Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Vivitar 35mm f1.9 Nikon 35mm f2 AIS
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
That's hard to decide Smile

The bokeh of nikon at close range is fine, but midrange is poor.
while the vivitar is opposite. Nikon has better contrast wide open, less glow.

I don't have any of these lens, but a few other, and never tried to compare them.
As far, the pentax FA35/2 has AF and always pair with a pentax dslr,
while all others go with nex or canon dslr.

As for fast 35mm, the Samyang 35/1.4 is cheap and *very good*, but size does matter Smile
Almost in size and weight is my old minolta 35/1.8 which looks funny on a nex: long as a tele lens, full metal build.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
maldaye you write that your lens is a "Vivitar Series 1 f1.9/35mm". Are you sure that it is a Series 1 lens? I know that e.g. the f1.9/28mm is a Series 1, but is there really a Series 1 f1.9/35mm? Anyway my copy doesn't say "Series 1" but says "Auto-Wide"

@Hoan: you mention the Pentax FA35. Yesterday I did a ( fast and dirty - not good enough to share ) sharpness test incl. my Vivitar f1.9/35mm, S-M-C Takumar f2/35mm and Pentax FA35. I found the FA to be the best performer while the Vivitar and S-M-C ( which supposedly has same optical formula than the FA35? ) are indistinguishable.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
There is no 35/1.9 series 1 as far as i know.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My vote goes to the Nikon.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kuuan wrote:
maldaye you write that your lens is a "Vivitar Series 1 f1.9/35mm". Are you sure that it is a Series 1 lens? I know that e.g. the f1.9/28mm is a Series 1, but is there really a Series 1 f1.9/35mm? Anyway my copy doesn't say "Series 1" but says "Auto-Wide"

@Hoan: you mention the Pentax FA35. Yesterday I did a ( fast and dirty - not good enough to share ) sharpness test incl. my Vivitar f1.9/35mm, S-M-C Takumar f2/35mm and Pentax FA35. I found the FA to be the best performer while the Vivitar and S-M-C ( which supposedly has same optical formula than the FA35? ) are indistinguishable.


Faulty memory after reading up on another Vivitar lens. My bad.


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kuuan wrote:

@Hoan: you mention the Pentax FA35. Yesterday I did a ( fast and dirty - not good enough to share ) sharpness test incl. my Vivitar f1.9/35mm, S-M-C Takumar f2/35mm and Pentax FA35. I found the FA to be the best performer while the Vivitar and S-M-C ( which supposedly has same optical formula than the FA35? ) are indistinguishable.


interesting. i dont have the vivitar, nor takumar, but i do have the pentax K 35f2.0.
not sure if the takumar has the same formula as the pentax K 35/2.

the pentax K 35/2 is a very good lens with superb 3D pop by half click down. bokeh is not so smooth in certain distance.
it is heavier than the FA35/2. the FA35 is better overall, but K35/2 is not far behind.

my fav combination as tourist is: K5+FA35 , nex+heliar 15, when AF is needed,
or nex, heliar, zeiss contax g 35/2 for size and weight.

i have also nikon ais and samyang in 35/1.4, and use the samyang more due to longer focus throw, sharper, better...


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
hoanpham wrote:
kuuan wrote:

@Hoan: you mention the Pentax FA35. Yesterday I did a ( fast and dirty - not good enough to share ) sharpness test incl. my Vivitar f1.9/35mm, S-M-C Takumar f2/35mm and Pentax FA35. I found the FA to be the best performer while the Vivitar and S-M-C ( which supposedly has same optical formula than the FA35? ) are indistinguishable.


interesting. i dont have the vivitar, nor takumar, but i do have the pentax K 35f2.0.
not sure if the takumar has the same formula as the pentax K 35/2.

the pentax K 35/2 is a very good lens with superb 3D pop by half click down. bokeh is not so smooth in certain distance.
it is heavier than the FA35/2. the FA35 is better overall, but K35/2 is not far behind.

my fav combination as tourist is: K5+FA35 , nex+heliar 15, when AF is needed,
or nex, heliar, zeiss contax g 35/2 for size and weight.

i have also nikon ais and samyang in 35/1.4, and use the samyang more due to longer focus throw, sharper, better...


Are you saying that the samyang 35/1.4 is the best of the lot? it is better tha nikon 35mm f1.4?


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Trying to juggle my collection of lenses and decide on the best isn't that easy...
Shots I took that capture the feeling of it

#1

#2


PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
maldaye wrote:

Are you saying that the samyang 35/1.4 is the best of the lot? it is better tha nikon 35mm f1.4?


i might have a less good copy of nikon, but very unlikely.
yes, the samyang is better than my nikon ais at f1.4.
the 3D pop of the nikon is not coming out until f2.0.

next for me is to get a distagon zf if fund allowed.
i think i skip the c/y version...


PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
maldaye wrote:
Thanks all!

I did more tests and looked for minute differences. I like the Vivitar Series 1 35mm due to being a 1/3 of a stop faster and being more exotic and rare of a lens. However, I decided to keep the 35mm Nikkor because it has less noise.



Noise is the result of the camera and sensor, not lens.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
hoanpham wrote:
kuuan wrote:

@Hoan: you mention the Pentax FA35. Yesterday I did a ( fast and dirty - not good enough to share ) sharpness test incl. my Vivitar f1.9/35mm, S-M-C Takumar f2/35mm and Pentax FA35. I found the FA to be the best performer while the Vivitar and S-M-C ( which supposedly has same optical formula than the FA35? ) are indistinguishable.


interesting. i dont have the vivitar, nor takumar, but i do have the pentax K 35f2.0.
not sure if the takumar has the same formula as the pentax K 35/2.

the pentax K 35/2 is a very good lens with superb 3D pop by half click down. bokeh is not so smooth in certain distance.
it is heavier than the FA35/2. the FA35 is better overall, but K35/2 is not far behind....


Hoan I still don't know if S-M-C, Pentax K and FA35 have the same optical formula or not. Scores they get at Pentaxforum user lensreviews do differ quite a bit: The K scores best, the FA is not far behind, the S-M-C comes last but it's score isn't representative as it includes scores for the Super Tak that came in 3 versions, the two earliest versions have a different optical formula.

resolution tests of Yoshihiko Takinami suggest that the FA35 beats the K 2/35 and that the K 3.5/35 is a real winner too, see: http://www.takinami.com/yoshihiko/photo/lens_test/pentax_35.html
elsewhere ( http://stans-photography.info/ ) he is quoted to say:
" - I have/had K35/2, K35/3.5, M35/2, M35/2.8 and FA35/2AL...I prefer K35/3.5 to K35/2 in point of center resolution/sharpness and better correction of aberrations."
about the K3.5/35 and FA35:
"- very little light-fall-off even at wide open, amazingly sharp, good color rendition, great color saturation, scarce distortion, natural bokeh, great resolution. . . one of the best Pentax lenses. . . Its color rendition and 3-dimensionality are really great. FA35/2AL is superior to K35/3.5 in point of correction, color saturation, and uniformity of image all over the frame. They are the two best 35mm (focal length) lenses Pentax ever made, IMO."


PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 6:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
maldaye wrote:
cooltouch wrote:
I also own a Vivitar 35mm f/1.9 and a Nikkor 35mm f/2. The Vivitar is in Canon FD mount, though, and the Nikkor is a Pre-AI, albeit with a Nikon AI kit. Because the Vivitar is a Canon FD mount lens, I haven't been able to do a decent comparison between the two lenses. I think I may have under appreciated my Vivitar somewhat because I bought it for cheap a few years ago -- like $40 for an almost mint copy. And now you see them on eBay for -- a lot! And because it's an FD lens, that means it gets used with my Canon FD film cameras, which don't get used as often as my DSLR, sad to say. I think the last time I had it out and took some photos with it was on a dreary, foggy winter day shortly after I bought it. I was shooting slides, so the sharpness in the emulsion was there, but the subjects were so dreary and fog-shrouded, I wasn't able to do any serious evaluations with it.

You know what I should do? I have several rolls of Fuji 200 laying around here. I should load a roll in one of my FD Canons and another in one of my Nikons, mount one of the 35mm's to each, and shoot the same subjects with each camera for both rolls. Something to do one of these days.


Or I can save you couple of roll of films and showcase test shots I've done with both lenses. Honestly, the difference between them is minimal till you zoom in to 1:1. The nikon is a tad sharper, but that is about it.

It was actually, I did the test between the Voigtlander 40mm Ultron, Nikon 35m f2, Nikon 35mm f2.5 Series E, and Vivitar 35mm f1.9. You can guess the winner, but I wanted to keep a true 35mm prime so it ended up between the nikon and the vivitar. I probably would trade all 3 35mm for the 35mm f1.4.


Yeah, my guess would be the Voigtlander, of course. Is this one of the modern lenses built by Cosina? If so, I guess they're doing a good job at keeping the lens quality up to Voigtlander standards.

Actually, I would love to see your test images. I really get into that sort of stuff. I have conducted several tests like this with various optics, and have posted the results from a few of them here.

I guess I'm a bit surprised that the Vivitar hangs in there with the Nikon all the way down to 1:1. But I'm glad to read that it does. Means I have a nice fast 35mm. I love my Canon FL 35mm f/2.5 -- it is a very sharp optic, edge to edge, but it's nice having over a half stop speed advantage with the Vivitar too.

Which flavor of Nikkor 35mm do you have? Mine is the Pre-AI 35mm f/2 Nikkor-O C.

Hey Kuan -- would it be asking too much to ask you to test/compare both your Vivitar 35/1.9 and your SMC Tak 35/2 before you sell them? My experiences with Pentax lenses is that they are typically very sharp, and I would be curious as to how your Vivitar stacks up in comparison against your SMC Tak.


PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
cooltouch wrote:
....
Hey Kuan -- would it be asking too much to ask you to test/compare both your Vivitar 35/1.9 and your SMC Tak 35/2 before you sell them? My experiences with Pentax lenses is that they are typically very sharp, and I would be curious as to how your Vivitar stacks up in comparison against your SMC Tak.


Hi Michael,
actually I just did that yesterday but only tested for center sharpness at close focus range and found the S-M-C Takumar 2/35 and the Vivitar f1.9/35 as even as it gets, indistinguishable for me. may do another for corner sharpness later this evening, but please just believe me and don't ask me to show all the test images Wink ( possibly I decided to sell both too fast, but my FA35 beats them both and I have Canon LTM 1.8/35 and 2/35 coming..)


PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
kuuan wrote:
cooltouch wrote:
....
Hey Kuan -- would it be asking too much to ask you to test/compare both your Vivitar 35/1.9 and your SMC Tak 35/2 before you sell them? My experiences with Pentax lenses is that they are typically very sharp, and I would be curious as to how your Vivitar stacks up in comparison against your SMC Tak.


Hi Michael,
actually I just did that yesterday but only tested for center sharpness at close focus range ....
may do another for corner sharpness later this evening...


just did that, test object similar to a test image, actually a finely printed page of an art book, so very close focus
and I repeat my earlier verdict: too close to call, and add, not only for center but also corner sharpness.

If I am hard pressed to make out any difference at all I'd say the slightest edge for the Vivitar in center sharpness and the slightest edge for the S-M-C for corner sharpness but I shouldn't, they really are that identical.

note: both have good center sharpness from wide open, very good @f2.8. Even their corner sharpness is rather good from wide open, there is only slight blur at the very far corner. Corner sharpness is the same if focused at the center or focused at the corner ( but the S-M-C, at wide apertures, reproduces the black ink writing at the center quite red then.)
I am surprised by corner sharpness because, though I love them Takumars Wink I don't expect good corners from wide angle Takumars. Remember however that this test is done on APS-C! ( NEX5N )
The FA35 does outperform them and interestingly their angle is quite a bit different, the FA is widest, the S-M-C in the middle and the Vivitar 'longest'.


PostPosted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 9:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Nikkor can get scratched up, the coatings flake, and maybe even be tossed around in the bag like a passenger on an overseas airline.....

It will work, not just OK either...just as good

Point is the Vivitar, in comparison, is no where near the manufacturing quality or functioning ability of the Nikkor. The Nikkor has better handling and typically has less play....although I have discovered this as well, a very well used 35/2 Nikkor is a keeper as opposed to one so nice looking it was never used much for some reason?

Flektogon 35/2.8 Flektogon 35/2.4 Nikkor 35/2 Takumar 35/3.5 Vivitar 35/2.8 TX

Those are my personal favorites but my overall favorite is hands down the 35/1.4

Last edited by wildlight images on Fri Dec 19, 2014 3:26 pm; edited 3 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 12:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is the MIR-24 2/35 not worthy of comparison?


PostPosted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Intereeting this topic should pop up just now.

As I mentioned almost a year ago, I have a 35mm f/1.9 Vivitar as well as a Canon FL 35mm f/2.5. The Vivitar is also in Canon FD mount. Back during the 80s, when I was a dedicated Canon FD user, I loved that FL 35mm f/2.5 for its sharpness and color. Having sold off all my Canon FD gear in 1989, I've only recently obtained a replacement for it. I now own a large FD collection (again).

So anyway, I've been thinking seriously about selling my Vivitar 35mm f/1/.9, but before I do, I think I'll compare it to my FL 35mm. Now that I own a NEX, I can compare hi-rez images. If the FL is reasonably close to the Vivitar, the Vivitar goes on eBay. As part of my collection thinning moves.

My copy of the Vivitar 35/1.9 was made during the robust, all-metal era. It is very stoutly made. A nice lens, and I'm rather surprised at the amounts clean examples of it are commanding on eBay these days. I bought mine offf eBay about five years ago. Back then it hadn't been "discovered" yet. I think I paid $40 it.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Michael. Don't sell the Vivitar. Its unique bokeh and low contrast will be very useful in certain situation. You cannot find such quality in your FL 35mm.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 6:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for the advice, Calvin. To be honest, I've hardly used the lens. I'll definitely give it a workout before I decide to sell it.

I guess another way to look at it is, for APS-C format, it amounts to a fast normal lens. It's a 52.5mm equivalent.

Heh, the more I think about it, the less interested I become in selling it.
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2