----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Franklin Stregevsky" Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 1:52 AM Subject: Re: Anyone knows of the EXAKTA VARIOPLAN 18-28 mm lens?
> "Rodelion" [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > What is it like... I came across and wonder what it is... > > All I know is from German Ebay ads. It's available new, in K mount; extends > to f/22; f/4 to f/4.5 at the wide end; is manual focus, of course; uses 72mm > filters; has a built-in hood; appears to be a heavy, well-built lens; > focuses as close as 0.5 meter (about 1.55 feet); is 82mm long. I think it > has 14 elements; the Graflex 18-28/4-4.5 may be the same lens. > > I can send you a photo and a PDF of the German ad. It seems to appear > regularly at a modest price. I know nothing about how good it is, nor > whether it's a 1-touch or 2-touch. Hi Paul (and Rodelion), I believe this lens is also sold as a Sirius and a Centon. It is a very bad lens, unsharp at any focal length and aperture, with massive distortion. The Centon version has one of the very lowest ratings ever seen on Photodo.com: 0.9!! Compare this with the Pentax FA 20-35mm f/4, which has an excellent overall rating of 3.4. Broadly speaking, a lens needs to get a Photodo rating of at least 2.5 to be worth considering. However, the lens rating reflects only sharpness; some Photodo tests include distortion figures but they don't affect the rating. Bokeh also plays no part. The Centon lens has a maximum distortion figure of 7.29% which is truly appalling! No matter how cheap, I would not insult any Pentax camera of mine with this dreadful lens. John
