Vivitar 75-205 1:3.8, m42

[Volunteer]

Any info on this? I'm finding different opinions on it, from bad and mediocre, to excellent.

This is the one, I'm thinkig of buying it:

[luisalegria]

This is I believe the later version of the Kiron-made 85-205 f/3.8 close focus
The older one is a pretty good lens by my standards, I don't know about this version but its probably not worse.

I am sure there is always a better lens, but it may be difficult to distinguish them.

Don't pay too much, these lenses have a very low value. In US ebay you can easily get one for $10-20

[MacTak]

I have this exact lens and mine was lucky enough to come with the manual. This lens is just a slightly down-speced edition of the first version of the Series 1 70-210 f3.5, with the front element reduced in size. Both are, of course, Kiron made. Since I have the manual, I can confirm the optical design is identical between the two, expect for the front element size (this one has a more manageable 58mm as opposed to 67mm filter thread). So it should perform in essence the same as the S1, which is to say very well. I found mine to be quite sharp with low CA at all focal lengths in the middle aperture values (didn't test very much wide open, but I'd except it to be a little soft). Close-focusing is another nice feature and I found it to be surprisingly good. It's built quite solidly as well, and is rather heavy. In my opinion, it is the best value manual zoom lens out there, since you're getting S1 performance for pennies. I have also seen a one-touch version with the same specs, but I do not know if that one has the same optical formula as our two-touch version.

[martinsmith99]

I believe this is similar, (maybe better) to the 85-205. I have the 85-205; thread here: http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=32800&view=previous

[anscochrome]

That lens was the perennial "I am a high school yearbook photographer in 1973 who wants better than a 135 mm F 2.8" lens. Every Minolta SRT-101 toting yearbook photographer had on it seemed.