Vivitar Zoom or Tamron Zoom or Another Zoom

[Alternate Internet ID]

Hi

Was out with a colleague last week who had a very expensive Canon EF zoom with constant aperture.

I've decided something like that may come in handy in the future, so had a quick look around and narrowed it down to:

Vivitar Series 1 70-210 f3.5
Tamron Adaptall 2 80-210 f3.8-4
Vivitar 75-205 f3.8

All can be had reasonably cheaply.

Any other recommendations or advice on the above would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Lloydy]

Of those three I have the Vivitar S1 70-210, and it was very cheap. But it's very very good.
It is big and heavy, a lot of people don't like one touch zooms. But I do, it's a lens that has given me a lot of good pictures, it's sharp enough and the colours are excellent. Of the zooms I've got, this, and it's wider brother the Series 1 24-48 f3.8, are my most used. I wouldn't part with either.

[walter g]

Depends on what camera you have. If you can use Minolta lenses the Minolta MD 35-70 3.5 is a great lens for the money.

[ManualFocus-G]

The Tamron 103a is a great lens to start with, and cheap, but remember you'll need to cost in an Adaptall mount if you don't get one included. Lens is sharp but does suffer some purple fringing. But it's really sharp and built well.

[walter g]

For longer focal lengths there is also the Minolta Md 70-210 f4, but it's harder getting one for a bargain price.

[Karhallarn]

The Tamron Adaptall 46A, which is the successor to the Tamron you mentioned, is a very sharp, cheap and light zoom lens! And it has a continous focusing down to 1:2.2 magnification at 210mm!

Mine is very nice on my Olympus e600 and was even a bit better on my Nikon D200 and Canon EOS 40D!

I had the Vivitar S1 70-210 f3.5 with my Samsung GX20 back then and it was hell of a lens!

I would rate the Tamron and Vivitar on par optically but the Vivitar is much sturdier and heavier!

[William]

I'll agree that that Tamron's quite good and you can get one for under £10 nearly all the time. It's worth having, especially if you find one with a rare adapter because it'll be better than free...

[Alternate Internet ID]

Thanks for the added info.

I'm on a Canon 60D and already have an Adaptall adapter.

The Tamron's are practically being given away and even the Vivitar's are inexpensive.

I'll get whichever is the biggest bargain before the rest of the internet decides they want one.

[revers]

I have Vivitar 70-150/3.8 close focus & 70-210/3.5 & consider them both to be very good. I also have a Tokina 35-105/3.5-4.3 close focus that is very nice & I used it on vacation & never used any of the other lenses I took along. It sells dirt cheap & is a true bargain.

Here are samples from the Tokina:

[bazza59]

Ron excellent photos - damn that's another lens added to the wish list!!

[Lloydy]

Ron, I've got a very common Vivitar 80-200 with a constant f4 aperture and that's a remarkably good lens as well. I've done a rough test with it against my 70-210 Series1 and it stands up well.
It's a small, compact lens and a lot better than the 28-200 f3.5 / 5.3 lens that looks impressive; it's big and has a 72mm filter ring, but is actually a very average lens. ( Both of these lenses are Kobori, my 70-210 S1 is Kiron )

I think the Vivitar constant aperture lenses could be very under rated ?

[revers]

Lloyd, I wonder if your Viv 80-200/4 is the same lens as my Sears 80-200/4. It too, is comparable to my S1 Viv. (Tokina) 70-210/3.5.

[Lloydy]

It's this one Ron. A very under rated lens.

[revers]

They are very similar but not the same. Mine is made in Korea.

[killwilly]

Another Vivitar 80-200, my latest purchase from a charity shop for £7.
Serial number:- 25741756.

Not brilliant at 200, but 80 and close-focus is pretty good.


IMG_6064 by killwilly, on Flickr

[martinsmith99]

I have 2 Viv Series 1 70-210 zooms; the Kiron version (serial starts 22******) and the Komine (serial starts 28******). The Komine is F2.8-4 so not constant, but it is a little better than the Kiron version. Also, chck out the Vivitar 70-150 as it's cheap, light and as good as the 70-210s.

The 28-90 and the 35-85 are both quite amazing.

[revers]

[wupdigoj]

[Alternate Internet ID]

Well, I managed to bag a Vivitar 85-205mm f/3.8, a Tamron AD2 80-210mm f/3.8-4 and a Kiron 80-200mm f/4 from a local charity shop.
There was also a Pentacon 30mm f/3.5... all like new and all for £20.

I've only tried the Tamron as I don't have a PK adapter and I'm very impressed.

I don't do pictures of flowers but here's one I found in the garden.
Full 210 zoom at f/4 and ISO 320 with just the "Auto" button in Camera Raw (and a bit of a crop).
It was cloudy with a strong breeze too.



100% crop


I am easily impressed though.

[Ymmot]

What model is the Tamron (03A or 103A, last is supposedly better)?
I've got the 103A and must say I also like it very much, try stopping it down a bit to f/5.6 or f/8 and it sharpens up nicely.
Always use it with a hood though, mine flares like crazy (its not very clean inside, think someone before me opened it and did a poor job cleaning and !scratching! an internal element...).
It is a really solidly build lens though and focusses to 0.9m throughout the zoom range, nice for closeup.

[Attila]

Tamron SP 70-210mm f3.5 constants aperture , Tamron SP 35-80 both are pretty amazing performers. Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f2.8-f4 also.

Kiron 35-105 nice too.