A very humble lens

[luisalegria]

A dive into the depths of mediocrity - or is it ?

It seems to me that an awful lot of the "crap" lenses we all turn up our noses at, those available for $5 at the garage sale and the thrift shop, are not half bad and very usable. Like, for instance, all those third-party 1970's zooms.

Now, as a rule I have always hated zooms. I am much too primitive a human (being part-Basque I have some probable claim to be a Cro-Magnon). But somehow or other I have more than a dozen of them, Tamron and Tokina, Sigma and Vivitar and even less worthy names, but even one Nikkor (75-150 Nikkor-E).



This one is a Vivitar 85-205/3.8 "Macro focusing" zoom that I have from my father-in-law. It is, according to the Vivitar serial number series, made by Kiron. I have also seen what must be the same lens under many other brands, like Soligor. It dates to the early 1970's I believe.

So I took it downtown to work one day to give it a try.







100% crop from above (I assume this means something like a crop from a "view pixels" level zoom in Photoshop) -



Well, I don't think this thing is all bad. I know I ruin more shots by bad focus, shake and lighting than through the quality of the lens, and for my purposes and ability this thing is more than good enough.

[Juanma]

Kiron lenses are not the best known, but they have a very good reputation. Now you know why.

[peterqd]

Excellent resolution and brilliant focussing by you too, Luis. The benefit of using a zoom has always been avoiding the need to carry several different lenses and keep swapping them on the camera. I've come late into using a zoom lens and I must say, for some occasions I find them really useful from this angle. But for this ease of use there's always going to be a compromise of some sort, particularly at the extremes of the zoom travel. Speaking generally, I've found zooms have more difficulty controlling distortion than many of my primes, which is especially important for me. You can see a little barrel distortion on the RH side of your first pic, but not really too bad.

[LucisPictor]

Really not bad at all!
Some of the lenses in the 70/80-200/210 range are really good zoom lenses.

[Attila]

Very nice lens seem good as than any brand like Nikkor or Olympus zooms, Thank you for sharing!

[Katastrofo]

Luis, your pictures convinced me to bid on this and win:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130206746769&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=003

Bill

[Attila]

Right decision Bill, congrats!

[Katastrofo]

[Attila]

About lens testing ... if you see bookshelf or neighbor wall photos as test pictures I suppose you never take this lens right ?

[Katastrofo]

[Laurence]

Here is a good example of how a large majority of lenses are evidently so "close" in quality as to be distinguishable only by "technical testing". The images here testify to the brilliance and clarity of the Vivitar lens. It seems to be a VERY worthy lens, and the zoom can certainly come in handy in the appropriate setting. NICE!

[luisalegria]

Uh-oh !

Bill, I hope you like what you bought !

One problem with used stuff is the condition can vary so much. In my case it belonged to an old gent who only used it carefully. If it had belonged to me 25-30 years ago you wouldn't want to buy it.

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, Luis, yes, it is a crapshoot when dealing with ebay auctions. I'll post my findings to this thread, good or bad.

Bill

[mjkerpan]

The Nikon Series E 75-150 f/3.5 has an almost legendary reputation (it's the only Series E lens that falls into that catergory, actually. That you could find one for $5 at yard sale means that people do NO reasearch before putting stuff up for sale...

[Attila]

Please put this samples in high res into your mflenses/gallery.

[Case from Holland]

[luisalegria]

Hi Attila,

Yes I will, though I may have to take some more worthwhile pictures, I don't know if I have 10 good ones.

I didn't buy the Nikkor-E on its own, in fact I have only deliberately purchased one zoom in my whole life (an Aetna-Rokunar, recently, because I liked its looks - and it is a dreadful lens). The Nikkor was part of a used outfit with a Nikon FE and various lenses.

Others I have - inherited, came with cameras, etc. -

Sigma 28-80 for Olympus (came in a box of used/broken lenses, of which none were actually broken; it works fine on the OM-10)
Tamron 35-135 PK (came with a Pentax LX, along with my "best" lenses, Pentax 50/4 Macro and Pentax 24/2.8, among others)
Tokina 28-80 PK (ditto)
Tokina 70-210 PK (ditto - this is an extremely compact lens btw, and although slow it takes great pictures; maybe I'll stick it in here)
Nikkor E 75-150 (as above)
Quantaray 28-80 for Nikon
Aetna-Rokunar 70-200 T- mount (actually C/Y, but T works)
Vivitar 85-205 M42, as above
Sigma 80-200 M42 - flares something awful, came with my used Spotmatic 30 years ago

etc.

Much of what I have I should say has fallen into my hands accidentally.

[Attila]

Many thanks to provide full size images!
http://www.mflenses.com/gallery/v/japenese/vivitar/

Please keep up your good work! Many thanks again!

[luisalegria]

You are welcome !

Just let me know what you would like in your gallery.

[Attila]

With MF lens what you have is fine, I prefer taken with missing lenses, but if it's already there also ok, because more samples more overview from lens quality. I love really your samples, nice colors, nice subjects , simple perfect.

[Katastrofo]

Well, my lens arrived today and here are some shots:

First one taken with Canon G2 to show lens on Oly e300. Looks like
brand new with both endcaps, owners manual, fitted styrofoam box,
and haze filter.



test shots at almost dusk:





Kiron manufacture, and I'm pleased with the results, especially at the
price I got this lens! And this will fit my Nikon F without adapter of course.

Bill

[Attila]

Second one is really sharp!
I have a Vivitar Series 1 90-180mm f4.5 Flat field macro lens (famous and can be expensive zoom lens) This lens seems same or better

[Katastrofo]

The cat pic could've been sharper, but he was in his panning mode for
things to find and destroy! Yeah, if it is focused correctly, gives
pretty good results!

[luisalegria]

What a relief !

Nice lens, nice deal. It does look like new. The close focus is very handy too. I have been getting annoyed with my 135 collection, most of these things don't go less than 5".

[rbsinto]

One of the three zooms I routinely carry on the street is a Samyang 18~28 f4.0-4.5 zoom.
It is the same Cosina-made optic as the Vivitar, and Phoenix-branded models and I got mine for $50.00 US on ebay. For the money a wonderful bargain, but I know more than a few glass-snobs who turn their noses up at lenses like this, because it isn't badged by one of the major camera companies or the premier lens makers.
Over the years there have been many lenses produced by this or that company that have been superb, but known and used only by those who've done a bit of homework.