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Cheap tele zoom that's ok wide open
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:
I have always used the Cosina made 28-200 on my A6000 or A7. Its a really sharp lens and better than the Sony 24-240 lens by far


Oops - that's really a surprise! Would you mind showing us a picture of your 28-200mm? I have two or three vintage MF 28-200mm lenses, and all are really terrible on 24 MP FF.

S


PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not sure which lens phillizzy is referring to, I am familiar with the compact 28-210mm f3.5-5.6 cosina, most commonly found as a vivitar. The viviitar 28-200mm f3.5-5.6 is actually a kobori, but the lenses are very similar in size, character and performance. I have both kicking around somewhere in PKA mount. They are really quite surprisingly good for lenses of the era, I have some comparison pics against a DA 18-135mm and the comparison is not unfavourable to these lenses in terms of resolution specifically. Neither are so hot at 28mm, and both have more fringing and aberrations than the modern lens. But note this was of course on APSC.
One of the things that militates against them as eg a MF walk around lens is the ticklish focus: short focus throw, very easy to miss focus esp at the wide angle end.
Quick google: there is a cosina 28-200mmm, f3.5-5.6, pics look not so dissimilar to the above.


PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 9:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

marcusBMG wrote:
Not sure which lens phillizzy is referring to, I am familiar with the compact 28-210mm f3.5-5.6 cosina, most commonly found as a vivitar.
...
Quick google: there is a cosina 28-200mmm, f3.5-5.6, pics look not so dissimilar to the above.


Looks eerily similar to my Yashica ML Zoom 28-210mm 1:3.5-5.6 Macro ... But of course that doesnt mean it's identical !

S


PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 4:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tellingly the weights (yashica, cosina) are just about identical ~ 540g, as well as looks and other specs. I would be happy to go along with the idea that's the same lens.


PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quite possibly Kobori made the same or very similar design as the Cosina for Vivitar. I cand find plenty of copies of the Cosina in Japan.
https://buyee.jp/item/search/query/cosina%2028-200mm%20f3.5-5.6?translationType=1


PostPosted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Kobori is very good indeed.
I found it better than the Cosina
Here are some shots from it.
First at 28mm, the other two at 200mm.
More images here:
http://forum.mflenses.com/vivitar-kobori-28-200-f3-5-5-3-t72277.html
T


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PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

philslizzy wrote:
I have always used the Cosina made 28-200 on my A6000 or A7. Its a really sharp lens and better than the Sony 24-240 lens by far


Is that the excellent lens I sold you Phil ? Wink


PostPosted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Some further images from the Kobori Vivitar.
More here:

http://forum.mflenses.com/vivitar-super-zoom-28-200-by-kobori-t67928.html


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PostPosted: Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I don't know how I managed to miss this topic, but I'm gonna take care of that right now.

Cheap tele zooms, eh? Geez, there must be truckloads to choose from. MF zooms at least. Here are four of my favorites.

First, the cheapest -- well, when new, at any rate:

The Korean-made Albinar 80-200mm f/3.9. Has to be the f/3.9 model. They sold another with variable aperture and it wasn't as good. I bought this lens back when I'd been "into" photography for maybe 3 or 4 months. In other words, I didn't know anything. To me, an 80-200 was an 80-200, didn't matter who made it. Only thing that mattered was price, so I bought the cheapest I could find. I think I paid $80 for it, brand new, from a local discount department chain. Crazy thing though, is that old lens really took greath photos. Here's one, which I took after being a "photographer" for maybe a year.

Canon A-1, Albinar 80-200mm f/3.9, Kodachrome 64. Exposure unrecorded, but it's an almost certainty that the camera was set to Program.



Second, a lens I bought after having been a hard core photographer for a couple years. In other words, some thought went into its purchase and I was buying for performance over price. The Tamron SP 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4. This was not a cheap zoom, costing me somewhere north of $300 back in about 1986 or so. But it was worth it. These days, if you shop around, you can still find them for relatively cheap amounts on sites like eBay.

Canon F-1, Tamron SP 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4, Kodachrome 64, exposure unrecorded, but probably 1/125 @ f/11 because I wanted wheel blur in my racecar photos -- even though you can't really see the wheels in this shot. No, this wasn't a crop. It's a full-frame image.


This image was actually published in a book about iguanas. Canon F-1, Tamron SP 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4, Kodachrome 64, exposure unrecorded. Although because it was overcast that day and because of the background blur, I'm guessing somewhere around 1/125 @ f/5.6.


Next are two Canon FD zooms. The 80-200mm f/4 and the nFD 70-210mm f/4. The 80-200 was always regarded by Canon as their professional level tele zoom (prior to producing their brilliant 80-200mm f/4 L), while the 70-210 was regarded as more of an amateur optic. The 80-200 was also always more expensive -- considerably so -- when new. Performance-wise, however, I think they are very close. They differ in operation and construction. The 80-200 is a two-ring zoom, and was produced as an original breechlock SSC lens =and= a nFD model. The nFD 70-210 was a push-pull design, which was very popular among amateurs back then.

These days, both lenses can be found for cheap prices on eBay and similar sites. I picked up a nFD 70-210 as oart if an outfit several years ago, but only about a year ago did I finally buy an 80-200. This lens sold for more than $300 when new and I picked it up, in minty condition, for $20. Amazing.

Sorry, no images to show for either. I haven't taken any of any consequence yet. But you can google, or go onto Flickr and find kazillions, I'm sure.