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Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 at the show and shine
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:12 am    Post subject: Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 at the show and shine Reply with quote
Finally got me a clean Vivitar 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5. It looks like new, with no aperture problems (yet?).

Here are some images from today's show and shine.

1. f/4


1b. 100% crop


2. f/2.8


2b. 100% crop


3. f/5.6


3b. 100% crop


4. f/5.6


Love everything about this lens so far except that it's varifocal. Surprisingly sharp wide open, with more than pleasing bokeh, circular highlights, and with some nice pop to the images. I expected horrible CA but, despite this apparently being a knock on this lens, I thought it was pretty well controlled.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's quite an optical gem and your images bear witness to that. I've never observed any stronger than usual chromatic aberrations with my copy of the lens, so any claims regarding it might be just another internet myth. On the other hand, the lens suffers from one major flaw mentionned in contemporary magazine reviews which is only obvious with film and full frame sensor cameras : a very pronounced vignetting at the shorter focal lengths (especially at f = 28 mm ) which never disappears even stopped down to f/16. To correct it, I even created a dedicated lens correction profile for Camera Raw and Lightroom.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
You can see some vignetting here at 28mm 2.8
Widekeh by The lens profile, on Flickr

And distortion Wink


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 12:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's a great walkabout lens, and I think the performance of this lens is way higher that any other zoom in this range that I've used. I have recently aquired a Pentax a 28-80 / 3.5-4.5 which I haven't tried yet, but I think the Vivitar will be a good competitor.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 12:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
It's a great walkabout lens, and I think the performance of this lens is way higher that any other zoom in this range that I've used. I have recently aquired a Pentax a 28-80 / 3.5-4.5 which I haven't tried yet, but I think the Vivitar will be a good competitor.


Among my lenses with similar range, the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4/28-85, Canon FD 28-85 mm f/4 and Minolta MD 28-85 mm f/3,5-4,5 are a least as good if not better (Zeiss) than the Vivitar and they don't suffer from excessive vignetting. But I would rate the Vivitar higher then the equivalent Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X lenses which places it at the top of the third party 28-85/28-90 mm lenses. As such it is a much underrated and undervalued lens.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 12:27 pm    Post subject: Re: Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 at the show and shine Reply with quote
invisible wrote:
Finally got me a clean Vivitar 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5. It looks like new, with no aperture problems (yet?).

Here are some images from today's show and shine.


Love everything about this lens so far except that it's varifocal. Surprisingly sharp wide open, with more than pleasing bokeh, circular highlights, and with some nice pop to the images. I expected horrible CA but, despite this apparently being a knock on this lens, I thought it was pretty well controlled.


Nice! On what camera are you using the lens?


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 1:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
There is also a Kiron version . Kiron 28-85mm f/2.8-3.8 macro also sold as Vivitar I think. Vivitar chose the Komine for Series 1. But the Kiron is ok too. Mine is stuck wide open with delaminated elements and fungus but still makes decent images (soft of course).

Blossemkeh by The lens profile, on Flickr


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 2:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alsatian2017 wrote:

Among my lenses with similar range, the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4/28-85, Canon FD 28-85 mm f/4 and Minolta MD 28-85 mm f/3,5-4,5 are a least as good if not better (Zeiss) than the Vivitar and they don't suffer from excessive vignetting. But I would rate the Vivitar higher then the equivalent Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X lenses which places it at the top of the third party 28-85/28-90 mm lenses. As such it is a much underrated and undervalued lens.


I never managed to obtain clear corners with the minolta 28-85 and Sony A7II except around 40-60mm. However central sharpness was always top notch. Part of the problem was field curvature, but not only.

The only Canon 28-85 I bought was decentered but looked promising.

If the Vivitar has good homogeneity to the corners it should be a good choice. (Except for the direction of the focus ring).


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Some pretty nice images there, even at f2.8. Looks dependable.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Alsatian2017 wrote:

Among my lenses with similar range, the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4/28-85, Canon FD 28-85 mm f/4 and Minolta MD 28-85 mm f/3,5-4,5 are a least as good if not better (Zeiss) than the Vivitar and they don't suffer from excessive vignetting. But I would rate the Vivitar higher then the equivalent Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X lenses which places it at the top of the third party 28-85/28-90 mm lenses. As such it is a much underrated and undervalued lens.


The Viv s1 28/90 exists in two versions : the first had excessive vignetting, the second not (but as far i know there ino way to check the version)

D1N0 wrote:

If the Vivitar has good homogeneity to the corners it should be a good choice. (Except for the direction of the focus ring).


The Kiron/Viv 28/85 has more central sharpness than the komine/viv s1 but less homogeneity around the frame


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
This is bokeh compared:
Komine
Bubbles by The lens profile, on Flickr

Kiron
Bokeh balls by The lens profile, on Flickr

Shot at different times of course (actually just a day apart). The Kiron does look a bit sharper to my yes despite it's condition. Bokeh is very similar with soft edged bokeh balls. Must be inherent to the varifocal design of these types of zooms.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 4:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
D1N0 wrote:

Shot at different times of course (actually just a day apart). The Kiron does look a bit sharper to my yes despite it's condition. Bokeh is very similar with soft edged bokeh balls. Must be inherent to the varifocal design of these types of zooms.


The varifocal system has nothing to do with optical performance.
It's just a way for the manufacturer to simplify the mechanical design by avoiding a cam that picks up the point.
What is done by turning the focus ring could be done by a cam


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
lumens pixel wrote:
Nice! On what camera are you using the lens?

Thank you! On a Nikon D700.

eggplant wrote:
Some pretty nice images there, even at f2.8. Looks dependable.

Thank you!

Speaking of f/2.8, it looks like I didn't shoot anything at 28mm wide open. I did a quick test a moment ago and the vignetting is horrific, like others mentioned above. What a disappointment.


PostPosted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
There are a LOT of lenses in roughly the same range as the Vivitar... but are we judging them on 'ultimate perfection' rather than being being very good allround lenses which I think the Vivitar is?

Personally I find this Vivitar to be one of the best short zooms I've got, and I'm a huge fan of the Minolta. MD.Zoom Macro 35-70mm f3.5 which for me sets the standard.

Lenses like these are what they are, and shouldn't be judged on ultimate performance which is judged on the performance of primes in a similar range. That's not fair on the lens in any respect, they weren't designed to compete with primes.
What they are is a great lens to use when you don't want the hassle of changing lenses, when you're wandering around a car show or out in bad weather. The Vivitar S1 28-90 is a winner, the range is better than most competitors, it's plenty sharp, the faults are easily corrected, and it's cheap. What's not to like?


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
What's not to like?


I couldn't live with a manual focus / varifocal lens; when I take a zoom the quickness and comfort are my priority at 90 %.

Just my opinion of course


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Most vintage zooms don't have a 2.8 aperture at the wide end (because most are stopped down at the wide end to 3.5, probably to deal with excess softness and vignetting) Shooting wide open at 28mm where corners are critical is not a normal use case in photography, it is a far pissing contest for gearheads.

Last edited by D1N0 on Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:14 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Image quality seems to be pretty good. I'm pretty sure it's better than the S1 35-85/2.8.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 1:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
D1N0 wrote:
Most vintage zooms don't have a 2.8 aperture at the wide end (because most are stopped down at the wide end to 3.5, probably to deal with excess softness and vignetting) Shooting wide open at 28mm where corners are critical is not a normal use case in photography, it is a far pissing contest for gearheads.


True Wink On my sample, the wide open setting at f = 28 mm produces sharper corners than with most of my fixed focal length 28 mm lenses. So sharpness wise, the Vivitar S1 28-90 mm f/2,8-3,5 is quite outstanding. Nethertheless, its weak points are the vignetting issue I mentionned earlier and the rather disappointing coating and baffling performance.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Back when I shot lots of film, I had reduced my walk-around kit to a camera and two lenses: an old Canon F-1 plus the Vivitar S1 28-90 and a Tamron SP 60-300. This kit took care of almost all my photographic needs. The Vivitar was a fantastic wide-to-short-tele zoom, still my favorite, although I have quite a few others in that range now. I've also owned a couple of the later S1 28-105s, which were made by Cosina and not Komine. They were decent lenses, but just not as good as the original.

I had the occasion to dismantle both. Even though they look the same on the outside, they were completely different structurally. I wouldn't say the Cosina wasn't as good as the Komine because the construction techniques were very similar. Ultimately it depends on the glass and the optical design, and that is where I think the Komine has it over the Cosina.

Here's one of my favorites taken with the Vivitar 28-90. Rocks on a beach, Ventura, California. Taken back during the mid-80s. Canon F-1, Kodachrome 64 film. Slide duped with my Sony NEX 7 and a Nikon 55mm f/2.8 Micro Nikkor.



PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
invisible wrote:
lumens pixel wrote:
Nice! On what camera are you using the lens?

Thank you! On a Nikon D700.

eggplant wrote:
Some pretty nice images there, even at f2.8. Looks dependable.

Thank you!

Speaking of f/2.8, it looks like I didn't shoot anything at 28mm wide open. I did a quick test a moment ago and the vignetting is horrific, like others mentioned above. What a disappointment.


I have red somewhere that this lens was not true 2,8 3,5 but close to 4 4,5. Not sure if it was only transmission or real aperture that was optimistic. For sure it was a highly regarded lens that did a lot for Vivitar and Komine reputation. I am still reluctant to buy a copy because of weight. I expect from a zoom to be lighter than the combination of the fixed focal lenses of the range (not talking about super large apertures primes). If this is not the case I prefer to carry the primes.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 7:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
lumens pixel wrote:
Alsatian2017 wrote:

Among my lenses with similar range, the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4/28-85, Canon FD 28-85 mm f/4 and Minolta MD 28-85 mm f/3,5-4,5 are a least as good if not better (Zeiss) than the Vivitar and they don't suffer from excessive vignetting. But I would rate the Vivitar higher then the equivalent Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X lenses which places it at the top of the third party 28-85/28-90 mm lenses. As such it is a much underrated and undervalued lens.


I never managed to obtain clear corners with the minolta 28-85 and Sony A7II except around 40-60mm. However central sharpness was always top notch. Part of the problem was field curvature, but not only.
...



I recently bought a second copy of the venerable and rare Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM. A quick-and-dirty test on the A900 did not reveal any problems, the price was OK - so I got it. Not much later I was using it on the A7RII, relying on a cheap Chinese adapter. It was a mess. When (manually) focusing at f=200mm/2.8 and zooming to f=100mm or even f=70mm, the image became totally blurred. Obviously the adapter was slightly too short, and therefore the Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM has massive issues. Putting it bback to the A900 proved that the lens itself was OK.

Similar issues might have influenced your results with the MD 28-85mm.

S


PostPosted: Tue Aug 30, 2022 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
lumens pixel wrote:
I have red somewhere that this lens was not true 2,8 3,5 but close to 4 4,5. Not sure if it was only transmission or real aperture that was optimistic. For sure it was a highly regarded lens that did a lot for Vivitar and Komine reputation. I am still reluctant to buy a copy because of weight. I expect from a zoom to be lighter than the combination of the fixed focal lenses of the range (not talking about super large apertures primes). If this is not the case I prefer to carry the primes.

That's a fair point. The lens is not all that heavy though (680 g) and is pretty compact for a fast vintage zoom. I bought it to use as a walkaround lens for non-critical work when I don't feel like carrying the Nikon 24-70 (900 g, and a much larger lens). I'll have to try it out in the field again, this time at 28mm to see if it's up to the task. Other than the vignetting, I'm stunned by its performance.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 1:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
lumens pixel wrote:
Alsatian2017 wrote:

Among my lenses with similar range, the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4/28-85, Canon FD 28-85 mm f/4 and Minolta MD 28-85 mm f/3,5-4,5 are a least as good if not better (Zeiss) than the Vivitar and they don't suffer from excessive vignetting. But I would rate the Vivitar higher then the equivalent Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X lenses which places it at the top of the third party 28-85/28-90 mm lenses. As such it is a much underrated and undervalued lens.


I never managed to obtain clear corners with the minolta 28-85 and Sony A7II except around 40-60mm. However central sharpness was always top notch. Part of the problem was field curvature, but not only.
...



I recently bought a second copy of the venerable and rare Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM. A quick-and-dirty test on the A900 did not reveal any problems, the price was OK - so I got it. Not much later I was using it on the A7RII, relying on a cheap Chinese adapter. It was a mess. When (manually) focusing at f=200mm/2.8 and zooming to f=100mm or even f=70mm, the image became totally blurred. Obviously the adapter was slightly too short, and therefore the Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM has massive issues. Putting it bback to the A900 proved that the lens itself was OK.

Similar issues might have influenced your results with the MD 28-85mm.

S


That is for sure.

I was the owner of a Minolta MDIII 24mm that was bad in the corners. I red then about the impact of adapters on floating elements lenses and shimmed the adapter as good that I could. My unscientific reference was the average infinity stop of the many lenses I had and I stopped adding tape when most of my lenses hit the infinity stop correctly.

This improved somewhat the quality of the 24 but it was still not top notch and remained inferior to the Sigma Super Wide.

Same adapter was used on two copies of the zoom and the corners' problem was there.

So it is quite possible that the adapter is still off and I am interested by anyone who could claim good corners on this lens since I very much tried to like it and I was enthusiastic about central sharpness.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Adding to last post and sorry about derailing the thread: any good experience on Alpha 900 of the A mount version of this lens would be probably conclusive since they seem to be optically the same lens.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 31, 2022 3:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
lumens pixel wrote:
stevemark wrote:
lumens pixel wrote:
Alsatian2017 wrote:

Among my lenses with similar range, the Zeiss Vario-Sonnar 3,3-4/28-85, Canon FD 28-85 mm f/4 and Minolta MD 28-85 mm f/3,5-4,5 are a least as good if not better (Zeiss) than the Vivitar and they don't suffer from excessive vignetting. But I would rate the Vivitar higher then the equivalent Tamron SP and Tokina AT-X lenses which places it at the top of the third party 28-85/28-90 mm lenses. As such it is a much underrated and undervalued lens.


I never managed to obtain clear corners with the minolta 28-85 and Sony A7II except around 40-60mm. However central sharpness was always top notch. Part of the problem was field curvature, but not only.
...



I recently bought a second copy of the venerable and rare Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM. A quick-and-dirty test on the A900 did not reveal any problems, the price was OK - so I got it. Not much later I was using it on the A7RII, relying on a cheap Chinese adapter. It was a mess. When (manually) focusing at f=200mm/2.8 and zooming to f=100mm or even f=70mm, the image became totally blurred. Obviously the adapter was slightly too short, and therefore the Minolta AF 2.8/70-200mm APO G SSM has massive issues. Putting it bback to the A900 proved that the lens itself was OK.

Similar issues might have influenced your results with the MD 28-85mm.

S


That is for sure.

I was the owner of a Minolta MDIII 24mm that was bad in the corners. I red then about the impact of adapters on floating elements lenses and shimmed the adapter as good that I could. My unscientific reference was the average infinity stop of the many lenses I had and I stopped adding tape when most of my lenses hit the infinity stop correctly.

This improved somewhat the quality of the 24 but it was still not top notch and remained inferior to the Sigma Super Wide.

Same adapter was used on two copies of the zoom and the corners' problem was there.

So it is quite possible that the adapter is still off and I am interested by anyone who could claim good corners on this lens since I very much tried to like it and I was enthusiastic about central sharpness.


Hello,

as far as I could see with my own sample of the MD 28-85 mm, focusing the lens only moves the front group in a linear fashion so there are no floating elements involved - thus the adapter length registration shouldn't affect the image quality Wink

Regarding the different MD 24 mm f/2,8 versions, there are a lot of users reporting about the lack of sharpness outside of the image center. I've got the same lens (MD III) and IQ is near perfect, even better than with my similar spec Nikkor AI-S and Canon nFD lenses so it has quickly become my favorite choice for 24 mm. With my adapter, registration is slightly off (but precise with my other MD lenses so I won't bother to correct it...) while the border and corner sharpness stays at high levels. So I guess, your problem was rather a less than perfect positionning of the floating elements relative to the others than an imperfect adapter length.
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