coproc (10/28/82)
Can anyone recommend a good zoom in the 35-100 mm range? I am considering the TOKINA/3.5 35-105 close focus and the ROKINA/3.5 35-105 macro. I can get either of these for about $150 from a mail order house and was wondering if one was better than the other. John Wallace - ihuxb!coproc - (312) 979-7696
wm (10/29/82)
This may sound like manufacturer hype, but years ago I bought an Osawa 28-80mm lens. It had great specs, and does take good pictures. Last month, however, I put it on the shelf and got a Nikkor 43-86. The reason? Brightness. I don't know why nobody ever talks about it, but the amazing truth is that the maximum f/ (f stop) rating of a lens has little to do with how much light gets through it. For you scientific types, the f/ rating is determined by the ratio of the focal length of the lens to the physical diameter of the aperature. It does not take into account the amount of light lost in the glass of the lens. I compared the Nikkor 43-86 f/3.5 to some other zooms rated at f/2.8 and the Nikkor was visibly brighter! And this is on top of the fact that most people consider the f/2.8 wide to tele zooms too fuzzy to use for serious work. The wide to tele's rated at f/3.5 are even dimmer, and I found that I ended up with too many pictures blurred either because I did not have enough light to focus, or because my automatic camera compensated for the lack of light and slowed the shutter past the limits of hand held good taste. I should emphasize that this should not be taken as an attack on Osawa lenses, nor as an ad for Nikon. I should just emphasize that there are unknown pitfalls in those amazing cheap wide to tele zooms. If you are set on getting one, I suggest you go to a camera store and compare brightnesses of the lenses.