Help choosing travel zoom

[Arctures]

Hi everyone.
For the last year I've collected such a little nice MF lenses collection. Many thanks to every active member from mflenses.com for that Like I believe everyone here I have my own lens wish list. And the next lens type in my wish list is travel zoom. I haven't used neither auto focus luxury zooms nor manual ones. My experience is limited with Sigma/Tamron/Canon cheap zooms. So my question is what are the best (or may be just great) zoom lens options from MF world? It is better to have at least 200mm on the long end. Yes, Jupiter is a great lens but not too handy when it comes to size and weight What I have fond so far is Tamron 75-250mm f/3.8-4.5 adaptall-2 104A and Tamron SP Adaptall-2 70-210mm F/3.5 19AH. It loks like those are very nice. What are the opinions regarding 104A and 19AH here? Any other great zooms? Nikkors or may be Pentax? Many thanks for any useful info.

[Scheimpflug]

What type of traveling do you do?

I love the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 as a travel zoom, but it can be a bit heavy...

[dsmlogger]

I strongly recommend the Tokina SD 70-210mm f/4-5.6
Very compact and very sharp.

[Arctures]

Scheimpflug well, some kinid of long-distance trips.
dsmlogger thanks for suggestion, I'll check that lens

[ManualFocus-G]

Take a Tamron Adaptall 2 80-210/3.8-4 103a or the newer 70-210/3.8-4. Both are cheap, sharp and lighter than the sp series lenses.

[Arkku]

If I had to pick a manual focus zoom, it would probably be the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 (first version with constant f/3.5 aperture and 1:2.2 macro). But in my opinion zooms are the one type of lens where new AF versions tend to be consistently better. (Some of the C/Y mount Zeiss zooms might be an exception when compared to AF zooms of similar price.)

How come the need for such a long zoom when travelling, by-the-way? I usually travel with just the Sigma 10-20mm (APS-C) or Konica-Minolta 17-35mm (full frame), and perhaps a ~50mm prime as a “long” lens. =)

[poilu]

[Scheimpflug]

50mm is enough? Really?

I guess that just demonstrates how different people are. I find the 70-210 indispensable when traveling. You can't walk closer when you are up against the fence in the zoo... or viewing a small town from a cliffside overlook... or photographing boats out in the lake.

Often times, even for "close" situations, I will switch to the 70-210 and walk further away, just to get a different perspective or to be able to photograph over people's heads.

[Attila]

In my experience Tamrons are nice in cheap ones really, especially 19AH.

If you need better one Carl Zeiss Contax is way to go.

[cooltouch]

I have found that I simply can't (or won't) get by with a single zoom for travel photography. For many years I've used two: the Vivitar Series 1 28-90/2.8-3.5 and the Tamron SP 60-300/3.8-5.4. That's enough of a focal range for just about any situation I've been in. If I know that I'll be doing a fair amount of architectural photography, then I'll also manage to find room for my Vivitar 17mm f/3.8, which is fairly compact.

[poilu]

[Arctures]

Thanks guys for answers.

ManualFocus-G Do you have any samples of 103A or newer 70-210?
Arkku Well yes may be. I haven't seen any shots from old MF zooms similar to for example Canon EF 70-200/2.8 L
poilu Well actually I do have a very nice 50mm and it is compact enough. But I want to get something like Jupiter-21's performance and 200mm
Attila How is 19AH compared to 104A (or may be 103A) ?
cooltouch Tamron SP 60-300 shots looks nice. But it is damn large

Actually I like my Jupiter-21 but it is not so handy to carry. And that is why I was thinking about smaller long tele for hunt with zoom ability for all the closer situations.

[Attila]

[Arctures]

Thanks I've seen those shots. And yes 19AH looks better. poilu awesome zoo shots!

[cooltouch]

[peterqd]

I agree with Graham, the 103A is a super lens for travelling. Much lighter and easier to handle than both the 19AH and the 60-300 (634g v 860 & 870g) and only a fraction slower. Still solid metal and very good IQ. When I travel I generally couple it with the SP35-80 and take a 28mm prime and the kit lens.

[ManualFocus-G]

I've had two 19ah lenses, both had horrible ca and were heavy. There's loads of 103a and 46a samples on the forum, just do a quick search. You can pick them up very cheap and performance is superb. I have several copies if you want to buy one, I can never resist a cheap Tamron lol

[Attila]

What is hard to decide on travel , which equip to take there to get best quality but not risk high value equipments. I definitely not take zoom lens more to travel. I did it once and I never use it. One medium long prime for animal parks like 135 or 200mm is my choice and wide, wide

[hmallat]

[stonedes]

Hello,

I had this same dilemma recently and I actually found a very nice solution in an old AF lens with aperture control that I had laying around. Its a Pentax-F 80-200mm 4.7-5.6. Its plastic, fairly slow but very small and light.

The quality is very nice on my G1, with maybe the long end being slightly softer. At 80mm, its very sharp. And its easy to focus .

I believe Nikon also made an excellent, small and light 80-200 from the 90s that should cost under $100.

For me, it had to fit in my pack and also fairly inexpensive for safety reasons because I was traveling in Mexico.

[aoleg]

Vario-Sonnar 80-200/4 is a great "tele" zoom. It has Zeiss "punch", and really is as sharp as many primes from its focal range. The 80-200/4 is actually more contrasty than Canon L 70-200/4 (non-IS); the "L" is a bit sharper though (it's a newer design).

I had an AIS Nikkor 80-200/4, and, while a decent lens by old standards, it's nowhere as nice as the Contax. Considering the price difference (about $150) between the Nikkor and the Zeiss, I think the choice is obvious

I also tried RMC Tokina 80-200/4, and it was slightly less contrasty and softer at the long end than the Nikkor. I paid $10 for mine though.

[Arctures]

[alex]

My two travel zooms are the Vario-Sonnar 35-70, and the YML 70-210. If I could take only one zoom, it'd be the 35-70, where I see others would choose a 70-210. The VS35-70 may have a short range, but it's a fabulous optic and it covers more than 80% of my photographic interests.