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As some of you know, I recently acquired this piece of equipment.
First impressions: The focus motor is loud. However, also to my delight, autofocus in the 1:4-infinite range is actually surprisingly quick (Paired with the A700, set to limit focus). The full and limit focus function is useful in preventing hunting trips, it traps the focus ring either above 1:4, or below it. Using autofocus below the 1:4 range is possible with a huge amount of ambient light and decent contrast.
The 3600HS(D) bounce flash works surprisingly well with this lens in macro mode (even with bounce angles). The flash was very usable even at f11.
The focus ring doesn't glide as smoothly as the beercan, but at least it is a non-rotating focus. The focus gears made some subtly uncomfortable noises when changing from the 1:2-1:1 focus area. Dont know if this is just mine that sounds like this, maybe I'm the lucky one? Or, maybe I'm being nitpicky.
The bokeh looks great! Certainly as soft as the beercan (maybe even softer!), but is it as beautifully creamy? I'll test more and find out.
It is now the sharpest lens I have! As expected from a telephoto prime, the detail and distortion is positively flawless.
Have run into some flagrant flare, but it seems to occur fairly infrequently. The deep focus element from the front of the lens also makes for a very tight lens hood in the 1:4-infinite range, helping to really get rid of flare in the only situations they're likely to occur.
The focus ring is very functionally marked, and the focus readout is well designed and helpful. In Macro use, these things are seriously vital.
Build quality - think beercan, slightly lighter (not much), and a focus ring with much stronger resistance.
Definitely met my expectations and then some. My highest expectation from this lens going in, was that it would produce seriously sharp fine detail - and on this note it delivers plus! If I take a picture of someones eye - in most lighting situations, I can see even the fine detail of a reflection in the pupil, and strands of hair can be counted on heads in portrait focus range. Forget that its not a "digitally optimized" lens, this lens has spectacularly sharp detail and great CA control.
Both of these shots have minimal tonal adjustments done in photoshop, neither have been sharpened!
The eye: 1/80th", f6.3, ISO 400 - this was actually at the 1:4 focus range!
Echo, my husky - 1/500th" f2.8, ISO 250
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