Veteran Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Kansas City, KS Posts: 1,612
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 13, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | smooth zoom, precise focus, color quality, price, auto-aperture option | | Cons: | heavy, push/pull zoom is slow, "hazy" images | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 8
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I bought this lens used in fantastic condition. It is P/K mount and attaches and detaches easily to my K-30. The close-focusing at the 300mm end is fantastic, but at low apertures and full zoom it has pretty noticeable (chromatic) aberrations. A tighter aperture soothes these woes, and the lens is very good at 5.6 and excellent from 8-11, very good again at 16. At the short end aberrations are much less noticeable.
The focus is sharp enough for me, but the contrast is DREADFUL and you should count on boosting contrast for every image in post processing. My copy is soft on the left side, but this defect is pretty much only noticeable at full zoom. I'm guessing it was probably dropped or similarly man-handled at one point, although the lens looks to be undamaged superficially.
The lens is very heavy and can tire my wrists/hands. The push/pull zoom and manual focus, as well as supporting the weight of the lens and changing camera settings, can be very tiring. The auto-aperture setting is intelligent and useful.
The focus ring is smooth and is very pleasant to use. It is easy to get a sharp image. The apertures only have full stops, no halves. f4.5-22.
Color reproduction is spot-on and true to life, no warming/cooling.
Bokeh is much better than I anticipated it to be, but does not compete with some of my other lenses.
The push/pull zoom, on my lens at least, feels slow compared to my other zoom lenses. I have missed wildlife shots while pushing/pulling the zoom. This is the first push/pull zoom I have owned, so I don't know how it compares to other push/pull zoom lenses. The creep is significant and unstoppable (get a lens band, I guess?).
I'd say it is an "average" lens, overall. It has some issues, but also its charm. Nothing amazing, but not complete junk, either. Hence: 7/10.
Here's my Flickr album containing shots from this lens: CLICK HERE | |
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