Say hello to my little friend (35-80mm Power Zoom)

Just took a few videos--added to the original post as well:

Two videos:
1. showing the internal focus: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​861849730/
2. video using lens on 7D, just to show how noisy it is: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​861318491/
Note: you cannot activate the zoom buttons while in recording mode OR live view mode!!

haha what a hunk of junk...I love it!

I have a Sigma 28-70 I picked up dirt cheap and it's a crappy little lens, but surprisingly good quality pics come out of it...as long as you keep it under 60mm haha. I love cheapo fun lenses

j-dogg wrote in post #12637428
I've secretly been wanting one of these. There's one on Craigslist here with a red ring on it for 120. too much, but I want it, as a novelty in my bag.

are you in florida?...i think there's a member here that put a red ring on it...and if i remember right he was posting it on craigslist in florida...

I believe this is the only power zoom lens Canon ever made, right? I think it is called the EF 35-80mm 4.5-5.6 PZ, so it's the only "PZ" lens in existence.

Now... Make a video of this thing being destroyed with explosives.

Mike Deep wrote in post #12642691
Now... Make a video of this thing being destroyed with explosives.

+1...........

So... after checking the shots I got with this monstrosity, I was fairly shocked by what I was seeing--this lens was much sharper than I imagined--even if they were all at f/5.6. Color rendition isn't bad, contrast could be better, and some mild CAs, but still sharp enough to be usable. No vignetting present on FF @5.6--extreme borders are sharp. Rather nervous blur, but I wasn't expecting much. Anyhow, I think I can honestly say it beats out my old 18-55 non-IS kit lens. Well, take a look for yourself.

All shots taken with a 5D, @f/5.6--originals, and 100% crops compared. No PP otherwise:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​862467084/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​862472536/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​862472120/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​862472654/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​862469966/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/51106637@N05/5​861920569/

Mike Deep wrote in post #12642691
Now... Make a video of this thing being destroyed with explosives.

pkim1230 wrote in post #12642697
+1...........

Even in jest, you people make me sad sometimes.

don't destroy it then sadness problem solved.
it looks like it can take sharp pics, so i guess more the reason to keep.
and i was not joking
4th of july is coming up

I dare you to pull this out during a paid shoot...

tkbslc wrote in post #12642842
I dare you to pull this out during a paid shoot...

LMAO!! I double dare you !!

MOkoFOko wrote in post #12642779
Even in jest, you people make me sad sometimes.

The power zoom was a terrible idea. I'm talking purely about the idea of a powered zoom, not the quality of the optics in this particular lens or anything else. From a control standpoint, having a two button single-speed motorized zoom is imprecise and terrible. Canon dabbles in these kinds of ideas to see if they'll take, and in that sense the PZ should spook the hell out of anyone that takes photography seriously. Just like those "A" lenses without focus rings from back in the AFD era.

If it had caught on, we might have seen it used in other lenses. Maybe even good lenses. It doesn't help, of course, that the PZ holds the title of ugliest lens ever. If I could gather them all up and dump them into an active volcano, I would. A single specimen would be preserved at Canon, encased in glass and bearing a warning: "Don't do this crap."

tkbslc wrote in post #12642842
I dare you to pull this out during a paid shoot...

April 1st is a long ways off...

Mike Deep wrote in post #12642945
The power zoom was a terrible idea. I'm talking purely about the idea of a powered zoom, not the quality of the optics in this particular lens or anything else. From a control standpoint, having a two button single-speed motorized zoom is imprecise and terrible. Canon dabbles in these kinds of ideas to see if they'll take, and in that sense the PZ should spook the hell out of anyone that takes photography seriously. Just like those "A" lenses without focus rings from back in the AFD era.

If it had caught on, we might have seen it used in other lenses. Maybe even good lenses. It doesn't help, of course, that the PZ holds the title of ugliest lens ever. If I could gather them all up and dump them into an active volcano, I would. A single specimen would be preserved at Canon, encased in glass and bearing a warning: "Don't do this crap."

Sometimes, it's so bad it's good:
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=KZErvASwdlU

The concept really was bad, and it's quite possibly the craziest looking lens Canon ever made in an EF-mount (debatable)... Manual focus isn't even possible, which I believe is unique throughout the EF-lineup? Still, it's so amusing and outlandish that you've just got to have it. Even if it wasn't a decent performer, I'd still say it has its charm. It does actually take some decent shots, even for its class. AF was spot on for me in every single shot I took at f/4--so it could have been a lot worse. Sounds like a monster when zooming or focusing, but that's part of its charm.

The PZ is actually not unique in having no manual focus. The aforementioned "A" lenses--the 35-70mm f3.5-4.5A and the 100-200mm f4.5A--had no manual focus controls whatsoever. You couldn't even rotate the end of the barrel, because there was no switch to unlink the focus motor.

Mike Deep wrote in post #12642945
The power zoom was a terrible idea. I'm talking purely about the idea of a powered zoom, not the quality of the optics in this particular lens or anything else. From a control standpoint, having a two button single-speed motorized zoom is imprecise and terrible. Canon dabbles in these kinds of ideas to see if they'll take, and in that sense the PZ should spook the hell out of anyone that takes photography seriously. Just like those "A" lenses without focus rings from back in the AFD era.

If it had caught on, we might have seen it used in other lenses. Maybe even good lenses. It doesn't help, of course, that the PZ holds the title of ugliest lens ever. If I could gather them all up and dump them into an active volcano, I would. A single specimen would be preserved at Canon, encased in glass and bearing a warning: "Don't do this crap."

I'm not so sure that the power zoom was a terrible idea. I mean isn't that what point and shoot cameras are based on nowadays? 1 button to zoom in and 1 button zoom out. Not that that's a great thing either, but I think their experimenting actually paid off in that aspect.