Stan! I DID check your website, and that is WHY I purchased it! <grins>. OT - your website seems to be down right at the moment, or is it just at my end?
Thanks heaps for your comments, I mainly purchased this lens to "get me through" until I got my Tamron 28-200mm back, BUT I now think it will be my primary portrait lens, as I can use it with the 360fgz without having to worry about going "over" the zoom distance, AND it works perfectly with the Mz-6/ZX-L too. SOOOO, the softness at the 28mm end isn't really an issue for me, as I will generally always be shooting at 85-105mm. BUT, it is a shame that at f5.6 it is a little slow. When I bid on this lens, there was also an FA 100mm f2.8 macro being auctioned. I have wanted THAT particular lens for SO long and I was SO excited to see it, BUT it ended up going for like $650 and I can buy one new for $850 so I let it go and went with this one instead. Still dreaming of the 100mm though! Until I can afford it the Tamron 135mm f2.5 will suffice (although it doesn't have macro capabilities). What does "psuedo" macro mean? And how exactly does it work? tan. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stan Halpin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, December 03, 2003 10:24 AM Subject: Re: Pentax 28-105mm FA powerzoom > on 12/02/03 6:04 PM, Tanya Mayer Photography at [EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > > > Question - I just bought this lens, the Pentax 28-105mm FA powerzoom f4-f5.6 > > (from ebay, for like au$150!!!). It is in PERFECT condition and I am very > > happy with my purchase. Course I don't use the powerzoom crap, but the lens > > itself is great. > > > > I also got a very pleasant surprise, when I discovered that at the 105mm > > end, it is extremely close focusing. Almost to the point of being macro? > > Boz's site and the lens itself, say that it goes to .43mm focussing > > distance, but I am getting into even closer ranges with the lens spinning > > around to show a little flower symbol (if this makes any sense), that I have > > always taken to indicate a macro function? > > > > I know this might all sound very rudimentary to you guys and gals, but until > > now I have only ever had a collection of manual focus Pentax lenses and all > > of my AF stuff has been third party. As this lens was purchased > > second-hand, I don't have a manual to go by. Does anyone else have this > > lens and could they shed some light on this for me? I have found so far > > that it is extremely sharp and I really love it. Does anyone know of any > > problems etc that I should be aware of when shooting with it? > > > > Many thanks, > > tan. > > > > > There are no problems with this lens except the obvious: > 1. You cannot effectively shade a wide-range zoom, and so you can expect > flare problems if you are not careful; > 2. It seems to get to the /5.6 end of things very quickly as you zoom in. > And /5.6 is very slow... > 3. You'll get some shadow-cast from the lens itself if you use on-camera > flash at the wide end. > > Yes, it does have a psuedo macro function, and yes it is a very fine lens. > My sense, without any systematic tests, is that it is a bit soft at 28mm, > otherwise quite sharp. As you would know if you checked my > aging-but-still-relevant website, <g>, this was once judged to be about the > best of this class of lenses. I am finding mine to be a nice walking-around > lens on the ist-D, with the 20-35 handy in case I need the wider view... > > Stan > >
