10-03-2011, 02:11 PM
Hi guys,
A few days ago I received by post a Carl Zeiss Jena 75-300mm F4.5/5.6 Pentax bayonet lens which I had purchased from a site called "Le Bon Coin",a french site a little like "Ebay" but with a fixed price or offer.This site is a very useful alternative to the mighty popular "Ebay" which sometimes can be a little expensive,LBC can produce good deals especially as a lot of items do not sell quickly and if you are patient (bored sellers drop prices)you can make an offer like I did. After the purchase of a similar Tokina 75-300mm F4.5/5.6 all metal fully auto lens from the same site I was very dissapointed to find it was wildly off center and little use to man or beast, I returned it for a small loss.So once bitten twice shy I asked the Zeiss owner to send me some RAW files at various focal lengths at full apertures and above which he agreed to.Well what a great surprise,my eyes turned first to the 300mm end;at F5.6,already it was sharp,not like a razor but very usable, F8 produced very good sharpness across the frame! maybe it peaks at F9/10 at F11 it's very good and at F16 good. What I really noticed though is how the resolution is so even across the frame (APS) NO sign of reduced definition at the edges or corners,how refreshing is that? At full aperture at all other focal lengths it's good,stopped down one stop and things are great! all that and it's perfectly centered. WOW what a find, a bit of research found that the lens was made by SIGMA under licence from Carl Zeiss Jena in the ninetys,it was one of a range of 7 zoom lenses called superzooms which had full automatisms (contacts/ AF and chipped accordingly) it is ALL metal with an aperture ring which is set to A for use on my Pentax K20 and just in case I don't get enough exercise it weighs 720grams(2 pounds) The only down side is Zoom Creep which is annoying and there is no zoom lock! I hope to at least publish some photos from it with a more formal general review as I know from several blogs on the net some are gagging to hear more about it.I do not know Mr.Schroif if know any further details or have ever come accross this lens.I'd be happy to hear anything.PS I payed 250 euros and it's condition is like new. Daves cliches
A few days ago I received by post a Carl Zeiss Jena 75-300mm F4.5/5.6 Pentax bayonet lens which I had purchased from a site called "Le Bon Coin",a french site a little like "Ebay" but with a fixed price or offer.This site is a very useful alternative to the mighty popular "Ebay" which sometimes can be a little expensive,LBC can produce good deals especially as a lot of items do not sell quickly and if you are patient (bored sellers drop prices)you can make an offer like I did. After the purchase of a similar Tokina 75-300mm F4.5/5.6 all metal fully auto lens from the same site I was very dissapointed to find it was wildly off center and little use to man or beast, I returned it for a small loss.So once bitten twice shy I asked the Zeiss owner to send me some RAW files at various focal lengths at full apertures and above which he agreed to.Well what a great surprise,my eyes turned first to the 300mm end;at F5.6,already it was sharp,not like a razor but very usable, F8 produced very good sharpness across the frame! maybe it peaks at F9/10 at F11 it's very good and at F16 good. What I really noticed though is how the resolution is so even across the frame (APS) NO sign of reduced definition at the edges or corners,how refreshing is that? At full aperture at all other focal lengths it's good,stopped down one stop and things are great! all that and it's perfectly centered. WOW what a find, a bit of research found that the lens was made by SIGMA under licence from Carl Zeiss Jena in the ninetys,it was one of a range of 7 zoom lenses called superzooms which had full automatisms (contacts/ AF and chipped accordingly) it is ALL metal with an aperture ring which is set to A for use on my Pentax K20 and just in case I don't get enough exercise it weighs 720grams(2 pounds) The only down side is Zoom Creep which is annoying and there is no zoom lock! I hope to at least publish some photos from it with a more formal general review as I know from several blogs on the net some are gagging to hear more about it.I do not know Mr.Schroif if know any further details or have ever come accross this lens.I'd be happy to hear anything.PS I payed 250 euros and it's condition is like new. Daves cliches
