Vivitar Series 1 90-180/4.5 Flat Field Zoom + Sony A7R

[chudy128314]

Vivitar Series 1 90-180/4.5 Flat Field Zoom - famous, complex and heavy zoom with macro up to 1:2.




Sony A7R, no post-processing besides resizing:

[DigiChromeEd]

I have this lens and like it a lot. It is heavy though and for best results needs to be used on a tripod.

[dbuergi]

A brick of a lens but nice pictures!

[cooltouch]

I used to own a copy of this lens and was talked into selling it. I didn't want to but the guy was offering me more money than it was worth, so I gave in, figuring I'd get another one day.

I never have, and now I don't really need to. I have macro lenses in 90mm, 100mm, 135mm, and 200mm focal lengths. All of these macros are at least as sharp as that old Vivitar zoom, probably sharper, plus they each weigh a LOT less. So even though I'd still like to own a copy, it would be more for the desire to own another desirable S1 zoom than for any other reason.

[Paulius]

Kiron made, flat field, interesting.

[ZuikosHexanonsandVivitars]

Here is my Vivitar 90-180mm f4.5 CF. The serial number is 2270 2776, so it is probably a while earlier produced than Chudy´s, and the most noticable difference is the aperture range. Mine goes from f4.5 - 16, the later one goes to f32. I didn´t know until finding Chudy´s images in this post that Vivitar updated the original design.

It was late in the 80´s and I was 16 or 17 years old when I purchased this lens in a Vivitar Series 1 "bulk sale" from a befriended professional photographer who was probably bored with it. The price was even for my schoolboy budget a no-brainer. There was also the Series 1 200mm f3, the 135mm f2.3 and the (non-Series 1) 24mm f2 in this package, and this particular zoom impressed me especially because it looked so cool on a camera (ah, puberty...). However I was rather disappointed by its capabilities in infinity. Information about Vivitar in Austria back then was practically non-existent, and I learned many years later why it is rather mediocre in infinity.

The first few shots after the lens spent a long time in the cellar I took with it last year in autumn on the Olympus EM-10 Mk3, and the crop factor makes this an even more impressive 180-360mm macro. Olympus often claimed that vintage lenses cannot provide the necessary resolution to match a M4/3 sensor, but I honestly see no issue. It´s sharp even open, contrasty, colorful, and the bokeh is creamy smooth. Even only with f4.5 it´s probably good as a portrait lens. I´m just concerned I might not be quick enough to finish the job before the hands start shaking from the weight

Because it is about 1,3 kg and that´s likely owed to the fact that no one ever considered using this particularly made for dental and macro photography lens not on a tripod. So Vivitar gave little to nothing to weight considerations and designed a sturdy lens of outstanding build quality. I guess mine must have been built in 1977, and even 45 years later everything is in perfect condition, firmly fitted and turning smootly. Although I was doing some rough stuff with it in my youth, as the dent in the filter thread sadly testifies.

Sample images are ISO 200, f4.5, time 1/1600 resp. 1/2500 and handheld. I´ll do some on full-frame in the upcoming days if the weather is fine. I wonder if there´s some vignetting wide open which I obviously didn´t see on Micro 4/3.
And I´m gonna employ the tripod, for a change


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[ZuikosHexanonsandVivitars]

Vivitar 90-180mm f4.5 CF on A7ii in program mode and ISO 100 on tripod with 10 sec shutter delay.

#1 @180mm, f5.6, 1/13 sec.


#2 @180mm, f11, 1/3 sec.


#3 @90mm, f5.6, 1/8 sec.


#4 @90mm, f11, 1/2 sec.


#5 @180mm, f5.6, 1/10 sec.


#6 @180mm, f11, 1/2 sec.


#7 @90mm, f5.6, 1/6 sec.


#8 @90mm, f11, 1/2 sec.


#9 @180mm, f4.5, 1/40 sec. Image cropped to 1:1


#10 @180mm, f11, 1/13 sec. Image cropped to 1:1