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From: howard@sfmag.UUCP (H.M.Moskovitz)
Newsgroups: net.rec.photo
Subject: Re: My first lens(es)
Message-ID: <578@sfmag.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 22-May-85 13:25:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: sfmag.578
Posted: Wed May 22 13:25:37 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 24-May-85 02:11:46 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Summit, NJ
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>    Does anyone know of a good lens that is 28-90 or thereabouts,
> has a maximum aperture of 2.8 or even 3.5, weighs no more than
> about 20 oz., and costs below $150.  I have already decided on
> the Tokina SMZ 80-200 f3.5 that weighs 22 oz., costs about $100-110,
> and got the highest rating in Consumer Reports rating of zoom
> lenses.
> 

There are quite a few lenses out there that would qualify for your needs:
Kiron makes two; a 28-105mm f/3.2 macro zoom that is compact and that I've
seen for around $125. Also, a 28-85mm f/2.8 for arounf $170. Kiron lenses
are quite good, very sharp and compact/ligt. In fact I've heard that the
optics in their 70-210 zoom are identical to the ones in the Vivitar
Series 1 70-210 (which I own and use with MY A-1).
Sigma makes a 35-70mm f/2.8 for under $100, Vivitar has a 28-85 f/3.5 macro
for under $100, and soligor has a 28-80 f/3.5 also under $100. All of these
lenses will give good performance and nice, sharp images.

All zooms are going to be much heavier than fixed lenses since there are
many more lenses grouping in them in addition to all the hardware for
zooming and focusing them. A lens of this nature that is unusually light
would tend to indicate cheaper materials and/or construction.

Also, lenses of this nature, i.e., wide-angle to short telephoto tend to
display barrel distortion (outer-edge fuzziness) especially at the
ends of their focal length ranges. This effect can usually be remedied,
somewhat, by stopping down the lens to a smaller f-stop and using a
slower shutter speed. This effect is most prevelant in the new wide-angle
to long telephoto lenses e.g., Kiron's 28-200mm zoom.

To get the best rating on a lens read Pop Photo's or Modern Photo's
annual buyer's guides and their monthly lens reports. Those reports
are available from the publisher on request (look at one of the
monthly articles as to where to write).

					Howard Moskovitz
					AT&T Info. Systems
					(& Phantasm Studios)
					attunix!howard