Pentax A 35-70mm f4 Reviews?

[sketch_tbhotmail.com]

<p>So I've been searching for reviews of this lens for a while now and they've been few and far between. The best one I've found was on Pentaxforums.com/lensreviews and they gave it an 8.67/10. Anyway, I found one on fleabay for $50 Canadian and I'm pretty sure its a good deal. The pros are that it seems like a nice walk around lens length wise, pretty cool close focus, constant aperture, solid build quality and from what I can tell, the image quality seems to be pretty decent. The only real cons I found online is that the focus ring tends to get a little loose and it's a manual focus (which I don't really see as being a con). I'm curious to hear what everyone on here thinks, especially anyone with experience using this lens. The seller is in Texas and I figure it won't be here for a few more days but I'm getting pretty anxious. Any thoughts? Good deal, bad deal? Thanks,</p>

<p>Ryan</p>

[dan_daniel2]

<p>I have a copy of it. It is a perfectly fine lens. It isn't as sharp as primes in the same range, but whether this is an issue for you depends on your eye and standards. There is certainly nothing wrong with the lens by any means. The close focus at longer focal lengths is nice. Some people dislike the separate zoom and focus controls.</p>

<p>Realize that I don't like zoom lenses very much so I never gave it the workout a real 'zoom'-er would have. And I don't have lots of experience with other zooms to compare it to. I think I paid $45 US, with an A3000 body attached (gave that away). I also gave away a 45-120 M series zoom, but I have no interest in getting rid of the 35-70; consider that an endorsement?</p>

<p>Sorry I can't give more concrete info. If it works for you, then it's a great deal. For the money, and what it offers, it is certainly worth $50 CD.</p>

[michael_kuhne]

<p>I can vouch for the "F" 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 being a good lens. Has AF, very small too, and usually can be found pretty cheap.</p>

[chune_hoong_pong]

<p>It's one of my favourite manual focus lenses. The focal length is slightly awkward on an APS-C sensor for me, hence I mostly use it as a portrait lens of some sort. <br /> <br /> You're right about the close focusing, and constant f/4 aperture ... though I wouldn't quite agree with the solid build quality. Does feel a little plasticky at times, and my copy suffers from a loose focusing ring. Nevertheless, it actually makes focusing a breeze, so personally it's of no bother at all. And FWIW ... loose focusing yes, zoom creep no.<br /> <br /> Renders images perfectly acceptable in my K100D Super. I'm not sure if the coating was any different, but most images were on the cooler side. No post-processing for the images below except for resizing and borders. <br /> <br /> <img src="http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr235/hchune/Web%20Uploads/IMGP7654.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> #1 Union. f/6.7, 1/60sec, ISO 200<br /> <br /> <img src="http://i487.photobucket.com/albums/rr235/hchune/Web%20Uploads/IMGP7347.jpg" alt="" /> <br /> #2 Alarice Thio. f/4, 1/30sec, ISO 800<br>

<br /> Hope that helps, good luck :)</p>

[snik75]

<p>I like both the A and F 35-70 f/3.5-4.5, find them very useful for taking pics of kids. I would love to try a f/4 version, and $50 sounds about right.l</p>

[alfred_hewitt]

<p>The "A" 35-70 f4 (constant) is the best of the bunch for the reviews I've read. I owned it briefly and it performed just fine and was sharp. Mine too was loose, but not a problem. $50 is a fair price, I'd value it at around 50-70 bucks anyways. The macro / close focusing of this lens is really what makes it different. </p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>I also like the A 35-70/4 a lot; <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19349382@N00/tags/pentaxa3570f4lens/">here are some pictures</a> I took with that lens. I'm sure I paid more than that for mine. It's a nice package, well-built, with a good close-focus capability. The focus has a fairly light action, but this isn't so unusual, and at least on my example, its build seems to have held up better than some others A-series lenses I have (which often seem to have aperture ring issues). I think I prefer it to my F35-70/3.5-4.5 which is smaller and offers autofocus.</p>

[mark_dalal1]

<p>Another positive review for the A 35-70/4. Excellent detail and sharpness in the macro range. A really good lens.</p>

[tom_bronaugh]

<p>I have this lens (which is why I navigated to this page), but I haven't given it much use yet. The few I've taken have been pretty good so far. When I do, I will try to get so photos posted for review.</p>