SLR short range zooms

[Matus]

This forum is strongly dominated by "prime" lens users and zooms get much less attention (I can see that 😉)

But I would like to hear about recommendation for short zoom (2x to 3x) that deliver excellent optical performance (sharpness, contrast) and manage to keep the distortions acceptable. I make no limits on size. All mounts allowed, manual focus or AF 🙂

I would be in particular interested in lenses where the wide end is between 20 to 35 and long end between 50 to 85 or so. So for examle:
- Nikkor 25-50 f/4
- Contax 35-75 f/3.4

So - what are the well kept secrets among SLR zooms?

 

[Steve M.]

Back when I shot Nikon glass, I was a big fan of their older 35-70 2.8 AF D push-pull zooms. As sharp as a prime. They were heavy and somewhat big though. Others complained about their lack of range, but I thought they were great for those times when you couldn't get back far enough w/ a 50mm, or just wanted to zoom in a little from that same focal length. It was nice that it was a fast lens too. If I remember correctly they could do macro too (micro?). Here's a shot using, I think, Agfa Optima film from years ago. Boy, I miss that Agfa color film.

 

[Greyscale]

I bough a Nikon FG on eBay last spring. Attached to it was an "Access P-MC 35~70mm Macro Zoom" from Access Optics. I had never heard of this brand before, what little info that I found on the internet suggested that Vivitar may have used this brand for the Canadian market. I didn't expect too much from this lens, but I was very pleasantly surprised. It was a lovely little zoom lens. I liked it so much that I leaped onoto one that I saw on eBay in K-mount. I purchased the short zoom and a great 70~210mm zoom for a penny apiece, and both were wonderful lenses, the bigger zoom is rumoured to be the same lens as the very highly regarded Vivitar Series 1 lens in the same focal length.

A couple with the short zoom:


041_5A by Greyscale3, on Flickr


025_21A by Greyscale3, on Flickr


And a couple from the big brother:


014_11A by Greyscale3, on Flickr


013_12A by Greyscale3, on Flickr

I have since sold both the Nikon and the Sears K-mount kits, but I would not hesitate to buy an Access Optics lens again, especially at that price.

 

[Nokton48]

I used to have a 25-50mm F4 MC Minolta Rokkor, and it was quite good. I gave it to my Brother, along with an SRT body. I have been thinking about getting another one.

 

[Waus]

Had the Nikon AF-S 24-85, I think it was a great lens, perhaps not the best lens in MTF graphs or for taking pictures of brick-walls...but it's a great walk-around lens!

 

[mdarnton]

For about 15 minutes I owned a 25-50 Nikkor. It wasn't good enough to keep--it was quite poor towards the edges, wide. I have a 35-70AF Marco Nikkor (a very inexpensive lens) that works very nicely, though. I got that one for free, and have ended up using it a lot, for shots around my shop.

 

[Corto]

"Five Star" branded Made in Japan 35-75mm in a Minolta X370.
Ilford HP-4 400

 

[thirtyfivefifty]

Not so well kept secret: F2.8 or faster. For viewfinder brightness' sake.

 

[ssmc]

Another vote for the Nikkor 35-70 2.8D. I stupidly sold mine 🙁

The only real "faults" with that lens were it's noticeable distortion (quite a lot considering the 2x zoom range) and sometimes very unruly bokeh, especially in the foreground or at close range - enough to be distracting in "regular" photos. It was however surprisingly sharp, even wide-open, corner-to-corner on FX.

 

[James24]

I have 3 manual focus Nikkor zooms in the range you specify.

Nikkor 25-50/4 http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/ais2550.jpg
Nikkor 28-45/4.5 http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/k2845.html
Nikkor 28-50/3.5 http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/ais2850.jpg

The one I like the best is the 28-50/3.5. It is smaller than the other 2 and I think it has the edge optically. I believe Nikon only made it for around a year, so it's not easy to find.

 

[al1966]

I have;
a Tokina 25-50, its fun to use and fair in quality but nothing to celebrate.
A Canon 35-70mm that I don't really use its good I guess but I prefer using the 24mm and 50mm FD primes
An Olympus 75-150 and I have to say it is rather good, I like it for portraits as it covers a useful range.
Over all I prefer to use primes, I bought the Tokina and Oly as they were bargain priced, the Canon came with a camera.

 

[kxl]

Nikon:

AF

The conversation mostly starts (and most often ends) with the 24-70mm/28 - big, heavy and pricey, but the images are unbelievable. Its older cousin, the 28-70mm/2.8, and even older the 35-70/2.8 are also worthy of mention. The first two are AFS. Another one worth of mention is the 24-85mm AFS - sharp and fast AF, but weird distortion on at 24mm and at 85mm.

MF

I have owned the 25-50mm/4.0 - great lens, but big, and the 28-45mm/4.5 - nice, but slow, and the 28-50mm/3.5 - right size and sharpness, for me.

The two that own currently are the 24-70/2.8 (on my D700) and the 28-50/3.5 AIS (on my FM3A).

 

[Dirk]

In that range, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Nikkor AF-D 24-85mm 2.8-4.0. Excellent sharpness, contrast and color. Plus nice bokeh.

 

[mfunnell]

I bough a Nikon FG on eBay last spring. Attached to it was an "Access P-MC 35~70mm Macro Zoom" from Access Optics. I had never heard of this brand before, what little info that I found on the internet suggested that Vivitar may have used this brand for the Canadian market.

I think I have that same lens in Canon FD mount (it came attached to a beat-up but dirt-cheap AE-1 Program). Mine is labelled "Access P-MC Zoom".


The research I did at the time suggested it was a re-branded Soligor lens, or perhaps more likely a lens of uncertain origin that was re-branded as either Soligor or Access and was aparently intended to compete with a Vivitar-branded lens of similar spec. Understand, though, that just because I read that on the internet doesn't mean it's true!

It's not a bad lens, for the price I paid for it (it was thrown in for free by the guy who sold me the camera). A bit large and unwieldy, though no doubt quite good for it's time.

...Mike

 

[yossarian123]

+1 on the 35-70 2.8. It's one of the better values you can get.

The 25-50 was just OK for me. I ended up selling it, I couldn't get used to the f/4 max and I kept wanting to use it indoors. It was a very capable lens though, with a unique rendering.

Another decent little zoom is the 28-50 f/3.5 AIS. It's a surprisingly good little zoom, very compact, and pretty sharp even wide open.

 

[pvdhaar]

Here's another vote for the Nikon 35-70/2.8. Built like a brick. It's wicked sharp. In fact it's sharper wide open than my 50/1.8 stopped down anywhere between 1.8-5.6. And because of the gearing ratio, it focusses fast, very fast. Added bonus is the 'macro' mode, that you can use in a pinch. What's not to like? Push-pull zooming is a bit cramped between 35-50, and there's susceptibility to flare/ghosting without a lens hood.

 

[btgc]

Tokina 25-50/4 - can't vouch if it's exceptional but for sure over my photographer's capabilities. My only complaint is split prism fosusing isn't as good with it as with 1.4 prime 🙂

My pictures taken with this lens.

 

[Cron]

Leica R 21-35, but it is expensive;
Leica R 4/35-70, nowadays reasonably priced;
Contax G 35-70, small and excellent performance

 

[Doug]

I have a 20-35mm f/4 Pentax FA that is very compact and a good performer. Handy wide-to-normal focal length range for the 1.52x crop factor of the K100D...

 

[Matus]

Guys you are just great - keep it coming 🙂

I was completely unaware of the Nikkor 28-50 and ignored the 24-85. I will check them out.