What do you make of this?

LostLensCap · Mar 9, 2015

Ka Xinda 35mm F1 7 1 8 Manual Fixed Focus Lens for Fuji FX Mount eBay

This is one of several advertised on eBay available in most Mirrorless mounts.

Gary A. · Mar 9, 2015

I dunno ... I believe you get what you pay for. $89.99 isn't a lot for a quality lens.

LostLensCap · Mar 9, 2015

$89.99 isn't a lot to pay for even a used lens. I was wondering if anyone had tried one. What is interesting is that they are being produced in the mirrorless mount so they are much smaller on the camera than using say a 35mm Nikkor-S with adaptor.

Derrel · Mar 9, 2015

My first-EVER wide-angle was an old Nikkor-S 35/2.8 that had been sooooooo badly cleaned soooo many times that it had almost no coating left on it! Wow...what a junker it was! i thought I saw that you had purchased one last week?

Anyway...in China that $89 is probably the pay for two workers for most of a week...the lens is probably made using 1980's-style lens assembly methods and technology. It's probably at least okay, and I would guess that it would be the equal, or better, of the old Nikkor-S, with a much faster (nominal) f/1.7 aperture. The real secret to the lowball pricing is the country of manufacture. I have not seen this "brand" until this post, but then I am not looking either. Have you done any searches? Is this "brand" making any kind of a name for itself?

Ron Evers · Mar 10, 2015

Not sure what is meant by "fixed focus" as it obviously is a manual focus lens. It looks to be solidly built like the lenses of the sixties. It would be interesting to see any reviews of this lens.

W.Y.Photo · Mar 10, 2015

A fixed focus lens is usually a lens that has a switch and lets you decide between infinity and the minimum focus distance.. That lens isn't fixed focus.. but it looks nice.

vintagesnaps · Mar 10, 2015

It doesn't make sense - the listing says focus free but the description says there's a focus ring.

If it's focus free I think that means it's free of the ability (or need?) to focus the camera. (You don't need to focus and you can't focus...) I have cameras with lenses that are focus free but they're midcentury bakelite and plastic film cameras; everything is more or less in focus but nothing is sharply in focus.

I think the information may be inaccurate; in the sample photo of the flowers there seems to be a somewhat shallow depth of field so I suppose the camera does actually focus. But I googled it quick and didn't find much so I suppose it's made in some obscure place in China; my best guess is the quality would be questionable.

W.Y.Photo · Mar 10, 2015

I have a fixed-focus fixed-aperture lens for my Olympus Pen. the only exposure control I have is ISO and Shutter speed and I only get two points of focus but its way nicer than a normal body cap!!

Amazon.com Olympus 15mm f8.0 Body Cap Lens Black Camera Lenses Camera Photo

LostLensCap · Mar 10, 2015

Derrel said:
My first-EVER wide-angle was an old Nikkor-S 35/2.8 that had been sooooooo badly cleaned soooo many times that it had almost no coating left on it! Wow...what a junker it was! i thought I saw that you had purchased one last week?

Anyway...in China that $89 is probably the pay for two workers for most of a week...the lens is probably made using 1980's-style lens assembly methods and technology. It's probably at least okay, and I would guess that it would be the equal, or better, of the old Nikkor-S, with a much faster (nominal) f/1.7 aperture. The real secret to the lowball pricing is the country of manufacture. I have not seen this "brand" until this post, but then I am not looking either. Have you done any searches? Is this "brand" making any kind of a name for itself?[/QUOT

Yes, I bought a clean Nikkor-S 35mm f/2.8 last week. Not the sharpest lens I own but it can double as a hammer if need be.....lol. Looking at the pictures of the thing it appears to be a fixed focal length prime. I think the description given has lost a lot in translation. What I like about it is that they are offering manual focus lenses for mirrorless cameras in their native mount. I'm tempted and may pull the trigger yet.

Ron Evers · Mar 10, 2015

LostLensCap said:
Yes, I bought a clean Nikkor-S 35mm f/2.8 last week. Not the sharpest lens I own but it can double as a hammer if need be.....lol. Looking at the pictures of the thing it appears to be a fixed focal length prime. I think the description given has lost a lot in translation. What I like about it is that they are offering manual focus lenses for mirrorless cameras in their native mount. I'm tempted and may pull the trigger yet.

If you do, please report back with an appraisal.

Derrel · Mar 10, 2015

Ron Evers said:
LostLensCap said:

Yes, I bought a clean Nikkor-S 35mm f/2.8 last week. Not the sharpest lens I own but it can double as a hammer if need be.....lol. Looking at the pictures of the thing it appears to be a fixed focal length prime. I think the description given has lost a lot in translation. What I like about it is that they are offering manual focus lenses for mirrorless cameras in their native mount. I'm tempted and may pull the trigger yet.

Click to expand...

If you do, please report back with an appraisal.

Yes, I will second that--please report back to us if you end up buying this lens. It really looks like it's a manual focusing lens, and that the web copy is just a bad translation. I'm wondering about the depth of field scale...if that has been calibrated for the sensor size. One could cross-check using an online DOF calculator and a few of the markings on the lens.