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Vivitar (Kobori) 28-85mm - Did I miss a good one?
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 5:56 pm    Post subject: Vivitar (Kobori) 28-85mm - Did I miss a good one? Reply with quote
I saw this "buy-it-now" auction earlier today in time to purchase the camera before the sale you see:

Click here to see on Ebay

I came here to research the lens, but found no real help. It's a 28-85mm, NOT the more popular 28-105mm.

It certainly looked like a nice lens but I didn't buy because I could not locate much data regarding this particular lens.

Anybody have any opinions on, experience with, the Vivitar 28-85mm?? I think it's actually made by Kobori.

Did I miss a good one?

I am having some second thoughts since I saw the camera first, declined a chance to buy, and then somebody else came in and grabbed it.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
90+% of these old zooms are crap so I think you dodged a bullet. The Konica zooms are very good and they are so cheap there's no excuse to settle for an inferior third party one.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's not a POS, just an ordinary zoom and nothing special.......on a film camera.


At 85mm, nice but not very sharp compared to my other lenses I've used....on this test scene.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
90+% of these old zooms are crap so I think you dodged a bullet. The Konica zooms are very good and they are so cheap there's no excuse to settle for an inferior third party one.

Kobori zooms are good. Comparable to Kiron or Komine.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you want that kind of range, You'd better look for a f 2.8-3.8, Vivitar or Kiron, it's the same, and (probably) one of the best.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pancolart wrote:
Kobori zooms are good. Comparable to Kiron or Komine.

Not all of them. I had a Kobori-made 80-200/4.5 which was acceptable on the short end but quite mediocre at the long end of the zoom.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pancolart wrote:
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
90+% of these old zooms are crap so I think you dodged a bullet. The Konica zooms are very good and they are so cheap there's no excuse to settle for an inferior third party one.

Kobori zooms are good. Comparable to Kiron or Komine.


Still not as good as the Konicas, seems silly to use other brands on a Konica body.


PostPosted: Tue Apr 16, 2013 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I've got maybe 5 or 6 Vivitar zooms that are the ordinary kind of zoom that was popular and cheap back in the day, and most are Kobori. But they are a mixed bag, the ones that people normally think should be slightly better, the constant aperture lenses, aren't necessarily the best. I've got a Vivitar / Kobori 28-200 3.5 / 5.3 that I swear is way sharper, and has less CA, than the Kiron Series 1 70-210 3.5.
But a Komine 35-70 3.5 constant ap' is decidedly average, although the specification is good and it is a big impressive looking lens - not that that counts for anything.
Vivitar sold so many zooms that it becomes confusing, especially when you factor in the different manufacturers. It makes it just about impossible to sort out the good, the bad and ugly.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 7:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
I've got maybe 5 or 6 Vivitar zooms that are the ordinary kind of zoom that was popular and cheap back in the day, and most are Kobori. But they are a mixed bag, the ones that people normally think should be slightly better, the constant aperture lenses, aren't necessarily the best. I've got a Vivitar / Kobori 28-200 3.5 / 5.3 that I swear is way sharper, and has less CA, than the Kiron Series 1 70-210 3.5.
But a Komine 35-70 3.5 constant ap' is decidedly average, although the specification is good and it is a big impressive looking lens - not that that counts for anything.
Vivitar sold so many zooms that it becomes confusing, especially when you factor in the different manufacturers. It makes it just about impossible to sort out the good, the bad and ugly.


...but you can look at it another way "what you don't know you don't miss"....and most people (including me) would have been happy with the results of many old zooms, but then we get into the phobia of comparing lenses and never satisfied (the grass is always greener on the other side).
Anyway a Konica with that zoom was a bargain at that price, and a good combo for anyone who wanted to try film.

Last edited by Excalibur on Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:03 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Absolutely right, the lens I described as "Vivitar Komine 35-70 3.5 constant ap' is decidedly average" was once my favorite lens, it was the second manual focus lens I bought for my new Pentax K10, and I did get some good shots from it. The goalposts keep moving, and we fight to keep up! Laughing


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Guys, thank you for your opinions, much appreciated. I guess, after reading them all I feel a little better . . . overall.

I really don't disagree with what anyone wrote. I do agree this camera/lens combo was a good value, which is what I was thinking when I first discovered the auction.

That said, I already have a (large) drawer full of old Konica film camera bodies, all bought for their (mostly Hexanon) lenses. So I guess I'm OK with having passed on this one. There are limits, and I need to start observing them a bit better.

This experience did instruct me concerning Kobori lenses. I own none of them and didn't know about them. I have the feeling Kobori lenses, generally speaking, are more or less on a par with Cosina in terms of optical quality.


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I recently had a chance to compare briefly two different Vivitar 28-200 lenses. One was made by Kobori Serial No 77XXXXXX and the other by Cosina Serial No 09XXXXXX.
Of the two, the Cosina was lighter and operated with tighter tolerances. The Kobori was heavier, and may have seen more use in its life, as the operation showed a tiny amount of play in the zoom and focus function. Both have a 72mm front element.
They were very close together in performance showing similar contrast and sharpness.
Here are two images shot from a tripod at 200mm both at f8.

The first is the Kobori:



The second is the Cosina:



The main difference seems to be in bokeh.

Hope this helps
OH


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
28-85mm version for Nikon. I will make test shots soon:







PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
We should start a topic on the various Vivitar, non Series 1, zooms and see if we can make sense of the huge range that is out there. Question


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I don't see the point to be honest, how many of the very many are any good? I've tried 30 or 40 third party zooms and can only think of one or two I'd bother attaching to a camera again, so I think it would be worthwhile to list the good ones which would be a short, easy to maintain list compared to listing all of them which would be a huge catalogue of crap...


PostPosted: Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Zeiss and Leica zooms are very good ones.

Konica 4/70-150 is good too. It's cheap and with nice contrast and IQ. But slow for some places.

The vivitar 28/85 series 1 has a very good reputation in my country. It's expensive.

The prime lenses always have a plus. Some of them are very hard to beat.


PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lloydy wrote:
Absolutely right, the lens I described as "Vivitar Komine 35-70 3.5 constant ap' is decidedly average" was once my favorite lens, it was the second manual focus lens I bought for my new Pentax K10, and I did get some good shots from it. The goalposts keep moving, and we fight to keep up! Laughing


I conducted a test in ~1985 with a lot of various om mount lenses
The vivitar/komine 35/70 3.5 constant was one the BEST lens at that perioded
The IQ is absolutely equal to the famous Zuiko 35/70 3.6 EXCEPT at 35mm/3.5 where the zuiko is better but at ALL other apertures/focals the komine is as good or better than the zuiko


PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 10:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Pancolart wrote:
28-85mm version for Nikon. I will make test shots soon:







I have the Vivitar 2.8-3.8 28-85mm "Auto Variable focusing" lens serial 22xxxx with the 67mm front in PK mount,There seems to be a lot of variations out there of this Vivitar lens .
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