Have read a few unkind posts about this camera. Not saying that any of the criticisms leveled against it are wrong.
But… psst… lean in. I actually like this camera.
But what do I know? I have purchased and keep a good number of so awful I heart them Russian knock off cameras…
…and a viewfinder like a hole punched through a potato with a pencil, Darth Vader helmet meets disco ball Konica AiBORG.
Weigh this appropriately when reading further. I like myself a goofy camera.
As I pointed out in my “This Old Camera” post the T80 catches a lot of flack with the 50mm f/1.8. But given the slower variable aperture of the 35-70mm lens, it is supposed to be even worse. But that just makes me more curious. I tried to buy one from KEH but they sent me a normal, old EF 35-70mm variant. Yawn. So I sent it back. Then one day soon after I was perusing the camera shop old SLR lens display and there it was. A T80 compatible AC 35-70mm for relative peanuts.
The other is a 75-200mm f/4.5 tele zoom that does not interest me currently. That may change admittedly.
Verifying focus is pretty straightforward with an SLR since it is a WYSIWYG affair, but I wanted to test the lens just the same. What did I find? It behaves much like the 50mm f/1.8. Not what anyone would call swift, but usable.
As stated in a prior post autofocus is a bit of a game. A game I have learned how to play. Look for contrast and vertical lines. If not available in the exact area of focus find a friendly focus patch area at roughly the same distance and turn the camera a bit to find a friendly vertical line. Sounds odd. Is odd. But I have managed to hit focus far more than I expect to on the regular. Plus with the f/3.5-4.5 35-70mm lens one not need be as worried when focusing as with the narrower depth of field 50mm f/1.8.
On to the photos.
Part of the roll was dedicated to a quick side by side with a fancier offering. Those exposures and all of the other ones that survived my carelessness by being a bit quick on the draw with the shutter button will be shared in this post.
Film of choice was Rollei RPX 400.
As usual developed at home with Cinestill df96 monobath.
I went in with low expectations but I did not need to. The images were far better than I expected. AF behaved itself and the resulting images had sufficient sharpness and contrast. My favorites from this roll below.
Had a good time killing a roll of film in about 40 minutes and had pictures to show for it. A good result. A fine lens.
-ELW
Eric L. Woods 