New Member Registered: December, 2017 Posts: 15 | Review Date: July 22, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Surprisingly sharp; good zoom range; well-built | Cons: | Disappointing min. focus distance; very short focus throw; heavy vignetting at 28mm | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 8
Camera Used: Nikon D810
| | (I'm using the Nikon AI-S mount version of this lens.)
This is an interesting lens. It exceeds my rather low pre-purchase expectations and is fun to use.
The first thing you notice when you start to use this lens is how very short the focus throw is. I estimate the main part of the throw (excluding the "macro" focus range) to be about 40 degrees. Mainly, that's because of this lens's very disappointing minimum focus distance of 5.5 feet (1.7 meters). Because of the long MFD, the ratio of the focus helicoid does not feel inordinately high, and it's still possible to focus precisely. But I'm constantly bumping up against the MFD, which is unfortunate.
At 85mm (only), you can engage the macro focusing range to focus down to 0.6 meters—still not very close, and far from true macro. There is no switch or ring to move to get into the macro range; you just keep turning the focus ring. There is a subtle "bump" and change in resistance when you turn past the normal MFD, so you can tell when you're in macro. Once you're in the macro range, you can't zoom out until you get out of it. I understand why the designer decided to allow macro mode at 85mm only: field curvature at the "macro" distances is extreme, so you really don't want to get into macro mode by accident.
One more note about focus: this lens has focus breathing in spades. It's very easy to see the image magnification grow and shrink as you rack focus.
Central sharpness of this lens is surprisingly good at all focal lengths, even wide open. There is a bit of glow from spherical aberration wide open, but this goes away pretty quickly on stopping down. Peripheral sharpness isn't great. It's decent at some focal lengths, not so good at others. Contrast is okay, about what you'd expect for a lens of this age. Resistance to flare and ghosting is poor.
The build quality is very good, and the lens feels solid and tough. The grease used on the zoom and focus mechanisms is quite viscous, making these actions heavier than on most other lenses. Still, the zoom barrel manages to slowly creep all the way from fully extended to fully retracted when I point the lens skywards. In my copy, some of the grease had migrated to the aperture ring, giving it a viscous, damped feel as well. It was easy to clean the grease off of it, leaving the aperture ring free and clicky.
A few crappy example images to give you a feel for how this lens renders. Note that the 85mm apertures are actually 2/3 of a stop greater than the indicated aperture due to the variable aperture of the lens.
28mm f/3.5:
28mm f/8:
85mm f/3.5*:
85mm f/8*:
85mm f/5.6*: | |