fine manual zoom lens for ff..24/35 to 70/105 mm range

[psy501]

..hello..
..i need to use all the combined knowledge here for an advice..

..i managed to get myself a sony a7r and love it with my primes..
..but for traveling i think i would prefer a zoom lens (at least sometimes when walking around)..
..the sony fe 24-70 f4 they already have announced is not only expensive, but also i am not sure if the (only handful of) pics on the net really convince me to shell out 1200.- euros..

..so i looked around..

..i found that the canon fd 35-105 f3.5 is said to be a rather good zoom, also there is a olympus om 35-70 f3.6 (!) thats also said to be good..and i know that there is some 28-80 oly zoom thats said to be fabulous, but the prices of this one are similar to the dedicated sony zoom..

..maybe its the zooms where progress has been made and they are not much comparable to what you get in primes from the old manual lenses (which i really love and would not want to sell for a 35/2.8 or 55/1.8 sony..okok..the latter is said to be really good, but i am one of the few that doesnt so muchg like the rendering of the more modern zeiss lenses)..

..so please help me

1) decide if i rather save some money and buy the sony dedicated e-mount lens or
2) let me know if a good manual zoom from earlier "ages" is in any way comparable to modern zooms
3) maybe suggest some lenses that i have not mentioned and do not know (oly, fd, m42, m-mount preferred, as i have adapters )

..thx a lot in advance, erik..

[ManualFocus-G]

How about the ultra cheap Tamron Adaptall-2 35-70/3.5 close focus?

[dickb]

What is important for you? If you want a long range and size and weight are less important, have a look at the Kiron 28-105. Or if you want a faster lens the Tamron SP 35-105/2.8 might be the lens for you. If you can live with less range, people like the Contax 35-70/3.4 a lot. From my Minolta times I can attest that the 28-85 is a good performer, as is the 35-70/3.5, both the macro and non-macro versions.The Angenieux 28-70/2.6 may be a good match, with its high resolution and contrast, but it is expensive.

There are very few older zoom lenses starting at 24mm, there is a nice and small 24-35mm Minolta, a decent and fast Tokina AT-X 24-40/2.8, a fairly large Vivitar S1 24-48.

[barryreid]

The Tamron #65A SP 35-105 f/2.8. A decent performer on film) which is fast and can be had for cheap. it's Probably overlooked due to a) the poor reputation of the lens that replaced it and b) the unfashionable 35-XX range.

Mine cost £40 from eBay and I like it on my Contax 159MM, though I've yet to properly test it on a Digital body.

[psy501]

..wow..a lot of suggestions with lenses i would have overlooked..

..size is not the problem..i would prefer versatility..

..i will have a look at these..of course the angenieux would tempt me a lot, but as you said, its rather expensive..anyway..i´ll look around..

..are there any experiences with oly zooms on digital or the canon 35-105/3.5, thats said to be one of the lenses that would be worth an "L"..(not giving too much for an "L", btw..i think some are not THAT good)..

..thx a lot..if there are more suggestions, please keep them coming..

[FotoPete]

The Pentax 35-70/3.5-4.5 gets alot of praise. Sharp, compact and won't break the bank.

Tamron SP 35-105/2.8 is a good lens, sharp at 35mm but after 90mm, your photos will look like you had breathed on your lens. My sample had serious zoom creep though. Guess the previous owner loved it too much.

Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f2.8-3.5 is a solid choice for legacy standard zooms, sharp and contrasty but very heavy.

[dan_]

The old Minolta MD 35-70 f/3.5 macro is a good lens at the cost of a couple of beers. In most cases it can handle well enough the resolution of my Nex-7 so I think it will do well on A7R, too. If you search the forum you'll find a lot of sample images. It seams that's the same lens as the much more expensive Leica Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm F/3.5.
If I had the A7R I'd think of the LA-EA4 adapter, too. It's not cheap but it opens the door to the Alpha and the old Minolta AF lenses keeping all their functionality, with a lot of options in the range you specified.

[ForenSeil]

Minolta MD 35-70/3.5 is very good indeed, even to modern standards, especially on APS-C. On FF extreme corners are not thaaat perfect (I've seen samples on A7 on artaphot.ch I think) , but it's still very decent compared to most other zooms.
You can get it for about ~50$ +- 30%

Minolta has a few more very good 3x-5x zooms, the 35-135, 35-105, 28-135, 28-135 (28-135 was the successor of the already good 35-135 but only available as AF ersion I think) are all decent, all better than many cheap primes in terms of resolution and with great colors and contrast. As th the MD Versions are optically identical to their AF counterparts you can check reviews and sample pics on the Dyxum database.
I think there's also an rare Minolta MD 35-70 G (G was Minoltas professional series with best build quality etc.) with constant F2.8 aperture which has great reputations (at least it's AF Version), but it's quite rare and unlike the other Minolta Zooms it's price didn't decrease as much within the last decades and it's still very expensive (I would expect ~500$ +- 30%).

I've also just rebought the Minolta AF 35-105 for studio work (optically identical to the latest MD 35-105) and LE EA4 adapter for my A7 should arrive within the next week, then I can tell you more it's performance on FF.

I already had the 35-105 some years ago. On APS-C (Sony A550) it was VERY good and had astonishingly fast AF even to 2010 standards and it produced very good IQ with typical "Minolta colors". I loved it optically but didn't like the range on APS-C.
Some people rated it as a "hidden Minolta G lens"

[Basilisk]

[psy501]

..great..

..i know why i love this forum and its people..

..thx a lot..i will have a look at all suggested lenses..lets see..

..although there already are a lot of lenses mentioned, if you know some more, any additional suggestion is welcome..anyway..i have a lot of research to do now.. ..thx again..

[SkvLTD]

Sigma Super-Wide and I'll assume Mini-Wide are pretty solid for the price. Peak my overview of mine-

http://skvltd.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/first-impressions-sigma-24mm-super-wide-ii-f2-8-macro-manual/

[barryreid]

Just wanted to add another FD lens to the mix. I used to collect FD gear a few years back and have owned the FD 35-105/3.5 along with a couple golf other FD zooms. The best if all in my opinion was the 28-85/4 and that's the one I kept when I sold all the rest of my FD Lenses. My walk around kit comprised a 20-35/3.5L, 28-85/4 and 135/3 and sometimes a 50/1.4. Sadly, as I found out to my cost the 28-85 is not as robust as the others being fragile at the lens mount, so I no longer have a copy.

[Oldhand]

The Vivitar 28-90 (by Komine) is splendid.
Here is the lens:


It can do this:

[sichko]

Nice bird, nice shot.

[hifisapi]

the smc pentax A 35-105 f3.5 is like a bag o primes its so good

[Lloydy]

I just happen to be selling a Minolta 35-70 / 3.5 macro, I've got two of them. It is without a doubt the best walkabout lens I've got, and my lenses in that range are - Vivitar 35-70, Pentax F 35-70, Chinon 35-100, Minolta AF 35-70, Tamron 17A 35-70 and a Yashica 38-90. The only other short zoom I've got that competes with the Rokkor is a Vivitar Series 1 24-48 / 3.8, and although that is a superb lens it is big, heavy and quite a limited range.
The Rokkor was good enough to be sold as a Leica, I think it deserved to be.

http://forum.mflenses.com/various-lenses-t61984.html

I'm open to offers on this lens, and it is in very nice condition.

[hifisapi]

[ovim]

Newer cameras might be better but on my Canon 5D classic the Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm vignettes very severely at 28mm at wider apertures. Lightroom vignette slider maxed out and still black corners at f2.8. Apart from that I love this lens

[Arctures]

Omar, very nice shot. What is this 35-70 version? With constant f/3.4 or f/3.5-5.6?

[bruzzo]

If you really needed something wider than 35mm the Vivitar 28-90 as mentioned covers good amount of range and versatile with the close focus feature. Just be careful and check if blades work property before purchase cause I've heard that this lens is common for oily blades problem.

I have the 28-90 and am happy with it. But before I bought this I was considering this one as well as the Vivitar 28-105/2.8-3.8 and the Kiron 28-105/3.2-4.5. I have heard that they are close or even equally as good as the 28-90. The Viv 28-105 is Cosina made which is the same maker as the voigtlander lenses. So should be of good quality.

If you really need to go further with a 24mm wide FF zoom there's not much choice that provides as much reach other than modern 24-70mm+ zoom lenses. You can look at the Tokina 24-40mm/f2.8. There are others like the Vivitar 24-48/3.8, Tamron 24-48/3.5-4.8, Pentax 24-50/4 and Minolta 24-50/4 which I heard are all pretty good. But lacks a bit of speed in some situations.

I would suggest go for the 28mm or 35mm zooms cause they are cheaper and save up the money for the AF E mount 24-70/F4.

[Arctures]

Actually I am asking as a happy Minolta MD 35-70/3.5 Macro owner which realized it is not same as good on FF as on crop. Well however I was not able to make many shots on A7 due to lack of time so may be I am mistaken.

[Nikos]

[shapencolour]

I can recommend Minolta MD 35-70/3.5 macro and Zeiss C/Y Vario-Sonnar 35-70/3.4.Nearly as good as primes.The only standard zooms I use.

[bernhardas]

edited

[PhantomLord]

Hi Erik,

I own APS-C so I'm not sure how the lens would behave on FF, but my recomendations from what I own:

1st - Tamron SP 35-80mm/2.8-3.5 (01A) - it's sharp from wide open, relatively cheap and lovely to shoot with. Some of photos I made with it and posted here: http://forum.mflenses.com/tamron-sp-2-8-3-8-35-80-cf-macro-bbar-mc-01a-t61504.html#1366156

2nd - Tamron 35-70/3.5 (17A) - like Graham wrote, it's even cheaper than 01A and it didn't give me a bad photo. It was my first mf zoom in that range and I loved it. Passed it to my friend when I bought 01A though. Here's a little test I done on Tamron zooms: http://forum.mflenses.com/tamrons-test-27a-sp-28-80-01a-sp-35-80-17a-35-70-t62319.html
as well as here are some photos taken with 17A: http://forum.mflenses.com/tamron-17a-35-70mm-f-3-5-a-lot-of-pictures-t60840.html

3rd - This is tricky as I didn't own the lens, but I'm hunting like hell for one: Vivitar Series 1 28-90/2.8-3.5 but only because 35mm of my Tamron SP 35-80 is not enough for me on APS-C. I saw some of them in quite a bargain prices with Canon FD mounts and other I could not use (as I'm on Canon EF).

Good luck