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revers
Joined: 13 May 2010
Posts: 574
Location: In the country just north of Toronto Canada
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 Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:45 pm Post subject: Vivitar (Kiron) 20mm f3.8 samples |
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revers wrote:
I received my copy this week & quite frankly am somewhat disappointed. The lens is in very good condition & looks cool on the G1.
This is my seventh Vivitar & the first I have been disappointed in & it cost the most - $85 including shipping. The first thing I checked for was distortion:
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The distortion is minimal in my opinion but the images are soft, not crisp like my other Vivitars. I took a couple landscapes to see how they looked.
3. Back yard
4. Field next door
Today I took it to town & did some street shooting.
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10. Easy to pick up lens flair, got a hood coming.
11.
I find it hard to focus precisely due to the huge DoF but that aside, I find the images to all be soft.
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Ron
Olympus OM-D E-M5, 14-42 & 45/1.8.
Panasonic G1, GF1, 14-45, 45-200 & various legacy lenses.
Canon S5, Sony 1.7 Tele-converter & Raynox DCR 150 Macro converter. |
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ManualFocus-G
Joined: 29 Dec 2008
Posts: 6624
Location: United Kingdom
Expire: 2014-11-24
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| Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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ManualFocus-G wrote:
What aperture were you shooting at? These old ultra wides typically need to be stopped down a lot to perform at the sides and edges. There seems to be a lot of CA present, which is a shame.
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revers
Joined: 13 May 2010
Posts: 574
Location: In the country just north of Toronto Canada
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| Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2011 6:10 pm Post subject: |
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revers wrote:
They were shot at the click between f8 & f11.
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Ron
Olympus OM-D E-M5, 14-42 & 45/1.8.
Panasonic G1, GF1, 14-45, 45-200 & various legacy lenses.
Canon S5, Sony 1.7 Tele-converter & Raynox DCR 150 Macro converter. |
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martyn_bannister
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 1151
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 8:22 am Post subject: |
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martyn_bannister wrote:
Ron, It's very difficult to assess sharpness on shots reduced for display on the forum but, without being able to pixel peep, they don't seem that soft to me. Maybe all my wide angle lenses are cr*p though  |
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flashinm
Joined: 03 Apr 2011
Posts: 15
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 4:14 am Post subject: |
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flashinm wrote:
You're certainly diffraction limited at that aperture. You'd probably get sharper results around f4-5.6. It does look very low in contrast, but this can be adjusted very easily. |
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revers
Joined: 13 May 2010
Posts: 574
Location: In the country just north of Toronto Canada
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:04 pm Post subject: |
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revers wrote:
| flashinm wrote: |
| You're certainly diffraction limited at that aperture. You'd probably get sharper results around f4-5.6. It does look very low in contrast, but this can be adjusted very easily. |
Thanks for that tip, I will try & see.
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Ron
Olympus OM-D E-M5, 14-42 & 45/1.8.
Panasonic G1, GF1, 14-45, 45-200 & various legacy lenses.
Canon S5, Sony 1.7 Tele-converter & Raynox DCR 150 Macro converter. |
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Spotmatic
Joined: 18 Aug 2008
Posts: 4045
Location: Netherlands
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:11 pm Post subject: |
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Spotmatic wrote:
Nice results, at least at web sizes!
I know, the 20mm f/3.8's are disappointing when pixel peeping. But those old (!) super wide angles were never designed with resolution in mind. If the Vivitar dissappoints you then you'll equally be disappointed with the 20mm Flektogons. But this is my own opinion, your mileage may vary
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Peter - Moderator
Pentax K-5 + Pentax 645 + Canon 5D + Bessa RF 10,5cm Heliar, and a 'little' bag full of MF lenses. The lens list is * here *.
My fast 80s: Asahi-Kogaku Takumar 83mm f/1.9 - Super-Takumar 85mm f/1.9 - FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited - Cyclop 85/1.5 (Helios-40 innards) - Komura 80mm f/1.8 - Meyer Görlitz Primoplan 7,5cm 1:1.9 - Carl Zeiss Jena 80mm f/1.8 Pancolar - Canon 85mm f/1.8 S.S.C. - Canon 85mm f/1.2 S.S.C. Aspherical |
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revers
Joined: 13 May 2010
Posts: 574
Location: In the country just north of Toronto Canada
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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revers wrote:
I received a hood for it & went back to the farmers market for a second trial of the lens. Shot @ f8 this time.
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I think the hood has helped by reducing the veiling & possibly shooting @ f8 helped as well.
_________________
Ron
Olympus OM-D E-M5, 14-42 & 45/1.8.
Panasonic G1, GF1, 14-45, 45-200 & various legacy lenses.
Canon S5, Sony 1.7 Tele-converter & Raynox DCR 150 Macro converter. |
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Attila
Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Posts: 57849
Location: Hungary
Expire: 2025-11-18
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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Attila wrote:
This is good one Ron, don't forget this is a 20mm lens under 100 USD , better lenses go around 500 USD, really good one 1000-2000 USD.
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Lloydy
Joined: 02 Sep 2009
Posts: 7785
Location: Ironbridge. UK.
Expire: 2022-01-01
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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Lloydy wrote:
I'd be very happy with that, it's going on my wanted list anyway. 
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iangreenhalgh1
Joined: 18 Mar 2011
Posts: 15685
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
I'd be happy with that too, compares favourably to my much more modern Tokina AT-X 3.5/17.
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revers
Joined: 13 May 2010
Posts: 574
Location: In the country just north of Toronto Canada
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| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 12:43 am Post subject: |
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revers wrote:
Thanks guys, I am feeling better about it now. I guess my expectations were too high.
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Ron
Olympus OM-D E-M5, 14-42 & 45/1.8.
Panasonic G1, GF1, 14-45, 45-200 & various legacy lenses.
Canon S5, Sony 1.7 Tele-converter & Raynox DCR 150 Macro converter. |
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pat donnelly
Joined: 19 Jan 2010
Posts: 666
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 5:24 am Post subject: |
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pat donnelly wrote:
It does seem to have enough sharpness and contrast to be passable.
The cost/performance ratio is worse than standard and telephoto lenses, which is disappointing, but the modern, smaller sensor formats are driving those prices?
This lens will come more into its own on a FF camera which will soon be cheaper! I can only see prices going up again then! Unless Samyang keep on establishing new performance levels?
Certainly a good investment, if it displeases, sell at a profit or store for a bigger profit?
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zkotpen
Joined: 07 Oct 2014
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Tue Oct 07, 2014 4:39 am Post subject: |
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zkotpen wrote:
Ron, not sure if this is still relevant -- looks like the hood helped on your Vivtar 20mm. I still see CA in the tree leaves. f/8 still may be diffraction limited for such a wide angle lens. Would be interesting to see how it performs at f/5.6 |
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gaeger
Joined: 16 Jan 2010
Posts: 715
Location: Brier, Wash.
Expire: 2021-03-09
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| Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 5:55 am Post subject: |
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gaeger wrote:
After reading a few threads here surrounding the Vivitar 20mm lenses, I bought one of the Kiron versions cheaply. My word it's fun! Kind of chunky and clunky, but it's amazingly sharp up close and that close focus allows some wild perspective. These are on a Nikon D610.
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Oldhand
Joined: 01 Apr 2013
Posts: 6008
Location: Mid North Coast NSW - Australia
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| Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 7:16 am Post subject: |
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Oldhand wrote:
Kiron/Kino made some really good lenses at or around this focal length.
20mm at the time was a real challenge to do well, and yours looks quite good
There is also a Vivitar S1 by Kiron/Kino 24-48 that is excellent.
Thanks for sharing
Tom |
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Pancolart
Joined: 04 Feb 2008
Posts: 3693
Location: Slovenia, EU
Expire: 2013-11-18
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| Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:02 am Post subject: |
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Pancolart wrote:
Nice photos, my experience was very positive too. Loved the sharpness, contrast and colors.
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