Worst lens u have ever used

BeatX · Mar 15, 2022

Hi

Im just curious... what is the worst lens You have ever experienced? (in any system, and why?)
Mine is without a doubt Tamron 17-50/2.8 introduced from early ''00
Everything about this lens is just soooo BAD (worst bokeh ever seen in my life)
This lens was so bad that after almost 20 years I just cannot even watch towards Tamron new releases to see whats up

I dont even where to start of off with my criticism.

I think it will be better to just stop here, and ask You if anyone experience something similar?

Blood N Guts Murphy · Mar 15, 2022

Dorr 12mm f7.4. Plastic glass, mega purple fringing. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy so I put it in the trash instead of selling it.

The Olympus 15mm f8 is a bad joke of a lens too. Anyone who uses it is clinically insane.

Worst Fuji lens is obviously the 24mm f8 XM-FL, but it has it's uses so I may keep it. The so called worst Fuji (18 f2) is a lens many of us really like, I agree with: "only pixel peeping non-photographers hate that lens".

Nate Kong · Mar 15, 2022

One of the T mount 500mm F8 MF lens. I don't remember the brand. Got it from Goodwill for $15 and I just wanted try it for fun. It's really pain in the butt to focus and keep the lens steady. Impossible to shoot in anywhere but bright outdoor.

Raymond L · Mar 15, 2022

Meyer Optik - Domiplan (50mm 2.8) "bubble bokeh"

The bokeh really annoyed me, it's so difficult getting a "sharp" image.. can't really tell if it's out of focus or in focus.. but yes, I sold it off without losing any money (luckily). I have one of these lenses in good condition for "collection".

I think.. I just needed to be more patient and treat the lens as "lomography kit"

Pic #1

Pic #2

Pic #3

Pic #4

bastibe · Mar 15, 2022

A used Nikon 18-200 that has probably been dropped at some point. Soft at all focal lengths, and borderline unusable at the long end. But I really can't tell whether it was soft because it was a compromise design, or because it was defective.

TWChua · Mar 15, 2022

Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 DC (First Gen) - images taken with it has yellow color cast. The paint on the lens body peeled off easily.

sir_c · Mar 16, 2022

Had some cheap vintage M42 Cosinon 50mm where the rubber came off. The glass was even worse, it was beyond calling it 'character'.

LDJS Photography · Mar 16, 2022

Canon E-FS 18-55 iii

Atsel · Mar 16, 2022

BeatX said:
Hi

Im just curious... what is the worst lens You have ever experienced? (in any system, and why?)
Mine is without a doubt Tamron 17-50/2.8 introduced from early ''00
Everything about this lens is just soooo BAD (worst bokeh ever seen in my life)
This lens was so bad that after almost 20 years I just cannot even watch towards Tamron new releases to see whats up
I dont even where to start of off with my criticism.

I think it will be better to just stop here, and ask You if anyone experience something similar?

A week ago I bought this Tamron used with Canon DSLR and was amazed by its sharpness

Wide open

(Almost) wide open

Stopped down at wide end

Stopped down at tele end

It is smaller than Fujinon 16-55/2.8

Wolf's Head · Mar 16, 2022

BeatX said:
Mine is without a doubt Tamron 17-50/2.8 introduced from early ''00

I has this lens too - and mine was dreadful (which has left me with the same feeling about Tamron as you have).

Then there was the 50mm f/3.5 Industar which came on the Zenith 3M , bought in 1968…

--

Best wishes,
Alan J
Monochrome photography blog :: https://penycae.wordpress.com
Image galleries :: http://www.pbase.com/wolfs_head

Atsel · Mar 16, 2022

Wolf's Head said:
BeatX said:

Mine is without a doubt Tamron 17-50/2.8 introduced from early ''00

Click to expand...

I has this lens too - and mine was dreadful (which has left me with the same feeling about Tamron as you have).

Then there was the 50mm f/3.5 Industar which came on the Zenith 3M , bought in 1968…

My Samsung DSLR made in 2008 has AF calibration built-in and even for Pentax small aperture zoom (18-55/3.5-5.6) full range of adjustment (-10) is needed. I wonder how Canon and Nikon users with third-party lenses did...

Erik Baumgartner · Mar 16, 2022

Sony 10-18mm f/4. It was never sharp in the corners, even stopped down, and had the worst purple fringing I’ve ever seen from any modern lens at any price (and it wasn’t cheap). Very disappointed, hated it.

P@ · Mar 16, 2022

Panasonic LUMIX G X VARIO PZ 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH./ POWER O.I.S

Power zoom, not for me. :-(

mkmorgan · Mar 16, 2022

BeatX said:
Hi

Im just curious... what is the worst lens You have ever experienced? (in any system, and why?)

Kamlan 50mm F/1.1 Mk I. However, that's relative. I got a better-than-average copy and it does great for portraits and still life. It's not too bad on distortion and it doesn't have the common issues with fringing or vignetting. However, the coma is bad enough make this lens less than desirable for low-light shots (night sky shots don't show up as fields of stars but fields of cones). Because of this it's a lens that I use very infrequently.

BeatX · Mar 16, 2022

Atsel said:
BeatX said:

Hi

Im just curious... what is the worst lens You have ever experienced? (in any system, and why?)
Mine is without a doubt Tamron 17-50/2.8 introduced from early ''00
Everything about this lens is just soooo BAD (worst bokeh ever seen in my life)
This lens was so bad that after almost 20 years I just cannot even watch towards Tamron new releases to see whats up
I dont even where to start of off with my criticism.

I think it will be better to just stop here, and ask You if anyone experience something similar?

Click to expand...

A week ago I bought this Tamron used with Canon DSLR and was amazed by its sharpness

Wide open

(Almost) wide open

Stopped down at wide end

Stopped down at tele end

It is smaller than Fujinon 16-55/2.8

Well.. I do bought Tamron 17-50/2.8 becasue I was rally hoping for at least good resolution across all frame.
After reading review in lenstip.com:

Tamron SP AF 17-50 mm f/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical (IF) review - Introduction - LensTip.com

Best digital cameras and lens reviews. If you are looking for the information about digital cameras and lenses you are in a right place. We have many professional tests of digital photography equipment.

www.lenstip.com

I decided to pick up this lens.
Problem is, that lab test (and lab sample photos) dont show exactly how lens render final image.
Back in those days, there wasnt portals like flicker.com or onfotolife.com, where You could search for samples photos of lens You was looking to buy.
My experience with Tamron 17-50/2.8 was that, in almost one year of using this lens I could NEVER get even single shot in focus when using AF point other than center (I had Canon EOS 30D)
Here is full size example:

Sorry for poor overall image quality, but as You can see in exif - picture above was taken in 2008, it was my begginings in photography, so I had almost no experience how to compose or postprocess pictures

But You can see clearly what I mean about AF fail and ugly! bokeh.
And best "joke" about this lens is AF motor sound :-D

--

Maciej Kozłowski

Explore Maciej Kozłowski’s 136 photos on Flickr!

flickr.com

Dennis · Mar 16, 2022

My first zoom lens was a Sigma 28-70/2.8-4 from probably around 1990. I bought a Minolta Maxxum 7xi ($400+ if I recall) from a mail order outlet in NYC and the Sigma zoom was only around $70 more! I don't recall the photos being particularly bad (though I was just getting 4x6 mail order prints back then) ... but I remember using a filter once and when I removed it, the front lens element came off with it!

Probably the worst, optically, was the Konica Minolta 18-70 kit zoom they created for early APS-C bodies. A weird lens, it had loads of contrast and small prints and web images looked great, but it just didn't record much detail (and that was noticeable on a 6MP sensor).

- Dennis
--
Gallery at http://kingofthebeasts.smugmug.com

Atsel · Mar 16, 2022

Worst lenses I've ever used are just poor copies of otherwise excellent designs.

For example, it was Fujinon 23/1.4 (1st gen) from free Fujifilm rental - soft at one side;

several Fujinon 18-55/2.8-4 soft at different focal lengths and various parts of final images.

KariP · Mar 16, 2022

I had a Canon EFs 17-85 and it really had a special "wavy" distortion system = pincushion + barrel distortion at he same time made walls with windows look quite quite strange - at the same time really visible chromatic aberration.

Shooting RAW and using Canon DPP software created surprisingly much better looking images. Perhaps it was ahead of its time - nowadays many lenses need a lot of corrections in the camera or in PP

Threaded · Mar 16, 2022

LDJS Photography said:
Canon E-FS 18-55 iii

That would be one of mine too. Not sure if it was the mkiii or not, but the plastic 18-55 lump that came with my first DLSR, a 500D, was pitiful. Slow, never remotely sharp, and the build quality was awful. I remember it had a silver metallic looking ring around it that turned out to be a thin string of silver tape, which subsequently came undone and fell off

The difference between that and Fuji’s 18-55 kit lens, which I picked up a few years later, cannot be overstated.

Joachim Gerstl · Mar 16, 2022

Hi,

Not used, only tried out in my camera store. The fastest lens for Fuji X:

https://www.littlebigtravelingcamera.com/?p=6231

f0,85/40mm, 1,1kg.

Worst lens u have ever used

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