3T) and took some more. If one does not have a macro lens then I would imagine this with an extension tube and or close up lens might serve well! Here is a flower taken at F8 with the close up lens and a crop.

Review of: Sigma Aspherical MACRO 28-90mm F3.5-5.6 by Skodadriver on Wed July 25, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 26905 Reviews: 6 An impulse buy at auction that I did not expect to win. I am not the biggest fan of old Sigma lenses but was pleasantly surprised by this lens. It is light with a plastic mount but has good AF, 9 bladed iris and even brand new probably were selling for around $50 judging by some of the comments I have read. I tried it through the ranges and found that the lens sharpened up nicely at F:5.6 at 28mm and F:6.3 at 90mm, colours seemed good (images taken in bright sunlight) and the macro (or closer focus) was entered via a switch much like their old budget 70-300mm macro lens was equally surprising. I was unable to provoke any bad CAs. I recommend this lens for anyone on a tiny budget that is happy with the distance and aperture ranges it provides, if you do not crop too much it provides nice images.

Review of: Soligor C/D MC Zoom-Macro 75-205mm F3.8-4.8 by Skodadriver on Thu July 19, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 8414 Reviews: 2 I have the TEFNON H/D-MC ZOOM 75-205mm that is identical to the Soligor, made it seems by Kobori. It is not a lens that seems to have been acclaimed but I am assuming it was a budget lens and not sought after. The large shroud is a problem but not much of one, two screws hold it on the lens mount and these are easily removed enabling use on my K-5. Other problems....none really, it focusses down to about 2-3 feet in the sector marked "macro", I do not feel they needed to label it so as I cannot feel any resistance to focussing when entering into this sector so maybe it should have been called "close focussing". It is compact, has no zoom creep and feels well damped in use. The aperture stops do not have half stops but this is not a problem on digital. It seems sharp throughout it's range of 75-205mm and from close up to infinity Someone looking for a Vivitar series 1 with PK-A bayonet will be pleasantly surprised spending a few dollars on this. First image is a crop of the second (SOOC jpeg), for some reason I can never seem to get the text and images in proper order. Sorry :o

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 (22A) 35-135mm F3.5-4.2 by Skodadriver on Thu June 21, 2018 | Rating: 7 View more reviews

Views: 40983 Reviews: 7 I picked this up with an Olympus OM10 for $25 so the actual lens was cheaper. The iris seemed a little sticky at first but some exercise seems to have loosened it up. Focussing seems easy and it has a sort of macro available at 135mm that is easy to facilitate. Unfortunately, for me, it is not as good as the Pentax-A 35-105mm, images are not as sharp. Comparing it to the Tamron SP 35-210mm 26A, I prefer the 26A to the 22A, sharper images and longer range. That may be due just to my copy which looks to be in good condition while my 26A looks a lot worse. I must still recommend this lens, the adaptall system is very handy and I can use it on my Olympus and Canon film cameras but, like the Tamron 70-150mm I have, just not the best examples of the Tamron lenses I have.

Review of: Vivitar (komine) Auto Telephoto 135mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Mon March 5, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 252706 Reviews: 28 My Kominie made, 8 blade, milled focus ring arrived today so I took it outside for a quick trial. I should have shone a torch through it first to check the optics because when I did so the torch showed what might have been a scattering of dust (or something, Balsam separation?) across at least one element and fringes of fungus at the edges. I have tried to evaluate this lens taking into consideration the detrimental effect the problems might have caused on the contrast. Good points are that this lens feels well built and smooth in operation, probably has been hardly used but maybe it is just very well built and it has the F2.8 aperture for use in isolating subjects and focussing and the 8 bladed iris. Bad points are that F2.8 is not sharp, though it gets sharper stopping down (as would be expected) I do not think this is the sharpest lens I have had in 135mm at any aperture (and in my copy the aforementioned stuff on one or some of the elements). It is usable (even with the slight reduction in contrast I suspect I am getting) and compares favourably with my other manual focus 135mm lenses but it is not likely to be my favourite. A good value lens in many respects and at the price I can recommend it, just cannot award it a 10 in any category, there are many legacy 135s out there and I look forward to finding my perfect 10.

Review of: Tamron AF LD Tele-Macro [1:2] (772D) 70-300mm F4-5.6 by Skodadriver on Sat February 24, 2018 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 28422 Reviews: 5 Apologies for reviewing this lens on a Canon but it came with the EF mount and I did not have much option. The lens does not have an aperture ring so I presume it is the model just before the DI LD version, maybe it was just left off for Canon models. I am also presuming that the Tamron model branding of 572D means a black finished lens and 772D means silver. Mine is black. The images from this lens seem marginally not quite as good as my DI LD, maybe Tamron did tweak the optics between models but that seems unlikely. Most probably it's age and using it on the 350D reduces my appreciation. Not having IBIS in the Canon is going to slightly reduce it's usefulness anyway in anything but good light circumstances. AF seems a little slower than I remember from the DI LD which probably is due to the Pentax screwdrive being good. Plus points are the fact that it is working well for a lens that is probably a decade and a half old. It is quite versatile with it's 300mm long end and close focussing option. Long means a bit soft unfortunately but you could find it better than cropping a budget "to 200mm" zoom. Can be had very cheap and it produces good enough images as a second lens enabling up to 300mm when out and about snapping holiday images for 6x4 or 7x5 prints. It is light so easy to carry and has a metal mount. If you are in the market for a lens allowing up to 300mm maybe the Pentax 55-300mm is a much better option but if you don't have the funds this will probably not disappoint much.

Review of: Tamron AF Di LD Macro 70-300mm F4-5.6 by Skodadriver on Wed August 2, 2017 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 229279 Reviews: 63 On a tight budget but want an AF zoom to 300mm? New to DSLR photography and need to get better without plunging into the deep end? This could be a good buy and is 450mm on APSC). I bought my K100D Super bundled with this lens. Early use was pleasing (my use of long lenses to 300mm with film had not been at all pleasing). The Pentax 55-300mm is probably better in almost every aspect but not necessarily by much. I recommend this lens because; It doesn't cost a lot and it's direct competitor in the budget market the Sigma 70-300mm is not really any better in my view. The Pentax DA is more sought after and if you are shopping for used it can cost 2 or more times a Tamron, even as much as a new Tamron! It has a pseudo macro mode! As has been reported in the other reviews, you will need to narrow the FL and aperture parameters to get better images, from 100-200mm the Tamron is better, 300mm can provide pleasing images though. Stopped down a couple is best. Don't be surprised if the AF is noisy and alerts living subjects. Learn to avoid or PP aberrations inherent in this lens. I have learned a bit about my ignorance from using this lens, now I try not to let SR compensate for my wobbly shooting. I have found TAV mode to be a great help, choosing an aperture and speed and letting the camera sort the ISO. I have invested in a monopod as I am too lazy to cart around a tripod. Choosing to use spot metering, single point AF when they are needed. Don't dismiss this lens after reading the poor reviews it can be a good buy.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 SP (27A) 28-80mm F3.5-4.2 by Skodadriver on Sun June 11, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 73283 Reviews: 15 I picked this up with M2 adapter fitted but it works well with a P-KA adapter. Thank you to Tamron for the Adaptall system. As other reviews have suggested, it needs to be stopped down a bit to get a good sharp image. I agree it is not quite as good a lens as Tamron's 01A 35-80mm lens but it does have a wider range of focal length. With a P-KA adapter this lens is a good alternative to the Pentax-A 28-80mm and likely to be available a bit cheaper, so if cost matters....well the chances are a Pentax lens might be almost as cheap. My one concern with my copy is the transition from FLs 28 to 80mm (like the 01A and my Pentax 28-80mm) is maybe a little stiff. Maybe all lenses that have a barrel that extends the lens at both ends of the range has this stiff point and I must admit this Tamron is better than the other two for this. A worthy lens that can produce good images at most but not necessarily at all apertures and focal lengths.

Review of: Vivitar Series 1 (Version 1 - Kiron 22xxxx) 70-210mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Fri June 9, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 111873 Reviews: 19 I bought this lens from the usual auction with some trepidation. The seller (a charity) had not posted an image of the lens without caps and just described it as in good condition. A previous purchase of this lens in Canon FD mount with much the same images shown was full of fungus and would not provide any images worth looking at because of the fungus. What the images did show was a paper band around the zoom/focus ring pointing out how to select macro properly, so I took a chance on it being in good condition. It turns out to be a later version (s/n 229........) with VMC. It is in good condition except for the zoom where altering the focal length just feels sloppy to me, sometimes loose, sometimes it grabs. I have only taken a few images but can see that it is quite sharp but it does exhibit CA at wider apertures. It is a great buy at this price if you like manual lenses and don't mind green button metering. Here is an image of it on my K-5, with a hood I added. Check out the paper band on the zoom ring, I would have thought that would have disappeared long ago. (Taken with a Nikon P&S, apologies for that but it was handy).

Review of: Pentacon / Meyer Optik Lydith 30mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Sat May 27, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 116556 Reviews: 18 My copy was bought in 1968 making it approximately 49 years old. In better condition than I am but I am a lot older. To be honest I've only had the lens a couple of days but the original owner stated that he bought it new in 1968. He had it fitted to his Zenit EM that he bought in 1986 that I also bought. Nice to have a good memory. I have problems with wide lenses, just cannot appreciate them. I bought this because the Pentacon 29mm I had previously was a bit of a disappointment and from the reviews on the forum it seemed to be good. It is quite good. Far better than the Pentacon 29mm I had. F3.5 is very usable. No apparent aberrations, nice Bokeh, easy to use pre-selected aperture, quite close focussing with a flanged adapter and of course a depth of field that can mean the flanged adapter will get quite some distance in focus with narrow apertures. This copy has some tiny black stuff on the front element, doesn't seem to affect the images until F16.. A quick attempt to remove it using lens cleaning fluid was unsuccessful, it does not seem to want to budge. The tiny screw on the front bezel is discoloured too, otherwise is in fair condition as described. My best wide angle is probably my Pentax-M 28mm F3.5 and this is close. Well worth the small outlay.

Review of: Cosina ( Vivitar ) Macro ----- 28-210mm F3.5-5.6 by Skodadriver on Thu May 18, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 50190 Reviews: 6 The lens is close in appearance and ability to both the Vivitar 28-200mm and Kenlock 28-200mm lenses I have. A low cost lens that can be found if you think you need one or see one cheap and want to try one. This review is coloured by it's low cost. I have trouble finding focus at 28mm so rely on focus confirmation but that is the same for all the lenses due to maybe the 2.5 metre closest focussing at all FLs up to 210mm. But the range is handy if not wide enough and at the 210mm end you can focus closer. Little CA with high contrast images. Good enough IQ for snaps.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 (03A) 80-210mm F3.8-4 by Skodadriver on Thu May 11, 2017 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 41263 Reviews: 6 I took a couple of large crates of books to a charity shop this morning, while waiting to get my breath back and my arms to stop aching I noticed a couple of Tamron Adaptall boxes in a glass cabinet. When the young lady assistant had finished unpacking the crates I asked to have a look at her camera "stuff". One boxed 03A, one boxed Canon FD adapter, one boxed Canon FD fit 2x converter and a small pile of filters and a holder all in their cases / boxes. The young lady assured me that they were all new! I didn't say anything about their likely age. I noticed that they were asking £20 for the 2x teleconverter so ignored that. £20 for the filters and holder so ignored them. The lens was £10 so I made an offer on the lens and adaptall mount (not priced for some reason) and went home happy. The lens (and mount) are in good condition, better than my copies of 46A and 103A. Also better than the SP19AH I sold on recently and my favourite SP23A. The tiniest amount of zoom creep at either end of the FLs if I shake the lens, smooth focussing, clear optics, I like the Tamron Adaptalls so I couldn't not buy it.....(Well that's what I said to my wife as she looked daggers....she didn't help me carry all those books in!) My review; Pretty sharp, early indications are that it is close to the 103A in sharpness. ie good. Great to be able to swap mounts on the lens to use another make body. I used a P-KA mount. Focussing is relatively easy in good light and starts at less than 1 metre but the 10 metre to infinity focus is a short throw so care must be taken to correctly focus and not nudge it. Downside is CA, as you would expect. Try and avoid situations that exacerbate this . Recommended as a budget (as in cheap to buy) lens with adaptall capabilities if you are prepared to focus manually. Much the same can be said of all the Tamron adaptalls I imagine.

Review of: KENLOCK-Mc.tor MC 28-200mm F3.8-5.5 by Skodadriver on Thu April 20, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 8100 Reviews: 1 I bought this lens from a Charity (Goodwill) shop along with a Pentax A3 dateback and a Pentax-A 50mm F2. All in working order and clear optics. The price shown is a proportion. The first thing that I noticed about this lens is the resemblance to my Kobori made Vivitar 28-200mm F3.5-5.3, not identical but close. Both have 1:4 "Macro" but only at 200mm, 2.5 Metre close focussing start (except when in macro), short focus throws and other similar specs regarding size etc. My Vivitar is a P-KAR mount. Unlike the Vivitar I did not need to modify the shroud or remove a Ricoh pin and it has a slightly longer focus throw. A quick test of the lens provided me with the impression that it is a lens that could provide an owner with reasonable images. Assuming the owner is budget minded and not exacting in their expectations, this does cover the range that in the film days meant probably a 28, 50, 135 and 200mm prime lens. A 28mm lens user will probably want to carry a prime though, not too brilliant at the short end or wide open. Looking on the net it seems to be identical to a Soligor C/D and a Beroflex lens. I have no idea if Soligor might have made this lens, it has the legend made in Japan, is a mix of plastic and metal. A wide open image and some more of the lens.

Review of: Hoya HMC Wide-Auto 28mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Wed April 19, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 42753 Reviews: 5 My copy differs from the example shown. It has a black aperture ring, a focus throw of about 190 degrees and has half stop clicks from F2.8 to 16 then a full stop to F22. Maybe a later version? It is quite sharp and seems to work well if maybe the colours are not quite as rendered by a Pentax SMC lens. If you need a 28mm lens and don't mind green button metering, this could very well be closer to the better lenses in 28mm than those of lesser ability at a budget price. My marks reflect the performance relative to the low cost of this lens.

Review of: Soligor Preset 180mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Mon April 10, 2017 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 23026 Reviews: 5 My lens was labelled HARMONY but is so close to the Soligor it must just be relabelled. Mine was s/n M2378 I liked the lens while I had it but was disappointed enough with the lack of contrast in images and some exposure problems to sell it on for what I paid for it. The lens was pretty sharp and easy to handle, I would recommend this lens for users with a liking for slightly muted colours and contrast. Users with the ability to adjust these in post processing may not find this a problem. With a further crop.

Review of: Pentacon / MeyerOptik Gorlitz Orestogor Preset 135mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Sat March 4, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 118855 Reviews: 15 I bought this lens in a charity shop. They wanted £10 for it and it had notable fungus and both caps so I bought it. My first real go at opening up a lens and cleaning (with much help from kind forum members) came up with a clean (or at least as clean as I could get the front and back elements, (I did not chance my arm by going any deeper). Result! This lens is not the sharpest available at 135mm, I have a couple of sharper ones but sharp does not equal best. I sold two CZJ 135mm F3.5 Sonnars (M42) over the past couple of years as I had F2.8 lenses that were as sharp and in K mount but not this one. The bokeh is great, the handling is good with a lovely long focus throw....but not the best min focus distance. The weight is a bit much, so I tend to use a flanged M42 to K adapter for my piece of mind and not worry about infinity focus. Not a problem as this lens is probably at it's best for subjects not at infinity and have that bokeh. I nned to take some portrait images with it as this is where it should really shine. Some images of the extent of the fungus and a squirrel taken at F2.8

Review of: Vivitar MC Macro Focusing Zoom 28-70mm F3.4 or F3.5-4.8 by Skodadriver on Thu March 2, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 62081 Reviews: 7 Having seen an earlier reviewer of this lens post an image of bee and flower that I thought was too good to be true, I saw this lens on Ebay being sold with a Pentax MG. I succumbed and bid, if the lens was anywhere near as good as it had to be to produce that image, it was going to be a great buy. The lens is rather sharp! Stopped down a bit. I have not been impressed by Cosina made zooms before but have to say that I like this one a lot. A few images taken and compared to other manual zooms I have show it to be well worth having. The bad points to this lens are perhaps specific to my copy, they are zoom creep, so many older zooms exhibit this so not unexpected, on this zoom it occurs between the 50 and 70mm focal lengths. On my copy the lens mounts my K-5 with a slightly graunchy feel, this is probably due to the Ricoh pin but it did not give any problem (like locking into the AF drive). Wide open the bokeh can exhibit some swirly effects with light sources. Not to Helios 44-2 standards but it is a not really ugly. (To me anyway). Good lens at a good price if you like the older manual lenses. Would I pay more than 30 bucks for it? Probably not but others may be happy paying more.

Review of: Makinon MC macro 135mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Wed March 1, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 63477 Reviews: 9 I picked up a M42 mount version with A-M switch as I had forgotten that I already had one in K mount. Not too much of a problem, just means I have double the chance of picking one up to use....or lending one to a Canon user friend. This lens is well made if a little heavy compared to the F3.5 versions of 135mm lenses I have and the A-M switch is sometimes awkward to use without moving the aperture ring. It has 8 blades and a separate ring to bring up the "macro" which is more of a close focus option providing 1:4.5. The lens seems quite sharp at F2.8 and gets better stopping down. An image taken a couple of years ago when the sun was out! Not a great image, taken at 1/125th second, quick snap in JPEG while stood up (and rocking a bit as usual) with no processing apart from size reduction of pixels.

Review of: E. Ludwig Meritar 50mm F2.9 by Skodadriver on Sat February 25, 2017 | Rating: 7 View more reviews

Views: 22195 Reviews: 4 Picked this lens up attached to a Praktica IV F in a charity shop while killing time before a Doctor's appointment. The shutter fired, the lens focussed so why not? This version is not a zebra so presumably it is a later version of what was a very budget lens. It all moves smoothly with the exception of the aperture dial which only stops down to an indicated F11 but does open up to an indicated F2.9 so maybe this is just an inaccuracy on the dial. Having looked at some posts on the net (of which there are many), the lens rates as mostly poor regarding to being sharp, to good at centre, depending on the poster. It is a dull day today so I shot with the flash and compared the various apertures. F2.9 is not too bad and the lens sharpens up as expected as it is stopped down. Some comment has been made on the net regarding it being an interesting lens for video (stepless apertures) and vintage appeal. Unfortunately care has to be taken not to turn the aperture ring at the same time as the focussing ring due to it's diminutive size. As this lens appear to be available for around $10 (or maybe more, maybe less) it has to be worth a punt. Taken about F8 with flash.

Review of: Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 135mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Sun February 12, 2017 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 140956 Reviews: 14 This is a quick review based on little usage of two lenses. Both were CARL ZEISS JENA DDR MC S. S/N'S 106598 and 131184. I like these lenses but there are some as good (and cheaper) in the K mount. As a M42 mount with the A-M switch it is easier maybe to focus and stop down than using green button metering. A K-A mount would be heaven (as would a wider aperture). It is quite sharp, seems to provide good colour and seems to sell well on ebay. I wish I knew why the MC in red seems to be important. An image taken on yet another grey day here in England, than you Pentax for shake reduction! F8, 1/50s and a crop.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 SP (01A) 35-80mm F2.8-3.8 by Skodadriver on Thu December 22, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 95196 Reviews: 20 A great purchase, came with a Contax/Yashica mount but the "Adaptall" means I can fit my P-KA adapter on it. I compared it to my recent purchase of a Pentax-M 35-70mm F2.8-3.5 and was just as pleased with the images it provides. The "A" setting makes it slightly easier to use and it is much closer focussing and with a little extra length on the long end. Build quality and cosmetic appearance seem to favour the Pentax as might be expected. Others have mentioned some downsides in their reviews but I cannot help liking it. My one downside is the zoom ring gets a bit stiff when zooming between the ends of the focal lengths. Maybe it will free up a bit with use...or get worse. As usual, a good SP lens at a great price!

Review of: Tamron AF (IF) 79D/179D 28-105mm F4-5.6 by Skodadriver on Wed December 14, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 74064 Reviews: 15 I have just received today, my copy of the 79D version, bought on Ebay as "new and not used" and it looks like new! Both caps were present but no hood or box. I had previously owned the 179D model, sold after buying a Pentax-A 35-105mm F3.5. Apart from being AF, being lighter and having a 28mm wide end, it could not quite compete regarding colours, IQ and faster apertures, so it had to go. This 79D seems to provide identical output to the 179D lens I had, so the IQ is not up to the Pentax-A 35-105mm and no improvement on the 179D. A shame as this is the sort of lens that could stay on the camera a lot if you generally shoot in the range of FL's provided. Purple fringing can sometimes show up but is not too obtrusive when it does. Probably best used, stopped down a bit, in nice sunny conditions or with flash. I have given it a 9 and a recommendation, more of an 8 would be right but the fact that they can be found at low cost, seem to have good AF, average IQ and a useful range, it deserves an 8.5.... so rounded up. Worth having in your arsenal if you can only afford budget price lenses.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 (20A) 70-150mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Sun November 6, 2016 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 52744 Reviews: 6 I bought this on an auction, complete with P-K.M. adapter, case and pristine original box and leaflets. I can only surmise that the owner had bought it new. The price on the box still was £104.45 (+mount) The lens is in lovely condition, has no zoom creep and the distance scale encompasses much of the circumference so it is easy to use. The lens needs very little effort to zoom and focus. Having a Pentax-M 75-150mm already (in much used condition) I thought I might compare them so a few images were taken at both ends of the focal length this morning. I used green button metering on both. My findings were that; The Pentax-M 75-150mm was preferred for the sharper images it took. The Tamron 70-150mm was a little faster (judging by shutter speed recorded) than the Pentax at F:4 with both F:3.5 and F:4 providing the same shutter speed! Maybe this is why it might be regarded as an F:4 lens. The Tamron 70-150mm images were not as sharp and suffered more purple fringing in the range of F:3.5-F:8 However, I felt that the viewfinder might have been brighter with the Tamron. (I also took the same images with the Tamron SP 70-210mm F:3.5 (with a PK-A adapter) at approximately 150mm and found the images were also better than the Tamron 70-150mm.) While I recommend this lens, it is mainly due to the price I paid and the likelihood of other buyers being able to get one at around this price. The Pentax 75-150mm appears to be a better lens. The Tamron SP 70-210mm F3.5 is better too. Update October 2020. I purchased two Tamron adaptall lenses for $16 complete with Pentax mounts (not PK-A unfortunately), so I will call this $8, bargain! It is a 20AB model so the focus ring turns the opposite to the 20A. Not much available on the WWWeb including the Tamron adaptall site but it seems to have the same optics as the 20A. 1

Review of: Tokina SZ-X... 80-200mm F4.5-5.6 by Skodadriver on Wed October 26, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 55106 Reviews: 14 The first thing that strikes one is the diminutive size of this lens, presumably due in some degree to it's slow maximum aperture. Compare it to a Tamron SP 70-210mm f3.5 and it seems to be half the size! Other reviewers have noted the size. Mine is the 52mm filter thread version. I bought this as part of a bundle that included a M 40mm lens. Lots of pros for this lens, quite sharp through to the long end compared to some, long "throw" of the focussing ring, takes 52mm filters or screw in lens hood if you get it without a hood and of course it allows for on board flash to be used without trying to marry ISO, aperture etc with the flash guide number thanks to the "A" contacts. The tiniest bit of purple fringing can be found in some situations. Plus it is small and quite light for an old mf zoom! A bonus if you walk around with the lens using a neck strap. My biggest con is trying to focus through my viewfinder, I find it a little more awkward than wider aperture zooms. Thanks to the focus confirmation on the camera, I really shouldn't worry about it but I do like to think I might focus by eye. Other cons.....well it is not super sharp and is slow, hardly surprising on a budget zoom. Do I regret buying it.....no. (The bundle included a M42-PK adapter and a Tamron 28mm F2.8 fitted with a PK-A adapter). Do I use it much........no. Would I recommend it.....of course, a lot of good things at a low cost.

Review of: Chinon 28-50mm F3.5-4.5 by Skodadriver on Tue August 9, 2016 | Rating: 6 View more reviews

Views: 17653 Reviews: 6 I bought this lens attached to a Chinon CG-5 on a whim. I have yet to try the camera out but the lens can be used on digital so I gave it a go. As has previously been mentioned by a reviewer, this lens has a range that does not give much on a digital crop factor camera, a kit lens 18-55mm would be better. The lens would not stop down on my K-5! No problem on my K20D so I have no idea why not. Wide open it is not very good but does provide better images stopped down....however I found the exposure seems to become slightly overexposed when you stop down. Maybe this is applicable to this copy only but I tried all 3 methods of metering at the 28mm end and generally found this. The aperture ring and the zoom ring are both quite close to the camera body, care must be taken not to move both rings at the same time if you have hefty fingers. The good about this lens might be better found on 35mm film cameras where the 28mm end is more effective. It is a reasonable size and weight to have on a 35mm body for a mainly metal lens. On the other hand, a K-1 owner might like to review it on FF and post findings.

Review of: Sigma AF DL Macro 70-300mm F4-5.6 by Skodadriver on Fri August 5, 2016 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 96345 Reviews: 15 I also have the budget Tamron 70-300mm LD DI so am comparing it to that. This is a prime example of LBA, absolutely no real reason for me to buy it. I am ashamed. I find the Sigma to feel a little better built, just a feeling, the Tamron feels a little insubstantial in comparison. There is probably not much between them for build quality which is not high. The images provided so far are much the same as the Tamron for sharpness, the Sigma maybe a little flatter in contrast but that is easily boosted. The big plus for this Sigma lens is the huge reduction in purple fringing compared to my Tamron. Fair enough, purple fringing does not always spoil the Tamron photos if care is taken to avoid the worst scenarios but the Sigma is so much better in this respect. The big minus is that I prefer my Tamron SP 60-300mm images at 300mm (and at macro)....but this is not AF and seems a fair bit heavier when on the camera. It is a budget lens, good enough for Sigma to sell many of them (and Tamron) and for many users it is fine, however, I am drawn to the Pentax 55-300mm which seems to be the benchmark in the range "to 300mm zooms". I do need to get one at a good price (and would like WR) though it seems to hold it's value. An AF 300mm prime would be preferable for the image quality for birds etc, but these are much further way in price. If you need a zoom with this range at a price that makes it cheap enough, the Sigma could be good enough. An example of the image available at 300mm. An image to show bokeh

Review of: Sigma Mini Wide 28mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Mon August 1, 2016 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 31894 Reviews: 3 I compared this version 1 Sigma lens against a Pentax-M 28mm F3.5 and found it to have; Closer focussing. Obviously faster aperture. But; Not as good to my eyes. The images seem quite good in strong sunlight (see images) but lacking in contrast when the light is flatter. This makes the images seem to be not quite as sharp as the Pentax. Maybe they are not but the file sizes of JPEGs are pretty similar. Mine had no aperture lever guard and no sign of there having been one fitted. If you want a 28mm F2.8 and see a Sigma version 2, that might be even better than this one. If you see one of these version 1, chances are it will be cheap enough to be worth buying. I find it good enough for a 28mm lens but there are better ones as evidenced by the Pentax 28mm F3.5. My first image taken with this lens and a crop to show colour and sharpness in good light.

Review of: Vivitar / Sunagor Macro Focusing (Kobori) 28-200mm F3.5-5.3 by Skodadriver on Thu July 28, 2016 | Rating: 10 View more reviews

Views: 62101 Reviews: 8 I bought this lens two years ago then found that the shroud near the aperture lever needed modifying before it could be used on digital. Having modified it (at last and removed the Ricoh pin which looked like it would foul the camera) last night I took it out this morning and gave it a go. Not the sharpest lens I own but the Tamron SP 35-210mm which is the closest zoom I have to this is not much sharper. The Min Focus Distance of about 8 feet is relieved at the 200mm end when it can go into "Macro" and reduces this distance by more than half. 200mm is the only opportunity to reduce this though. Mine has a slowish zoom creep (which I prefer to having the lens slide quickly between ends), some people don't mind the creep but it's nice when it's as damped as this is. I have seen VIRTUALLY NO purple fringing with this! If there is any to come it will not be as bad as the Tamron. I think it is not bad at 28mm, gets better upwards and then is sharp enough to provide decent images at 200mm. It is a solid metal and glass lens so you know you have to support it. Does this qualify as a superzoom? It would be nice to compare it to a 18-200 (or 300?)mm. The downside; Even with a hood fitted like the one in the description above, you will need to keep the sun behind you. Extragenous light does seem to get into the lens if it is to the side and slightly in front of the camera. I can recommend this lens, it may not compare with newer (and expensive) digital AF zooms for ease of use, weight (and probably image quality) but if you don't intend to crop much and use the camera's JPEG output you could be pleased with this. My marks are relative to the low cost this lens can be had for. The images and crops are just some from early this morning when it was not raining to show quality at 200mm end.

Review of: Vivitar Macro Focusing 75-205mm F3.8 by Skodadriver on Fri July 22, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 151515 Reviews: 25 If you are inept with tools or a bit of a wimp like me, avoid the first version, separate zoom ring type, as you will have to cut-grind-file the shroud around the aperture lever. The good news if you are up to some lens modification work is that the lens seems pretty good, even with some fungus on the glass. I used a bench grinder and some files to cut back the shroud in the manner noted in other posts, slapped on a cheap shiny hood (the only one I had for 58mm filter thread) and took it out to the garden to try out. I was impressed with the sharpness exhibited at both the 75mm "macro" end of the lens which is pretty simple to get to, no jiggling around just move the zoom ring through the 75mm mark and at 200mm. I wish I had a Pentax 55-300mm to compare it to but another poster has done that and found this Vivitar to be good. I have a Vivitar series 1 Kino made 70-210 (with Canon FD mount so only used with film) and this 75-205 is as good if not better IMO, though there is more fungus in the 70-210. There is some purple fringing as would be expected considering it's age and vintage coatings but I did not find them as objectionable as I have found on other lenses. Green button metering does throw up some inconsistencies though as you will see in the images I have uploaded. These may be due to the horrible hood I was using...or just my copy. The optics on my copy are not pristine though, some dust and a little fungus unfortunately. I like this lens, having the focus ring separate from the zoom ring and furthest from the camera means my trembling hands do not turn the focus out when holding it steady as I can move my hands nearer the camera body, a problem I have with push / pull zooms. It is a weighty lens, so promotes thinking about how to steady yourself to take images. It feels like it would never break any of the moving parts. Taken at F3.8, 5.6, 8 and 11, unfortunately I seem to have a problem uploading images and getting them in the right place. Apologies for the images being scattered about.

Review of: Bell & Howell 28mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Fri July 15, 2016 | Rating: 7 View more reviews

Views: 14348 Reviews: 4 I bought this lens at auction. It has the M42 mount and a stop down A/M facility so it is easy to use in AV. It came with a little brochure so I will add some details; Model 280B Construction 7-7 Max dia 61mm Overall length 51.5mm Weight 240 gms The back of the brochure has; J.OSAWA & CO.LTD TOKYO So it looks like this might be lens made by Osawa, it's labelled made in Japan. Osawa has a similar 28mm F2.8 in the misc. lens list on the forum. There seems to be evidence that Bell & Howell was a brand name owned by Osawa in other threads on some older Pentax forum Q's & A's. I have yet to be wowed by any of the 28mm lenses I have bought. The one that might have been my favourite was the PETRI 28mm F2 but it had a lot of glow around any white in an image at wider apertures. It was probably my sharpest 28mm at smaller apertures. I sold this Petri as well as my -A 28mm F2.8, my -M (2nd version) 28mm F2.8 and an old Tamron Adaptall (I forget which one but it was 28mm F2.8) as I was not very impressed with the images they provided when using the lenses at the indicated Hyperfocal distances to enable focus to infinity at F8 or F11 when walking around. I do wonder if these markings are not too accurate sometimes but things that should be well within focus do not appear to be any sharper than the 18-55mm kit lens. Closer up things are a quite a lot better regarding sharpness. This Bell & Howell is no better than the lenses I have sold on. Perhaps not quite as good and like the Petri has some glow at wider apertures. So it will go sometime too. But I do recommend it if you get it at the price I did. If you have to have a 28mm F2.8 manual lens, check out some 3rd party ones too, (Vivitar can be as good as Pentax I believe!) and can be found relatively cheap so not too much of a waste if you don't like them I have kept my close focus Komine made Vivitar 28mm F2.8 as it has a -A mount, is no worse for distant images than the Pentax-A but is closer focussing and also my Sigma wide angle 28mm F2.8. I have also kept my 1st version Pentax-M 28mm F2.8 for reasons that escape me. I have trouble appreciating a fixed length 28mm lens, it's probably just me, maybe they require some post processing to bring out their images better.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall Pentax P-KA auto aperture mount by Skodadriver on Wed June 29, 2016 | Rating: 10 View more reviews

Views: 29946 Reviews: 8 I received my third adapter today, along with a Super A and a Tamron 28-70mm (59A), I like these because I still cannot get used to finding the green button to meter manual lenses with easily. I bought the bundle as I believed the lens had this P-KA attached...and was not unhappy at getting a Super A (Super Program) along with it, plus the lens though that will probably be sold on. Cost was totalled at approx. $50 including postage at todays poor post exit sterling rate. I'm not the most confident buyer on Ebay but as I have 4 SP lenses and had only 2 adapters, until now, I will not stop until I have enough. Though swapping them is not hard, it is fiddley and I would be happier not to have to. Update 2020. I bought another mount, this time attached to a 70-210mm model 158A with hood and PL filter for $17. The seller did not have an image of the mount itself so I was taking a chance and got lucky. The first adapter bought was a fluke, it came with a bundle attached to a Tamron 28mm F2.8 which I sold on, having a Vivitar close focus 28mm with A contacts, Sigma 28mm and a Pentax-M 28mm already. The next two were bought on cameras that the seller presumably didn't realise featured this adapter and would probably made more than double their selling price if they had listed it as such. Both times I got lucky I was able to tell from the images on the listing that the adapter was a P-KA because of the lack of an aperture ring and the small button used to move the aperture to the AE mark. (See image below). So while I am probably going to reduce my future success rate I recommend anybody wanting one to look closely at the images on listings that look like the seller is just selling off a bundle of old camera equipment. A note of caution, read the links at the top of the page, my 2nd purchase required taking off the insulation from the screw head as others have had to, thereby getting it to work. Plus there is a detailed explanation on what you need to do to take the adapter off and fit it to another lens.

Review of: Helios - 44M 58mm F2 by Skodadriver on Thu June 16, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 87523 Reviews: 12 This is available at very low cost if you look. Maybe does not have the cachet of a 44-2 for swirley bokeh but it is unlikely to disappoint anyone unless they are very critical and boast a cupboard full of Planars, Flektagons and Summicrons. I used this lens at an "Eco funeral" and a Wedding over the course of a couple of days after I bought it. No special reason for using it unless it was to see if I would be disappointed with it in c omparison to the 44-2. I find it sharper than the 44-2 and was not disappointed . Well who could be at that price. Everyone should have a Helios 58mm and use it.

Review of: Vivitar ( Cosina ) MC Macro Focusing Zoom 70-300mm F4.2-5.8 by Skodadriver on Fri June 10, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 28902 Reviews: 2 This lens may not be the best option for a 4x zoom to 300mm but mine was cheap enough to buy and sell on with little loss if I did not like it. The Iris has 9 blades, the lens is not too heavy to carry around and it has an "A" contact. For 25 bucks I also got a zoom that focusses down to less than 6 feet at 300mm, takes a hood that I already use and is not as eager to zoom out to maximum FL when holding it face down as some I own. I believe this is Cosina made, serial number begins with (9). The Ricoh pin does catch in the screw drive aperture but is rounded and has not caused me any problem getting the lens off. All that is left is to comment on the lens performance. Acceptably sharp for a zoom at this price. Seems reasonably easy to focus correctly. Colours and contrast also reasonable, but maybe not as much contrast as I might like in images. Some PF but not as much as some of my other legacy lenses....or my Tamron 70-300mm DI LD macro. I prefer my Tamron SP 60-300mm with P-KA adapter slightly as it has slightly wider apertures and much better MFD (or macro if you like) ability. But that combination will cost easily twice as much as this Vivitar and weigh a lot more. I recommend this as an option if someone would like to try this FL zoom, there may be something cheaper 2nd hand but better? Probably not. I would rate it as better than my Tamron 70-300mm DI LD at 300mm apart from the lack of autofocus and "macro" ability.

Review of: Petri Auto 135mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Fri June 3, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 18754 Reviews: 2 I have what appears to be another model to that shown. It has a 52mm filter thread. The apertures read the other way round, from left F:2.8, through half stops to F:16 then F:22 on the right. It has a built in hood that is sloppy and probably too short to be very effective. The focus ring is some sort of fabric stuck on. The A-M switch will cover whichever letter is not being used. You don't see both letters at any time. MFD is about 5 feet. This is a surprising lens in respect of sharpness stopped down a bit to F:5.6-F:8. Perhaps sharper than the Super Takumar 135mm F:3.5. Soft at F:2.8 but not unpleasant, maybe a good portrait lens at the wider apertures. Purple fringing can show at F:2.8. I have rated this lens as a 9, it cost me very little, it can be very sharp, it seems robust and while 135mm is not very long, it is quite fast.

Review of: Tokina AT-X 525 50-250mm F4-5.6 by Skodadriver on Mon May 23, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 51410 Reviews: 10 I am a sucker for a manual zoom. This arrived this afternoon after winning it at auction and before my wife found some more chores for me I took it outside to play. The previous reviews sum this lens up pretty well. I only really have the Tamron SP 19AH and 23A (70-210 and 60-300) to compare it to regarding IQ as they are my favourite manual zooms that purport to be quite good in respect of lenses of that era. Stopped down a bit, first impressions indicate that it is probably the equal of the 23A and I would say at least the equal of my copy of the 19AH (which I suspect may not be as good a copy as others have). This Tokina show fewer CAs than either, the 19AH being far worse in this respect. Macro is easier to engage than the 23A but just as awkward to try and hand hold if you are unable to stop the sort of rocking motion I seem to be afflicted by. I didn't get much time before the chores loomed but I have attached the one macro (at 1:1.4) I took, hand held, under some leaves at F8. Not a good shot but seems to indicate that the macro may be as good as the 23A, albeit at 50mm.

Review of: Tokina RMC / SL300 (Sears Hoya .. et al) 300mm F5.6 by Skodadriver on Wed May 18, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 52332 Reviews: 10 I have forgotten how much I paid for this, which probably means not very much. It is branded as Mitsuki MC but I am led to believe it is a Tokina made lens. Having had a Vivitar 300mm F5.6 TX mount before which I sold on you might have thought I would look for faster and sharper lenses, but this lens is quite sharp at F5.6, more so than the Vivitar which might have also been Tokina made. Maybe this is just a better copy. Handholding is not too bad as it is not large and heavy and I do mostly hand hold so F5.6 needs to be used a lot. I would score this an 8.5 really but it seems better than my Soligor 300mm F5.5 M42 mount so a 9 it is, because it is surprisingly good for a cheap lens.

Review of: Soligor preset ("chrome ears") 300mm F5.5 by Skodadriver on Mon May 16, 2016 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 8043 Reviews: 2 I seem to have the same version as is pictured above, s/n starting 27..... It comes with a tripod mount which is handy because the layout of the lens trying to hand hold it made me feel very clumsy. The aperture rings are quite close to the camera body, I would have preferred them nearer the focussing ring. Closest focus is just under 6 metres, using a flanged adapter for the M42 mount. Furthest focussing on a flanged adapter is about 40 metres so it is not very user friendly there. For some reason I prefer to use a flanged adapter with heavy lens and I do have genuine Pentax adapters. Maybe I'll swap the mount for the K mount off my Soligor 350mm (Tamron make) or get one off Ebay. Wide open it is soft but usable, sharpening up from F8, F11 is probably optimum where it is quite sharp and I experienced NO purple fringing, something I had with a Vivitar 300MM f5.6 (Tokina make, which lacked a tripod mount) which encouraged me to sell it after I bought a Tamron SP60-300mm. 12 bladed Iris is nice to have. Images from F8 are good and sharp but somewhat lacking a bit in colour and contrast though this can be enhanced in camera or pp. Hand holding really needs ISO 400 plus as it is awkward and heavy. I may not keep this lens, it is not as versatile as the Tamron SP or as long as the 350mm... but no purple fringing evident...as yet, so maybe I will keep it.

Review of: Quantaray ----- 85-210mm F3.8 by Skodadriver on Sun May 15, 2016 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 18638 Reviews: 2 My lens seems to a close copy of the Quantaray but is branded as a Helios (made in Japan), has a M42 mount and a switch for manual/auto. Unfortunately my pc security does not allow me to view the M42 database, insisting it has some bug in it but I have seen a post that suggests this Helios is the same lens as a Quantaray. My copy has a clickless aperture ring, I don't know if that is just a feature of having the A/M switch. Macro (at the maximum of 1:3) allows close focussing and the images throughout the distances show it to be a solid performer if not super sharp. My K20D has no trouble getting the exposure right and the wide enough F3.8 enables focussing to be quite easy compared to F4.5 lenses which can be tricky in low light. The only flaws I will gripe about is the purple fringing and on my copy the rubber focus ring sometimes slides, double sided tape to be added sometime.

Review of: Cosina MC Cosinon-T 135mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Thu May 12, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 22630 Reviews: 6 Beware the black anodised lens mount. If you buy one with the surface that mates to your camera mount contacts painted or anodised black, it will not stop down from F3.5 in manual mode on the K-5. . Fine with an old film camera that doesn't have the contacts and for some reason also fine on my K20D. This is the third or fourth lens I have had with this so it's not uncommon. You may need to slip some silvered paper between the lens and contacts or rub off a patch that lines up with the contact that matters till a bit of bare metal shows. This problem has been highlighted in the forums a fair bit and diagrams and photos of the pin in question are there too.. It also reduced the handling down a point or two for me. I got this lens after bidding for a Cosina camera that was for some reason fitted with a Pentax-F 35-70mm zoom! as well as this and a Cosina 50mm F2 lens in the bundle. It was the AF zoom I really wanted but after delivery found that the zoom optics were bad with haze and maybe fungus too, likewise the 50mm. This lens looked in very good condition though and I was surprised at how well it provided images at F3.5, probably better than any of the other cheap 135mm's I have, including a Super Takumar 135mm F3.5. Don't turn your nose up at this if you are offered one, it's likely to be rather cheap, quite small and it's shorter than my Sigma 50mm macro at full extension. Colours seem quite good too. The only downside is the mount problem really.

Review of: Sigma Macro 50mm F2.8 by Skodadriver on Thu May 12, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 63137 Reviews: 17 This is just a first impression of this lens so don't take too much notice of the scoring. The lens was in a Charity shop (or goodwill shop I think the term is in America) along with a Pentax K1000 with a -M50mm F1.7, a -A28mm f2.8 and a -M200mm F4 for the princely sum of around 100 dollars US at todays rates. All the kit looked a bit battered and none of the lenses had front caps and only 1 of them a rear cap. I could not see much past the finger marks and dust on the lenses but this Sigma had my attention....even though I had promised not to spend out on any more lenses this month....because it was a macro lens. I knew if the lens was in half way decent condition it might be worth a few dollars to add it to my collection as the Tamron 90mm F2.5 I have only provides 1:2 macro and to be honest I do not think it works well at the end up to infinity. Might just be my copy though. The assistant let me look at the lens but indicated that the Manager had priced the lot together and I would have to come back Friday if I wanted to negotiate just for the Sigma. In a fit of madness I asked her what she might sell the lot for (I have no copies of the other lenses anyway) and she said 75 dollars, I said 60 and we agreed on approximately 66. After cleaning them up a bit I took them out and shot a few images, the Sigma impressed me with the images but not the fact that the rubber focus ring had some of the distance scale lettering rubbed off. Anyway I recommend this lens as a good buy at the cheap end of the macro market, I have no doubt that when I use a tripod the images will be better as my hand holding is not too steady. Colours are pretty good too.

Review of: SUPER REFLECTA 55mm F1.4 by Skodadriver on Sun May 1, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 12362 Reviews: 1 This came with a Prinzflex Super TTL camera, bought at auction, collection only. With the fuel for the round trip, it came to about 38$ US, Taking off some for the camera body which unfortunately had a severely corroded battery compartment and after clean up had a non working meter, I've arrived at an approximate cost to me. The lens was supplied as an optional standard lens with the Super TTL by Dixons. I have not been able to find information about the manufacturer but believe it has some Tomioka heritage. The rearmost of the lens elements has a flat bottom. Any readers with some information about? Apologies if the text comes out in different colours, I had to cut and paste some text after importing the photos. When looking at the images, it might be best to start at the last and work back up. I'm not very good at this posting business.:o The apertures range from F1.4 - F16 with half stops from F1.4 - F11. The rather slim and plastic A/M switch is located close to the body and lens release button on a Pentax making it awkward to check without taking the camera away from the face. Wide open it is rather soft, getting much sharper as it is stopped down, I have included some images showing the progression. Unfortunately the only other Pentax mount F1.4 lens I had (a Chinon 50mm on a K mount) has been sold so I am unable to directly compare them. It seems softer at F1.4 than my Canon FD F1.4 though. My copy has stiff grease affecting the focus ring and the aperture ring is plastic and feels fragile but clicks over quite nicely. Any tips on re-greasing this? Update: I did a quick comparison with a Super Tak 55mm F:1.8 at approximate common wider apertures and the Super Reflecta is sharper up till F:5.6, about equal for F:5.6 to F:8. I did not stop down any further. It was a cloudy morning and white balance set to cloudy, out of the camera JPEGs. So not a bad lens at all!

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 SP (26A) 35-210mm F3.5-4.2 by Skodadriver on Sun April 24, 2016 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 43806 Reviews: 9 I bought this lens in a box with a Pentax S1A with a Takumar lens, a Carenar 28mm that had been butchered and no longer worked or ever would! and a Chinon 200mm F3.5. All were looking rather worse for wear and for less than 10 US dollars with a 10 mile round trip to collect them. I got this gem. I was surprised at a low score for this lens, presumably as the reviewer found it heavy. I have this, a 19AH and a 23A (along with some non SP Tamrons) and wish I had more PK-A adapters. I like these lenses, perhaps the 23A most. They all exhibit purple fringing and this 26A also shows some Halo? (if that's the correct term) on the wider apertures in macro but they all seem to be sharp. I find the weight of the lens gets my mind appreciating that I should try harder to keep it steady. Not a bad thing. Wish I had that prompt when I was playing golf. If you can buy this at a low price, get it. I doubt it would be a disappointment. An image taken with the "macro" 35mm end, F16. Ignore the vignetting, I had a hood from my 300mm on it as it had no hood (or adapter) when I bought it. Added another image, showing how purple fringing is a feature of this lens at wider apertures, e.g F5.6.

Review of: Ricoh Rikenon P Zoom Macro 35-70mm F3.4-4.5 by Skodadriver on Wed April 20, 2016 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 48168 Reviews: 8 I bought this at auction to use on my Ricoh KR-10M as I do not own any Ricoh P lenses and have removed the Ricoh pins from 3rd party PKA-R mounted lenses. A previous reviewer commented on not needing to remove the Ricoh pin and I can confirm on my copy it did not foul on my K-5. The lens I bought has the rubber focus band missing and what looks like some sort of glue leak onto the distance ring so looks decidedly 2nd hand but the optics seem clear and it focusses fine. The aperture selection takes a little more effort than I might have expected but this might only apply to my copy. It is not bulky or heavy and if green button metering is not a problem then I would recommend this lens at the cheap price they can be acquired for. This quick effort taken with the K-5, lens at minimum focus distance (macro ha!) on a breezy day at F11. Colours seem true.

Review of: Tamron 750 ( soligor ) preset t-mount 350mm F5.6 by Skodadriver on Thu October 15, 2015 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 8911 Reviews: 3 I bought this at a Boot Sale (or you might call it a field with lots of people and traders selling stuff they brought in their cars or vans) for £10.00 along with a metal 67mm lens hood and 67 to 62mm step down ring. It had some dust on the glass and only one cap but I thought it good value as it is now my longest lens and a prime. I have various zoom to 300mm lens but thought this would be good to use for shooting the moon as it has a tripod foot. The half moon is taken hand held with the fuller moon taken with a 2x converter, tripod, mirror lock and remote release. I was not overly impressed with the results but as I am a total novice at moon shots, believe atmospherics and other factors might have degraded the images. The fuller moon does not have a man in it but I can see a black cat.... The tripod foot helps the camera and lens to sit better on my tripod so much appreciated ( I have yet to pick up a really solid tripod to use) and the ability to stop the lens down and use AV mode rather then the green button is handy. I realised afterwards that maybe I should have covered the viewfinder to ensure a good exposure but took some bracketed images anyway to alleviate poor technique. The lens seems a tad sharper than my Tamron SP 60-300mm manages at the long end but the images seem to lack contrast in comparison, not that I have made any sort of test between them. This Soligor was made by Tamron (s/n T42934) apparently so is the same lens I believe. As the longer prime lenses require lots of money spent to get a good one, I am happy with this lens for the moment but will look out for a replacement, hopefully something with another 100mm or more in the FL. Well worth a tenner in my book and the hood and adapter fit my other manual zoom to 300mm lenses so a massive bonus there! Should also mention that you can unscrew the front of the lens just past the focus ring as you look from the camera end so cleaning can be done to the glass from inside, I wonder if this means the base of the lens was also used on the 450mm lens? Probably not, no doubt somebody will know why it comes apart.

Review of: Cosina MC Macro (manual focus) 100-300mm F5.6-6.7 by Skodadriver on Mon August 3, 2015 | Rating: 8 View more reviews

Views: 31691 Reviews: 3 This lens was cheap! The ad on Ebay showed the original box, both caps and a Skylight filter so I bid the opening and won it. I found the lens to be quite light, in good cosmetic condition apart from the lens zoom creep most of the legacy zooms seem to suffer and the Ricoh pin. I bent the pin back before using the lens. Having already purchased a Tamron SP 60-300mm I did a few quick snaps with the Cosina at 300mm and opened them in Picasa to compare. First off I noticed Purple Fringing until stopping down to F11. My Tamron is good at F8 with 5.6 not being too much of a problem but.... this Cosina did not make my left arm tremble with the weight like the Tamron does so smaller apertures are easier to use. Macro on the Cosina gives 1:4 so maybe close focussing at 300mm is more accurate. Focussing sometimes need the focus confirmation beep as the lens is slow and a little dark. 52mm filter thread is good as I have a screw in hood in this size. Update, there is some sun about now and retaking a few images, the purple fringing is bad at F11 too. A user should avoid high contrast subjects with this lens. An image (and crop) taken with this lens at 300mm, ISO 400, F16 at 1/160 sec in slightly overcast conditions. A light, cheap zoom that delivers a reasonable image at 300mm if the user is not expecting to crop or go bigger than a 7"x5" print and can use ISO's above 400 on their camera. Hopefully it will be more robust than the light weight suggests.

Review of: Tamron Adaptall-2 SP / Novoflex (23A) 60-300mm F3.8-5.4 by Skodadriver on Tue July 21, 2015 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 113481 Reviews: 22 I won this on Ebay at a lower price than the $45 value I put on it but P&P from Sweden added a lot to the cost. It came with a mint case but no hood or adaptall mount. Apart from some dust inside the lens which does not seem to affect the images (but might slightly affect the viewfinder) it seems to be in good condition for it's age. I could have purchased a P/K mount with it for $15 but it came with a clear plastic adaptall cap so I elected to use a mount I had already. It is a P/K-A adaptall mount, it works on both this lens and the four other adaptall lenses I own, apparently not a 100% event with this adaptall and much easier to use than stop down metering, knowing the aperture of an image from the exif data is a bonus. (Albeit the K-5 shows F4 in the data when wide open, F3.8 on the lens). The entry into macro mode on this copy is no problem, the push pull movement within macro is a little annoying to me but not too much of a problem, just that I find using the focussing ring method on my Helios 85-210mm F3.8 Macro easier to use. IQ wise I have compared this to my SIGMA AF 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL, my LD DI TAMRON (AF) 70-300mm F:4.5-5.6 TELEMACRO A17 and my Prime Vivitar 300mm TX mount F5.6 and been delighted by the extra sharpness over the modern(ish) AF Tamron, the not quite so modern AF Sigma and the versatility of the 60-300mm range and macro over the Vivitar with no apparent reduction in image quality at 300mm. This is some lens! I have not tested it against these lenses in any way that might be construed as definitive, just looked at the images it produces and formed an opinion. The lens is heavy, but carrying it on the camera with a neck strap for any length of time can obviously be alleviated by holding the lens up with a hand. Purple fringing can be seen wide open, but much less of a problem than the AF Tamron, Sigma and Vivitar. Apart from the lack of AF I would rate this lens maybe slightly better than the Canon EF 70-300 F4-5.6 IS USM that I used on a Canon 10D (both bought when I was vacillating between Canon and Pentax and thought that 6 megapixels were enough) but never used it on a camera as good as the K-5 so maybe it is not. It doesn't matter though, the lens was sold to put towards a K-5 body and didn't lose me any money. If I do eventually get a modern AF lens that equals or betters this Tamron, I might keep this anyway....it is good and at this price, should maybe even be considered exceptional!

Review of: Chinon 200mm F3.5 by Skodadriver on Wed May 27, 2015 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 51381 Reviews: 6 I am unable to compare this to a premium brand lens as I don't yet have one. I purchased this in a lot so $15 is only a guess at it's cost to me. I had been watching a pair of Robins in the garden, noticed that they had a nest under the eaves of my garage and sometimes let me come up to around 6 feet of them. I grabbed the camera, stuck it on F:5.6 and went back to shoot some images. The image shows how close! This was at the minimum focussing distance, JPEG out of the camera, no cropping, just reduced the number of pixels for uploading. I've added a crop to show near detail of the head. Focussing on the eye was possible with this lens and for once I seem to have a picture I'm very pleased with. As opposed to quite pleased. Maybe the colour isn't a saturated as I might like. The 200mm length of this lens on Digital is so much easier than using a 300mm on film, seems to provide good sharp images. No reason not to buy this lens, it does a fair job, maybe a good one .

Review of: Chinon Multi Coated 200mm F3.3 by Skodadriver on Thu May 21, 2015 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 17790 Reviews: 2 I have both the 3.3 and 3.5 versions of the Chinon 200mm multicoated lens. Both bought as part of a lot of camera gear, one of which was not described in detail. The 3.5 version was in a lot described solely as "old camera and bits with dirty case". I bought this as it looked like there was a Pentax M42 to K adapter. It wasn't! No luck getting one of those cheap but I have tried it on my K100d Super and it works I'm not able to compare this to a "good" IQ lens as I have none in my gear. I can compare it to a Photax-Paragon 200mm F.5 (M42 mount) that I bought to try out the M42 adapter and I can say the Chinon seems to have a better IQ and is easier to handle being not quite as long. The focussing ring probably takes up over 300 degrees and makes manual focus a little easier than the 3.5 and the P-P, being so fine probably means catch in focus will be more accurate but I am yet to try it. The IQ seems to match the 3.5 except wide open. It is the same length but seems a little slimmer than the 3.5. Minimum focussing distance is probably the same (maybe inches in it) and the 3.5 has a shorter "throw" focus. I've included a crop of a photo taken at just over the minimum focussing distance and a couple of it side by side with the 3.5. One thing I should mention is that on my copy the mating part of the lens to the camera mount was black anodised which threw me for a while as the lens wouldn't stop down... till I read that the mount has to be bare metal in one area for the camera to be able communicate with the lens. I was thinking that I'd bought a lemon until I did a little scraping. I have ringed the area. The 3.3 has no lens hood like my 3.5, the hood on my 3.5 is loose and only protrudes about an inch out from the lens so it may not do much on an APSC camera but it's better than nothing. Using it with a (cheap? Vivitar) 1.5x teleconverter seems to provide good pictures which surprised me as the only previous teleconverter (a 2x, make I forget) I have used really degraded the IQ on my old Fujica screw thread camera.

Review of: Ricoh Rikenon 50mm F2 by Skodadriver on Thu May 14, 2015 | Rating: 9 View more reviews

Views: 46198 Reviews: 7 I bought this with a Ricoh XR20sp and case that looked mint off Ebay for £15.49 sterling, so I'm suggesting $15 for the lens. I had read that the lens was quite good and the camera was purchased for my great niece IF she takes up photography as an option this year. To be honest I have also purchased a Pentax Program A with a Pentax-A 50mm F1.7 and a Chinon CE4-S with a 50mm F1.4 as alternative options for her....and probably a case of LBA on my part. I tried the lens out on my K-5 (just to make sure it worked rather than put a film through the camera straight away) and was very happy with the results. I have included an image, taken at the minimum focussing distance and cropped to see how sharp it is. I wish my longer telephoto buys were as sharp as this but maybe 50mm is just a better focal length for sharpness. Certainly my Tamron SP Adaptall 90mm cannot improve on it IMHO. Must point out that I'm a bit of a novice and my eyesight is definitely not 20:20. If you get a chance to pick this up cheap....I recommend it. Whoops.. my first attempt to upload a photo has resulted in too many. Apologies as I cannot seem to delete the excess....a true novice at this. Update; I picked u a non-working P30 camera at a bootsale with a copy of this Ricoh lens attached so now I have two.Today is very cloudy and gloomy so I set the WB to the cloudy icon and took a few images from a bit further away than the MFD. The image at F:2 was underexposed so I have uploaded one from F:2.8 and a crop of it. I paid less than the current cost average for both so I will not reduce this average more, this l ens is really good value for money! ps the camera works now the battery cap has been cleaned.....must buy a lottery ticket for the weekend.