Re: 24-50s and A35-70f4
> My sample of the A35-70, purchased used and showing obvious signs > of use, has more slop in focusing than most of my primes, but is > tighter than any of my other zooms. This is one lens I regard as > more than adequate in build quality, despite the plastic bits. Yes, I'd say that the build of my A 35-70/4 is entirely adequate. And, the lens does make up for its less-than-solid build with its optics - except for some barrel distortion at the wide end, I've found it to be a pretty darned good (even if unpretentious) little lens (with a surprisingly good "macro" function - much better than several other so-called "macro-zoom" lenses. Fred
Re: 24-50s and A35-70f4
I thought all Pentax zooms of the A series and later felt like the A 35-70, until I got a KEH bargain condition A 24-50. What a difference! Quite heavy and solid, with a beautiful focusing and zoom feel. Definitely more metal and/or glass. Do the well regarded Pentax A zooms, like the 35-105 or the 70-210, have that heavy, smooth quality feel, or is their build quality more like the 35-70? Joe On Feb 26, 2004, at 3:16 PM, Fred wrote: My sample of the A35-70, purchased used and showing obvious signs of use, has more slop in focusing than most of my primes, but is tighter than any of my other zooms. This is one lens I regard as more than adequate in build quality, despite the plastic bits. Yes, I'd say that the build of my A 35-70/4 is entirely adequate. And, the lens does make up for its less-than-solid build with its optics - except for some barrel distortion at the wide end, I've found it to be a pretty darned good (even if unpretentious) little lens (with a surprisingly good "macro" function - much better than several other so-called "macro-zoom" lenses. Fred
Re: 24-50s and A35-70f4
> I thought all Pentax zooms of the A series and later felt like the > A 35-70, until I got a KEH bargain condition A 24-50. [snip] Do > the well regarded Pentax A zooms, like the 35-105 or the 70-210, > have that heavy, smooth quality feel, or is their build quality > more like the 35-70? The A 70-210/4, the A 35-105/3.5, and the A 28-135/4 are all head-and-shoulders over the A 35-70/4, when you are talking about "feel" and overall mechanical build quality. However, the 35-70/4 was not designed as ~any~ sort of a "premium lens", and yet it does commend itself quite well optically (and has a better "macro" function than any of the other three lenses above). Fred
Re: 24-50s and A35-70f4
My sample of the A35-70, purchased used and showing obvious signs of use, has more slop in focusing than most of my primes, but is tighter than any of my other zooms. This is one lens I regard as more than adequate in build quality, despite the plastic bits. Keith Whaley wrote: Fred wrote: The A 35-70/4 is surprisingly good optically, but I do have to admit that it's the most "plasticky" lens I own. Really? Plastickly? For such a heavy lens? Granted, the exterior rings are all hard black plastic, but the barrel and all internals are metal. Maybe it's the glass that makes it heavy? I wonder if it's the inherent looseness in the focusing mechanism/design that contributes to the feeling you're experiencing? It's not the tightest moving set of controls I've ever experienced.
