Vivitar 28-90 SER1

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2536

Sharpness is much better for the corrected primes of course, especially the wide angle side of it a non-retrofocal prime vs a retrofocal varifocus zoom at it's extremity. The colors seem a bit warm to me on the Vivitar. I guess Fuji handles the lens differently than Pentax. There is no magenta cast, but there is a green cast. When I draw white balance from the plate (Lightroom 5) I get.

Vivitar 90mm -6 towards blue +27 toward magenta
Fujifilm 90 -14 towards blue and -3 towards green
Vivitar 28mm -6 toward blue and +21 towards magenta
Fujifilm 27mm -3 towards blue and -4 towards green

So the most obvious cast in the Vivitar is green. Everything is a bit warm, but maybe that is an indirect cast from a sunlit surface.

Also the Vivitar is obviously not corrected by the camera in the 28mm shot. massive difference on distortion.

alex ph · Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 1674

I've got mine, with FD mount. Not the most convenient option, as I cannot manage the aperture control. I don't figure why the aperture ring turns back to WO, as if there is a spring which is not released. So I use the "Close / Open" ring instead on the NEX-FD adapter, to change the aperture. Wierd but works.

On the positive side, I am struck with the MFD at 28mm. It gives a macro distance, kind of 10cm, without any special button, which is a joy to use. Earlier I tested another "macro" zoom which works in the opposite way: you have a dedicated macro button and the max close up is at the long end of the zoom. So having a 28mm sharp lens with 10cm MFD is a rare option.

Another nice feature is the way the lens renders light: there is enough of micro constrast and some joyful airy rendering.

On the negative side there is a strongly pronounced purple fringing at the zoom's short end.

Here are some of my samples

#1 At 28mm

#2 At 50mm

#3 At 90mm

#4 MFD, at 28mm

#5 Strong purple fringing at 28mm

#6 Pronounced but less harsh CA at 90mm, and a pretty good general contrast

#7 The sharpness WO of my copy at 90mm is visibly weaker than at 28mm, but once converted into BW, the image has a mild glow which i find interesting

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 9096 Location: Houston, Texas

With the NEX FD adapter used with an FD mount lens, you need to make sure that that post in the adapter is positioned such that it stops the lens down. If it is positioned before the lever in the lens, the lens won't stop down. Whenever I mount an FD lens to my NEX-FD adapter, I always double-check to make sure that the lever is being engaged properly so the lens operates manually.