May the fungus be with you: Asanuma Auto-Zoom 1:4.5 80mm-250mm

 Cost: $24.99 (market price unknown)

   

I was so looking forward to this lens, an early type of a 2-ring zoom lens. Nice heavy-duty metal design with a build-in metal hood and tripod mounting ring. And although not really a brand lens, it was sold by a company that use to make it's own camera's, so the lens might actually be good.

Sadly enough, I fond some fungus on the front element, on the inside. And it did impact the image quality, making some rather dull pictures. But there were indeed some pictures that showed the potential quality of this lens with nice colors, nice soft background bokeh, and not to much color aberration for a lens this age. 

Operation is smooth, with a soft damp feeling  on the zoom and focus rings. The aperture ring sounds and feels a little flimsy, but overall a good looking lens, 

But it's very heavy for a lens of this range. Nice for a short try-out, but I would not be walking with it for hours. In fact, I don't think this one is a real keeper for me.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 80-250mm
Maximum Aperture: 4.5
Minimum Aperture: 22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: OM
Focusing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 2m
Filter Size: 67mm
Weight: 1204g
Length: 200-210mm
Serial Number: 111592
Made in: Japan

More information on Asanuma

Samples:

1/250 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250 sec - ISO3200 - Handheld

1/250 sec - ISO1000 - Handheld

1/250 sec - ISO100 - Handheld

1/250 sec - ISO400 - Handheld