MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro review

For the opportunity to review lens MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro Many thanks to Vadim Shkurat, who sent me a lens from another area for review.

MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro review

MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro review

My MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro lens has Minolta MD bayonet mount... Please note that 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro lenses from Sakar, Marexar, Sunagor, HPS, Sun, Soligor are practically the same lens. My MC Super Danubia lens has nothing special to boast about. The 'Super' lettering is just 'enticement'. The Auto inscription does not speak about automatic focusing, but only about automatic aperture control. 'Macro' is not 'real' either, but with a maximum magnification of only 1: 3.

Indicator View MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm

Indicator View MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm

Nevertheless, the manufacturing quality of the Danubia 35-200 is excellent. The lens is 'Made in Japan', nothing loose on the lens. The main control ring of the lenses is rubberized. The lens is heavy, I got sharp shots at 1 / 50th of a second and 200mm.

Example photo on the lens

Example photo on the lens

Focusing on the lens is smooth. When focusing, the front lens rotates and the trunk of the lens lengthens slightly. The focus ring rotates only 90 degrees. In normal mode, the minimum focusing distance is already 2.5 meters - this is a lot and not always convenient when working with a lens.

Bayonet, rear lens enlightenment and lens aperture view = MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm

Bayonet, rear lens enlightenment and lens aperture view = MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm

There is another additional lens zoom control ring. The ring has a snap button. If you remove the ring from the lock, you can control the magnification level from 1/10 to 1/3. This ring rotates 90 degrees, when it rotates, the lens lengthens its trunk, thus minimizing the minimum focusing distance.

Lens Enlightenment = MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm

Lens Enlightenment = MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm

Important: The Danubia 35-200 is an old-style lens with a single control ring for focusing and zooming. To zoom - you need to move the main control ring away from you or towards you. This type of lens is often called pistonbecause the zoom ring works like a piston. 35mm focal lengths are available at minimum piston position, 200 at maximum. I really like to control both zoom and focus using one ring - it's very convenient, it's even a pity that lenses with such a design are not made now.

Example photo on the lens

Example photo on the lens

Aperture has everything 6 petals... The closed diaphragm gives the classic 'nuts' bokeh. The maximum value of 3.8-5.3 is not very different from the more common 3.5-5.6. The aperture closes down to f / 22. The aperture control ring has a green aperture release button at F / 22. The front filter diameter is 67mm.

MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm lens on a modern camera

MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm lens on a modern camera

Sample photos on Danubia 35-200

Everything is filmed on Canon 350D and the MD-EOS adapter lost the ability to focus on infinity. At 200mm focal length, you can focus no further than 2 meters. Such a lens is well suited for mirrorless cameras; on Canon, Nikon it is almost useless. The lens showed normal sharpness in the center and was not as bad as I expected, but there is nothing special about it either. Photos without processing. In the band, 3.5-5.6 is mistakenly printed instead of 3.8-5.3.


Conclusions:

The MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro lens has a good design, 5.7x zoom and nice controls. Due to the MD bayonet mount, digital SLR cameras are difficult to use.

Help to the project. Arkady Shapoval.

Add a comment: Gene jb

 

 

Comments: 17, on the topic: MC Super Danubia Auto Zoom 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.3 Macro review

  • Alexander

    Hello, I'm interested in how far these pictures were taken, good sharpness, I am the owner of tamron18-270 + nikonD90 completely upset by the sharpness of this lens and I'm starting to think that it is faulty.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Everything was done from different distances, but no further than 2-3 meters.

  • Gene jb

    I’ve spied on Dima’s blog. It is necessary to make the FAQ section and make in it links to the most asked questions and make a form for questions and answers to them. This has long been done.

  • Svirida Sergiy

    Privit Arkadiy. Bachu has acquired the crossroads of Minolta-Kenon. I have a lot of fun and love 24-85 more є Вівітар під Міолнту. So what’s the check? Wait a minute)

    • Arkady Shapoval

      The adapter is not mine, he already went back to Odessa.

  • anonym

    Arkady, hello! you wrote: “I really like to control both zoom and focus using one ring - it's very convenient, it's even a pity that lenses with such a design are not made now.” - why not, there is a so-called trombone from Canon EF 100-400mm f / 4.5-5.6L IS USM (decent lens, used in autumn 2012 in Yakutia) or is it not quite the same in terms of design ??

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Meant that they do very little, practically do not let out.

  • Novel

    Arkady, thanks for the article! I am only interested in images from old glasses in general like color or not only to me? Or is it some kind of mass psychedelic, if the old one, then film associations are triggered and the brain gives the command to perceive it this way ... I had an old manual Tamron (35-210 adaptall-2) - nothing good and special, but I liked the color bouquet, it was not contrasting, not bright, faded, soapy, fringing, chromatic, ... but it seems alive. What do you think about these glorious “film shades”? Or are we all just fooling ourselves?
    Sorry for the long comment.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Everyone has their own tastes. Older lenses often produce a bottle-yellow green with low contrast, which can seem like a “solid film effect”.

      • Novel

        The fact is that we see the world differently than fashion and commercial photo processing dictates. All these twisting of sliders do not exist in real life. This is probably a psychological perception of the natural and unnatural, and the place of these concepts in life. You called it “taste”. Apparently, the natural was considered more acceptable than it is now.
        Thanks for the articles.

        • Vadim

          Very interesting thought. Thank you

  • Yurinik

    SAKAR 35-200mm 1: 3.8-5.2 Macro for Nikon - this is my name for this lens. Although a complete 100% copy of yours, Arkady.
    The lens is definitely a bit dark, the blur is soft, but I like the pictures with it. I like the quality of the device, its monumentality “for centuries”. Photos taken by my copy (if anyone is interested) can be viewed here http://baraholka.onliner.by/viewtopic.php?t=7224171... Now I'm selling it - I want a faster autofocus 55-200 for my D5100 for sports reportage shooting.

  • Igor

    …… the ability to focus to infinity is lost.
    Topman MC AUTO ZOOM MACRO 35-200mm f / 3.5-4.8 Nikon F.?
    On the Nikon D7000 will also suffer from the lack of infinity?

  • Olga

    Good day. I accidentally got a Sakar f-4 28-200 lens. I can't find any description or review of the lens anywhere. What kind of beast is this and is it worth leaving. So far he has not pleased me with the picture, but I plan to conduct a more detailed test drive

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