Vivitar 105mm f/2.5 Macro with Ring Lite: examples

[cooltouch]

My Vivitar Series 1 100mm f/2.5 Macro (made by Kiron) was originally sold as a dental outfit with a Nikon N60 AF camera and a Yuzo ring light flash. I got the lens and flash as a package, found it in a local camera shop for a really great price.

I've been concerned about using the flash with my Canon XS (1000D) because I wasn't sure of its trigger voltage. Well, I finally got off my duff and measured the flash's trigger voltage and it's fine -- 4.3 volts -- so next up was to try it out with the Vivitar macro.

The Yuzo flash came with a 4-output-pin module dedicated for Nikon, but fortunately has two manual settings: full power and 1/16. I would like to find a Canon-dedicated module for it, I tell myself, but it wouldn't do any good with my DSLR. Canon changed its flash operation technology a while back, and the only way earlier dedicated flashes can be used on the latest Canon DSLRs is in manual mode. Heh. Oh well. But I also own an Elan IIe, so it wouldn't be a complete waste to have one.

I've discovered that when using the flash for very close up photography, that even at 1/16, it's putting out way too much light at optimum apertures. My Vivitar's resolution was clearly best between f/5.6 and f/11. It starts falling off noticeably by f/16. Unfortunately, trying to shoot at 1:1 or even 1:2 at f/8 or even f/11 with the flash set to 1/16 results in a pretty washed out image. I had to shoot my examples at f/16 and ~f/19, which was a struggle, having to look through such a dim viewfinder and all.

I am convinced this lens is sharper than the following photos indicate. I was shooting handheld and since I was shooting at 1:1 with the first two photos (and wanting to keep 1:2 with the last two), I was having to move in and out, toward and away from the subject, to focus. I really, really need to get a macro focusing stage for this sort of work.

Some tiny purple flowers, shot at 1:1, lens set to f/16:



100% crop:



A rose bud surrounded by young leaves, aperture set to f/16:



100%



An old Microtechnica 50mm f/1.3 projector lens, aperture set to f/16:



100%



A housefly. It wouldn't cooperate for a 1:1 shot. Every time I tried to get close enough for focus, it flew off. So I tried 1:2, and that finally worked. Aperture set to ~ f/19.



100%



The only image I did any PP to, other than cropping and resizing, was the image of the housefly. Contrast was a bit soft, and I applied a bit of high pass sharpening to it. All the other images have had no PP done to them at all.

As I stated before, I really do think that all images could have been sharper. A focusing stage is close to the top of my "gear to buy" list. It really is necessary for doing any sort of high-magnification photography.

Also, if I can figure out a way to take the shots at f/8 or f/11, this will help with sharpness as well. I'm thinking about making a covering from the ring out of some plastic diffuser material. I have some left over from a previous project. The thinking is that if the flash has to shoot through a diffuse white screen about 1/8" thick, this should hopefully knock down the light enough,.

[woodrim]

The 100% crop of the lens looks mighty sharp.

[cooltouch]

Yeah, I managed to nail it on the projector lens -- after four or five tries.

[Krisgage]

Congrats ! It's a good sharp lens ! I saw a Yuzo ring light flash from a local second shop here but missing the adaptor to any SLR hotshoe. What a pity, it is a brand new set !

[cooltouch]

Hey Krisgage,

If you think that Yuzo might still be there, you should probably be able to pick it up for cheap. I could probably come up with pin-outs for the hot contact and ground for you. Got a multimeter and test leads, so I should probably be able to figure out which of the contacts on the underside of the flash will be the important ones. Then, maybe you could hack the hot shoe off a cheap old flash and attach it to the bottom of the Yuzo. Just a thought.

[cooltouch]

I shot a few more with this lens. Not macro shots, the distance from camera to subjects was about one meter. Still playing around with the Yuzo flash and best aperture settings. The pix came out very well, I think. I didn't do any PP to the following images other than resizing and cropping.

Pentax KX sitting on a bookshelf


A 100% crop


Canon IIIa rangefinder sitting on a bookshelf


A 100% crop


Cleaning marks and all.

[Big Dawg]

Don't cha just love it?? I know I love mine.

[cooltouch]

Yep, sure do. I need to get myself a 52mm > 49mm adapter so I can use that ring light with my Tamron 90mm f/2.5 macro. The Tamron is clearly sharper than the Vivitar and I'd like to be able to do head-to-head tests with the two lenses using this flash.

Just to add a couple of things: I mistakenly stated that this lens was made by Komine in my first post; I've corrected that. Hey, Kiron and Komine share Ks, Is, Os, and Ns. Gets confusing

Also, after checking out Henry's posts with his Tokina 90/2.5, and the lens's almost total lack of CA, I took a cllose look at the reflections that you can see coming off the Canon rangefinder. This lens displays just the tiniest bit of purple fringing. Very well controlled. Good control of CA is something I'm a bit of a stickler about.

Big Dawg, you have the Dine, right? And yours came with a ring light? As I dimly recall, yours is a Sunpak, right? Does yours have sufficient manual control to handle 1:1 close-ups? With mine, at 1:1 and ISO 100, I'm having to shoot at f/19 or f/22, and the sharpness of that Vivitar is falling off quite a bit at those apertures.

[Krisgage]

[fish4570]

.40 S&W or .45ACP for your lens prop?

[cooltouch]

.45 ACP of course.