New Member Registered: October, 2011 Posts: 9 | | Review Date: January 11, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $14.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | i just bought one in mint condition for £9.99 in London's Tottenham Court Road | | Cons: | at that price there can't be any | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K5
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Here's a few 'snaps' I made during a quick walk on a beach in Southern Sweden. I was impressed with the spped of the manual focus and I think the images are very sharp and have a nice feel to them. The colours were auto corrected only.
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Forum Member Registered: December, 2011 Location: Auvergne Posts: 52
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 24, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp since f/4, zero CA, macro mode, small diameter (52mm filter), integrated hood | | Cons: | Long (12cm), long minimal focusing distance, focus throw could be longer, front lens rotates | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5
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I had the chance to catch a used sample in Poland for $55, shipping included. The baby is pretty long (12cm) but remains easy to pack thanks to its small diameter (filter 52mm).
The rings turn smoothly. Zoom internal focus is a plus. The focus ring turns only of 140°, we could have hoped longer, but focusing remains precise.
The minimum focusing distance is 150cm, which is pretty long when focused at 70mm. Hopefully, there is the macro mode, that allows to get approximately at 0,5m from the object. The focus mode was tricky to trigger for me: the zoom ring has to be turned under 70mm, with a strong torque. When you get used to it, you can do it instantly. Original and practical.
The big "Ouch !" comes from the picture quality. Images are sharp even at f/4 and I could absolutely find no trace of CA. Image quality is impressive on the K-5 ! What about with the new Pentax full-frame ? 
A big thank you to jimr-pdx for having attracted my attention towards this beautiful lens, that definitely deserves praises, although pretty uncommon.
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Pentaxian Registered: May, 2010 Location: now 1 hour north of PDX Posts: 3,897 | | Review Date: August 4, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $55.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | internal zoom, fixed f/4, 8-blade aperture, 1:6 'macro', sharp & contrasty - ZERO CA | | Cons: | old-school flare | |
This was a surprising find, and gives impressive results. A zoom with only about 2x range should do well, and it does in tests so far. I was quite surprised by its internal zoom, a rarity in most any age, plus it's a two-ring design for zoom and focus.
Great color and contrast, surprisingly good sharpness and bokeh. I've yet to see 'chromatism' (CA, fringing) on contrasty edges. Macro setting is useful for getting closer but this certainly isn't a "closeup" lens. Old coatings yield veiling flare when light behind the subject is strong. In 'normal' light this lens serves very well.
A great result here -
This one really won me over -
But.. veiled shot here -
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gEdgoS3inqw/TjM-qiNZTAI/AAAAAAAAKMk/KASnpObVZFs/s512/IMGP2947.JPG"])
Later tests (that the DA18-135 failed) were thrown at this lens in search of color fringing; this lens shows too little to see. Very impressive! This is my new best MF zoom lens, outpointing the Vivitar 28-105 and Rikenon-P 35-135.
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