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which zoom

S

spluff

Guys,

Now that I have the magnificent RX in my hands (and at the price it is in wonderful condition and a bargain), I'm looking for a zoom lens. I have a range of primes between 28mm and 200mm, but I need a zoom for those times when I only want one lens on me.

I'm going to a jazz concert in the next few weeks and I'm seated about 30m from the stage and I'm looking for a zoom to allow reasonably tight shots of the performers. I'll have a monopod on me and it doesn't have to be a CZ zoom, so does anybody have any recommendations?

Once again, thanks in advance, Saras
 
Hi Saras,
I would think that you are going to need at least a 200mm and possibly a 300 to get in close. Some of the new zooms are up to 300mm but they are slow and I don't think there is one in C/Y mount. Otherwise I would think it will have to be the 80-200 (70-210?) f4 and fastish film. How about the Yashica one?
Best wishes,
John
 
Hi Saras,

How about the Tamron SP 80-210 f2.8 (model number 30A) or the Tokina equivalent. Both are good performers although heavy.
Congratulations on the RX. I too have one and am mightily pleased. I have also just got an AX, which is physically much bigger and it is nowhere near as quiet and smooth as the RX, but still very nice indeed. I will also agree with you about where you got your RX from. They are very good indeed.

Paul
 
I've tried to source a manual C/Y lens from all sorts of places. Tamron still have them listed on their web site - but the dealers have said that they are not shipping them anymore.

I did want a Tamron, but having phoned around a few dealers, I've finally managed to track down a Sigma 70 - 210mm f4/5.6 for £40. At that price it is worth a go - I've used Sigma before and the results have been quite good.

Also, John, you mentioned fast film. I was think of B+W at 3200. However, I have read somewhere that the Ilford 3200 is not as good as the Kodak 3200. Does anybody have an opinion on that?

Thanks to everyone again, Rgds, Saras
 
Saras,
I have used the Tamron SP 60-300mm. At f:5.6, It just had a little less contrast than the Tele-Tessar 300mm. (I did shoot a side-to-side comparison). It is slow (3.8-5.6), but I wanted the extra 100mm over the more standard 80-200 zooms.
Good luck.

Juan
 
Saras,
I have used the Tamron SP 60-300mm. At f:5.6, It just had a little less contrast than the Tele-Tessar 300mm. (I did shoot a side-to-side comparison). It is slow (3.8-5.6), but I wanted the extra 100mm over the more standard 80-200 zooms.
Good luck.

Juan
 
Saras,
I had the Tamron 60-300 at one time too. I thought it was OK but I did find it big and heavy. One of my friends in fact laughed when she saw me pointing it at her as it was so big on the end of my camera. It was certainly a handy range though.
At the moment I have gone off zooms but I have the Yashica 80-200 and I didn't pay very much for it, although I noticed too late to do anything about it apart from have it cleaned, that there was dust and gunge inside.
It seems OK although I have never used the Carl Zeiss equivalent so cannot compare.
I did try the Kodak 3200 a few years ago and I thought it was great. I rated it at 6400 and even 12800 and still got interesting pictures. But I used it in daylight with reasonable light. I liked the grain effect. I don't know if it would be so good in low light as I have found that very fast films still need a lot of light to be successful even though it is in poor light that you would normally use them. I haven't tried the Ilford equivalent. Would you have time to experiment before the concert?
Best wishes,
John
 
As an alternative to the C/Y mount I realised I could use an M42 lens with an adaptor. On ebay there is a Carl Zeiss JENA lens for sale.

Does anybody know what the "JENA" means? Is this the same quality as a "normal" Carl Zeiss Lens?

And John, I've just tried Ilford 3200 but found it a little intolerant to under-exposure - the grain is really noticeable if you under-expose. From my use of this film I actually learnt a lot about metering and knowing which part of the image to take reading from. I'll try the Kodak next and see how it goes!!

Cheers, Saras
 
Hi there

Jena is the place where Carl Zeiss used to manufacture the lenses. It should have the same quality as the "normal" Carl Zeiss lenses. Perhaps they don't have coatings on the lenses or something.

As cited on the german Carl Zeiss Site:

"Even in its early years, the workshop for precision mechanics and optics opened by Carl Zeiss in Jena in 1846 experienced the beginnings of a boom which was to last for a long time to come. A global player in the field of optics gradually emerged on the basis of Ernst Abbe's outstanding scientific achievements. This success story continued for a full century.

The enforced partition of Germany in the wake of World War II led to the formation of two Zeiss enterprises, one in West and one in East Germany.

With the turnaround in the political situation in East Germany in 1989/90, the two competitors joined in 1990 to form a single company again. Once reunited, Carl Zeiss became stronger than ever before in its eventful history. Today, the company looks to the future with optimism and expectation."

Greets M;los
 
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