Vivitar / Kiron 28 2.5

[walter g]

I need a wide angle lens for my 10D, I've been bidding on 24's, but the ones I want are out of my price range. Just haven't lucked into one yet at my price.

The Vivitar 28 2.5 is a lens I've wanted to try, so when this copy came up at the right price, I placed a bid on it and won.
I really didn't need another TC but it came with it. I tried a forum search and didn't get many hits.
So can anyone tell me what to expect from this lens? Samples would be nice if you have them.

Link to the auction.
Click here to see on Ebay

[cooltouch]

Well, shoot, Walter, you can't very well go wrong at that price, can you? That aside, being Kiron made and an f/2.5 to boot, I suspect it will be an outstanding optic, perhaps easily worth 10x the price.

After you've had a chance to take some pix with it, come on back here and post some, let us see how well you did.

Also, it just occurred to me -- did you try searching here to see if anyone else with that lens may have posted some images from it?

[walter g]

Thank You. I'm looking foward to getting and testing this lens. I will post the results.

Price wise I'm happy, but it's more then I normally pay for my lenses.
I've been really lucky and bought alot of my lenses for $5 or under.

It's kinda funny I did a search on all available forums and didn't get many hits.
I just tried it under Digital gallery MF and got more hits. By the results I saw I think I will like this lens. Hopefully I got a good copy.

[IAZA]

my wife's shot, with EOS 1000D & vivitar 28/2,5

[walter g]

IAZA, Thank You, I was wondering if I would get the width of field I wanted on the EOS, and thanks to you pic, it looks like it will be fine for my purposes.

[IAZA]

I'm satisfied with this lens, for cheap price.
If you wanna see other samples, here at my blog
btw that price is very good, with TC. Congrats

[LucisPictor]

That's a very fine piece of glass!
I had several copies and liked all of them

But an 28mm is not really a wide angle on a 10D, isn't it?

[cooltouch]

Nope, on a 1000D or any crop body Canon, a 28mm is gonna be right at a "normal" focal length. Still useful, though.

[walter g]

Thanks guys. This is as wide as I can afford right now. My normal walk around lens when using film is the Minolta Rokkor X 45 f2. So this will be the replacement for that. Still like to go wider but I need to save and be really really lucky.

[LucisPictor]

Yes, that indeed is a problem. "Real" wide angle lenses for crop cams are pretty expensive. Sometimes you can find a 19-21mm Cosinon lens for rather little money. Or a 24mm Vivitar or even Tamron.

[ChromaticAberration]

This is something that bugs the hell out of me, even though I don't shoot much landscapes, most of use who have a crop sensor will probably never have a true wide angle lens due to abusive pricing of course.

[cooltouch]

Well, now, hang on a sec -- this is true for manual focus lenses, sure, and I realize this is an MF lenses forum, but still, you make it sound like all wa lenses are out of a normal budget price range. But it isn't if you buy an AF lens. My EOS XS (1000D) came with the 18-55mm IS kit lens. A lot of people bad-mouth this lens because its mostly plastic, and because of that, they think it's incapable of delivering good images. Well, lemme tell ya, they are dead wrong. The latest model EF 18-55mm IS lens takes great photos. 18mm is about the equivalent of a 28mm full frame lens. Brand new, my kit lens can be bought for a little more than $100. Used, for about half that. True, if you want to buy a super-wide for a crop-body, like an 11-16mm, etc., then you're talking about a hefty chunk of change. But I don't believe that's what's being discussed here anyway.

[revers]

My Vivitar 28/2.8 is Bauer made, a maker never talked about.

[RioRico]

Good 28's CAN be had, cheap. Not many months ago on eBay I won a Vivitar-Kiron 28/2.5 for US$20 shipped, and I was happy. Immediately, I won a Tamron BBAR 28/2.5 for $4 and I was happiest. Immediately, I won a Vivitar-Komine CFWA 28/2 for $18 and I was delirious. Keep searching, and you can get lucky.

But as mentioned, 28mm is wide on a FF cam but is right around 'normal' on any crop sensor. I now have two surplus 24/2.8's: M42 Sigma-Z, and T2 (with M42 adapter) Super-Albinar, which I think is also by Sigma. In about 3-4 weeks I'll put them on eBay. Can you wait that long?

Another wider option is the Tokina-made 21/3.8, varously badged as Vivitar, Soligor, Lentar, etc. It may still be found for under US$100. On a crop sensor, it's FOV is about the same as a 28-30mm. That is, it's actually WIDE.

Good luck!

[walter g]

The 21 3.8 will most likely be the lens I buy for my wide angle lens.
When I mention lenses being out of my price range, in reality all lenses are.

For the months that I have a lens budget, and I don't every month, it is only between $20-$25 USD. I won't by any lens because it's cheap. I try to get the best I can afford.

[walter g]

It came today and it's in wonderful shape. I didn't realize they have an A/M switch so I'm happy about that.

62mm filter thread so I will need to buy a hood. I'm pretty happy with the width it gives me.
These were taken a few minutes ago. No great shots here. But that's me not the lens.
1ST at infinity. 2ND at close to minimum focus distance. 2Nd shot too much wind I didn't nail the shot. No PP but they need them.
Probably wouldn't help the shota anyway.

[RioRico]

The Tokina-made 21/3.8 is a nice performer. At least, my M42 Super-Lentar copy is. I like it on my FF film cameras, where it is WIDE. On my APS-C dSLR (Pentax K20D) I use it on bright days set to f/11, prefocused to 2m for DOF from 1m to infinity, so it's a good P&S! It is also fun on a short macro tube, say 10mm, to reduce its close focus from 30cm to about 3cm!

It is the one lens I seriously regret not having brought on my current journey. I just forgot to pack it, duh...

[walter g]

[walter g]

I think I'm going to like this lens. Shot is at 2.5 with no PP. Shot is at Minimum Focus Distance.