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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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testing my lenses - part 56 - Vivitar 70-300mm/4.2-5.8
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:46 pm
Post subject: testing my lenses - part 56 - Vivitar 70-300mm/4.2-5.8
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:46 pm
Post subject: testing my lenses - part 56 - Vivitar 70-300mm/4.2-5.8
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samples with Olympus E-520











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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:42 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:42 pm
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new samples with Olympus E-M5









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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:29 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:29 pm
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I didn't know about this lens. Your results are surprisingly good!


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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:33 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:33 pm
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Minolfan wrote:
I didn't know about this lens. Your results are surprisingly good!


yes, this one is really underrated lens. it gives real good results


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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:55 pm
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:55 pm
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That's another lens on my 'wanted' list ! Laughing Those are very impressive results. Who said zooms are bad ?


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:01 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:01 am
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and you can get this one real cheap. right now there are several auctions on ebay for this lens (couple of them from UK) with prices from 12 to 20$


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:21 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:21 am
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Ive never heard of this lens, but the results are self evident. Excellent that is....


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 7:35 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 7:35 am
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Wow this lens is really nice. I didn't really think that it would be that good. How you think it compares to the Vivitar 70-210 3.5?
With results like that no wonder it's a Series 1 lens. I really wish Vivitar would go back to making great lens like this. I really love some of them.


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:21 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:21 am
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Nikonshooter wrote:
Wow this lens is really nice. I didn't really think that it would be that good. How you think it compares to the Vivitar 70-210 3.5?
With results like that no wonder it's a Series 1 lens. I really wish Vivitar would go back to making great lens like this. I really love some of them.


this is not Series 1 lens, just the regular Vivitar lens.
compared to 70-210mm/3.5, sure 70-210 is better, but this one hold it's own pretty well. it's smaller & lighter than 70-210, has longer reach, gives good colors and is sharp enough. also it has excellent close up ability at 300mm, i was no more than 1,5-2 meters away from those mushrooms or that yellow flower


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:41 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 8:41 am
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WolverineX wrote:
Nikonshooter wrote:
Wow this lens is really nice. I didn't really think that it would be that good. How you think it compares to the Vivitar 70-210 3.5?
With results like that no wonder it's a Series 1 lens. I really wish Vivitar would go back to making great lens like this. I really love some of them.


this is not Series 1 lens, just the regular Vivitar lens.
compared to 70-210mm/3.5, sure 70-210 is better, but this one hold it's own pretty well. it's smaller & lighter than 70-210, has longer reach, gives good colors and is sharp enough. also it has excellent close up ability at 300mm, i was no more than 1,5-2 meters away from those mushrooms or that yellow flower


Your right it isn't a series 1 lens. I had it confused with the Vivitar Series 1 70-300 f/4.5-5.6. Well this still seems like a great lens to add to my collection.


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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:07 am
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 9:07 am
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Yes. It seems to be a very good lens.


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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 11:29 pm
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 11:29 pm
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Hello.

Really impressive photos.
I've purchased one of these Vivitar 70-300 zoom about 2 weeks ago and made only a few test shots with my Panasonic G1, but I didn't get any good results as you did.
I can't get pictures to stay properly in focus and sharpen.
Maybe I need to put the camera on a tripod.
Do you have taken these pictures hand held or using a tripod?
Also, the picture of the bird on the tree was taken only with the Vivitar 70-300 or using a teleconverter?
How bad or good are the results when using a 2x teleconverter with this zoom?

Thank you

Last edited by jrsilva on Wed Feb 03, 2016 3:08 pm; edited 2 times in total


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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:06 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:06 am
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jrsilva wrote:
Hello.

Really impressive photos.
I've purchased one of these Vivitar 100-300 zoom about 2 weeks ago and made only a few test shots with my Panasonic G1, but I didn't get any good results as you did.
I can't get pictures to stay properly in focus and sharpen.
Maybe I need to put the camera on a tripod.
Do you have taken these pictures hand held or using a tripod?
Also, the picture of the bird on the tree was taken only with the Vivitar 100-300 or using a teleconverter?
How bad or good are the results when using a 2x teleconverter with this zoom?

Thank you


this lens is 70-300 not 100-300
i've taken these photos handheld, i rarely use a tripod, because i use olympus cams and their excellent IS
haven't tried using teleconverter with this lens yet, so i can't tell you about how good results would be


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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:19 pm
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:19 pm
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Thank's for your reply.
I wanted to say 70-300mm. It was a mistake.
I really can't get those results with my Panasonic G1 and I'm disappointed. Maybe because it does not have IS on the body.
I got better results with my Panasonic G Vario 45-200mm f/4-5.6 and the focal distance is not that different.
But looks like that Vivitar does a good job on Olympus cameras.


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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:24 pm
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 1:24 pm
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well, this lens is surprise to me, i got it as a part of huge lot of lenses and cameras and when i tried it i was pleasant surprise. i especially like close focus ability , at 300mm you can focus as close as 1,5 meter which is for 300mm very close, usually it's around 4 meters.

keep practising and you'll be able to focus more precisely and get better results


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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:52 pm
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Posted: Sat Dec 08, 2012 11:52 pm
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Thank's for sharing your experience.
I will keep taking more shots with mine Vivitar 70-300 and see what I got


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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:23 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:23 am
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Great shots, seems like the lens can definitely hold its own! Kudos on the MF on an E520, its hard enough to focus with crop bodies manually as it is!


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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:18 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:18 pm
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Thanks for all your tests, again !

Looking at those examples, i bought one.
I'm curious Wink

Mine don't deliver like that (EM10) : PF all over the place (more at 300mm), even at f8.
Focused to infinity (on tripod, focus on digital zoom, 2s timer...), when i get from 200mm to 300mm, i gain nothing resolution wise.
I can upscale the same scene at 200mm to 300mm equivalent FOV and get the same resolution than real 300mm.
A kind of "bad TC" effect Very Happy
Even funnier : i can take my old 200mm 3.5 Tamron Adaptall 1, upscale it to 300mm and get better results than my copy at 300mm (no PF, better sharpness).

I wonder if it is related to infinity focus, compared to your shots at medium distance, did you reducer focal length to 200-250...or i just got a lemon lens ?

Any advice is welcome Wink
PS : For now, i will use my old Tamron. Very impressed by this old lady (CT-200). Especially no CA/PF.


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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:31 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2016 2:31 pm
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gLOW-x wrote:
Thanks for all your tests, again !

Looking at those examples, i bought one.
I'm curious Wink

Mine don't deliver like that (EM10) : PF all over the place (more at 300mm), even at f8.
Focused to infinity (on tripod, focus on digital zoom, 2s timer...), when i get from 200mm to 300mm, i gain nothing resolution wise.
I can upscale the same scene at 200mm to 300mm equivalent FOV and get the same resolution than real 300mm.
A kind of "bad TC" effect Very Happy
Even funnier : i can take my old 200mm 3.5 Tamron Adaptall 1, upscale it to 300mm and get better results than my copy at 300mm (no PF, better sharpness).

I wonder if it is related to infinity focus, compared to your shots at medium distance, did you reducer focal length to 200-250...or i just got a lemon lens ?

Any advice is welcome Wink
PS : For now, i will use my old Tamron. Very impressed by this old lady (CT-200). Especially no CA/PF.


maybe your copy isn't good. maybe it was repaired and someone put one of it's elements wrong way. i don't know, maybe i was lucky with my copy


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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 1:43 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 1:43 am
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I have another possible explanation. There are (at least) two versions.

Mine is this one :

#1


And there is this one :

#2


There seems to be more than "grip" difference, even if specs and front text is the same Wink


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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 8:25 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 8:25 am
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gLOW-x wrote:
I have another possible explanation. There are (at least) two versions.

Mine is this one :

#1




There seems to be more than "grip" difference, even if specs and front text is the same Wink


mine is also that one


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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:24 pm
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 12:24 pm
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Thanks for your help !


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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 1:26 am
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 1:26 am
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Along these lines, just need to keep in mind that Vivitar not only often had more than model of a particular lens but they often had different manufacturs. For example, the Series 1 70-210 had 4 different models manufactured by 4 different companies and each model was slightly different. As good as this lens was, some models were better than others.


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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:06 pm
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 7:06 pm
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WolverineX wrote:
gLOW-x wrote:
I have another possible explanation. There are (at least) two versions.

Mine is this one :

#1




There seems to be more than "grip" difference, even if specs and front text is the same Wink


mine is also that one


I also have one that looks like above, that I like very much.


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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 6:51 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2016 6:51 am
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Thank you for all these tests.
My friend's e-m10 gives noticably better results than my e-pm2 gives with the same lens !! Same sensor both cameras.
The picture sets you update taken by e-m5 also seem to have noticeably better image quality always.
I don't use my old 1st gen m4/3 bodies any more.
Photographer can make some difference's also - look what Luisallegria does with cheapo lenses.
Regards to all
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