Review 4 of 29
Price Paid:
$0.00
from The Netherlands Summary: I bought this lens in a kit together with a Minolta Dynax 404si. I reckoned for a little extra money I'd like the extra 25mm over the standard 28-80mm on offer. Indeed, the extra mm's have given me lots of fun and pictures that would've been impossible with a mere 80mm.
Apart from that, I suppose this lens is very decent for the price (since I didn't directly pay for it, it's difficult to judge) and the weight. And the fairly compact size.
It's made me quite a lot of very nice pictures with good colour and contrast, although on closer inspection or magnification (to 8x12"/20x30 cm) the sharpness isn't quite comparable to what I get with my 50mm f1.7 Minolta prime. Well, if I wanted the extra sharpness I'd use that lens; if I wanted a versatile lens that I could use in most situations without having to change, I'd use this one. I've taken it on several holidays as my only lense (doing a lot of walking I really can't be bothered carrying kilo's of equipment around) and I hardly ever needed anything more than this one.
Sure, their might have been distortion but I never really noticed let alone cared. The pics look good and that's what matters.
On the downside is the slowness (f4-5.6) which causes problems indoors and after sunset, but when I bought it I can't remember any faster lenses being around for similarly reasonable prices or weight. Nowadays, yes, lenses seem to be faster... let's call that evolution.
Also the build quality of this lens isn't great. Extended beyond like 80mm, the lens front could be moved by hand for a millimeter or so in every direction, which doesn't feel or look very comfortable. After a while the lens developed a wobble when turning the focusing ring through a certain position; probably a grain of sand having gotten inside. I never bothered having it removed as it didn't interfere with any function.
Most annoying however was the fact that when carrying the camera around my neck, the lens always extended itself to 105 mm due to a lack of resistance or a focus lock (hurray for the Tamron's 24-135 focus lock switch!). Then again, for a lens in this price range I wouldn't expect it to break the pavement it falls on.
All in all, a good but not great all-round lens, useable in most situations (except low light). However, the build quality does make it a doubtful choice if you come across one second hand. Strengths: - cheap(?)
- lightweight, compact
- very good range (although nowadays 24mm as a start range is taking over) Weaknesses: - slow
- lack of resistance in zoom or focus lock
- not great in durability (but for the price, what do you expect) Similar Products Used: Sigma 28-70 f3.5-4.5 (heavier even though 35 mm less range, and basically as slow)
Tamron 24-135 f3.5-5.6 and Minolta 24-105 f3.5-4.5D (haven't used either enough yet to judge)
Minolta 28-80 f 3.5-4.5D (lighter, compacter, perhaps slightly better pictures, but lacks the 25mm at the end) Customer Service: None needed
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