Zoom Lens

[Newfie]

Hello all,

Well I only have one more lens to get. I think something in the range of 28mm to 105mm range would be nice.

I had two Kiron 28-85's in K mount and they both froze up and the apature wouldn't work. So I guess M42 only

I did some reading on the subject and input from you guys has also been very helpful to me so thanks in advance.

Regards,

Gavin

[Excalibur]

[iangreenhalgh1]

Tokina AT-X 28-135 if you can find one is a wonderful lens and dirt cheap.

[Newfie]

Thanks Excalibur for the feedback, much appreciated.

I must have had bad luck as the 28-85 Varifocal is pretty highly rated and the 28-105 even more so.
One of them had a bad case of lens crep as well
Might take a look at the 28-105 again. I will definately try to look at others as well.

Regards,

Gavin

[Newfie]

Hi Ian,

You are a treasure trove of information and you are always there to help. I pay great attention to your posts

I will definately take a look at that one.

By the way, I looked up your hometown and it must be a very nice place to live.

Regards,

Gavin

[PhantomLord]

Hi Newfie,

Well... I don't think you had bad luck with Kiron 28-85mm, I bought one some time ago which was described as in v.good condition but it had some fungus inside as well as stuck aperture. It is, however quite decent lens to disassemble (there's help from boggys: http://www.boggys.co.uk/page54.html ). I cleaned it clear from fungus and sticky apertures and it worked like charm, but... it was such a crappy lens . I read a lot of good reviews about that lens, before I bought it and it was so so so far away behind the Tamron SP 01A that I sold it almost instantly and was left very disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I love Kiron, 70-150/4 is amazing little lens as well Kiron made Viv S1 70-210/3.5, but Kiron 28-85 didn't cut the mustard for me.

The lens I could wholeheartedly recommend is Vivitar Series 1 28-90/2.8-3.5 lens. It's in the same league as Tamron SP 01A and it's a little bit wider and longer at both ends. This 28mm instead of 35mm is very useful while using APS-C sensor.
In my opinion, you should hunt Vivitar Series 1 28-90/2.8-3.5 or if you're ok with 35mm on the wide edge - Tamron SP 01A 35-80mm/2.8-3.8 - both are great. (To be honest I still prefer Tamron, but it really is not wide enough for APS-C for me).
What's more, both are great on film and have very useful focal ranges as well.

Cheers
Mateusz

[TrueLoveOne]

I have the Tokina AT-X 28-85, also very good and very cheap.

You could also look at Tamron Adaptall SP series, with M42 mount easy to adapt! Very well built and optically great lenses!
http://www.adaptall-2.org/lenses/28A.html

[PhantomLord]

Photos taken by TrueLoveOne with Tokina AT-X 28-85 made up my mind to buy this lens, but my copy had really bad problems with infinity adjustment. Nevertheless even if I managed to focus this lens proper, results were really mediocre. I think, however, somebody may had tampered with this lens.

Cheers
Mateusz

[Newfie]

Thanks PhantomLord much appreciated and I will take a look for sure

Regards,

Gavin

[Newfie]

Thanks a bunch TrueLovedOne

I will definately take a look at the adaptalls, I heard they were very decent makers of lenses,

Regards,

Gavin

[Oldhand]