April 19, 20169 yr Maxxum 28-85/3.5-4.5 Despite it's shiny plastic shell, this thing is BUILT. You hafta have it in hand to sense that, but OTOH I've been using it since 1986 ... altho it sat around doing nothing for several years :-( Nonetheless it hasn't aged at all despite 20+ years of regular use. I also have the slightly newer 28-105/3.5-4.5, and altho it offers 20mm extra reach, everything else about it is second fiddle compared to the 28-85. The 28-85 loses lens speed very gradually as the FL increases. The speed of 28-105 drops rather precipitously. So while both are f/3.5 at 28mm the 28-85 is faster at all other FLs. If you're somewhat critical about even illumination, then the 28-85 is faster even at 28mm ! BTW the 28-85 also has a nifty "macro" range, so here's the view at maximum close range. That's a 9v battery there for a sense of scale. If that's not familiar to you, it's the same length as nex/alpha camera battery but slightly narrower. and here's the hardware: BTW it has a 55mm filter thread, but I stepped it up to 62mm [and a filter is in place].
Create an account or sign in to comment