Godfrey DiGiorgi wrote:
On Mar 8, 2006, at 8:30 AM, Adam Maas wrote:
I was quite impressed with the DA lenses for MF feel, but the few FA
lenses I tried greatly disappointed me. Even with AF lenses on the D,
I used MF a lot, and as I still shoot a lot of film B&W, I'd
generally take the older lenses over newer ones where the focal
lengths are useful for me on both.
I also use manual focus quite a lot, and the only one of my F/FA lenses
that has a crappy feel to me is the FA135/2.8 IF. The focusing ring on
that one is seemingly loose and wobbly, hard to control precisely when
near infinity (I've tried four examples and they all feel the same). It
focuses very well on AF mode, however.
The FA20-35/4, FA35/2 and FA50/1.4, in particular, have excellent
manual focus feel to my fingers: light, just enough resistance,
precise. It's lighter than the A version lenses, but I prefer the light
feel for its speed.
Godfrey
Can't say I've tried the ones you have, but I've tried the 135, the
28/2.8 and a couple of the mid-range zooms and disliked them (especially
the 135). Guess you have to chalk it up to severe variability between
models.
-Adam
