What Are the Best and Worst of Vivitar and Series 1 Lenses?

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4288 Location: Switzerland

I just got a pretty nice sample of the Vivitar S1 3.8/24-48mm zoom. Here it is - together with another three of the most famous Series 1 zooms & varifocal lenses, namly the

Vivitar Series 1 24-48mm f/3.8 (made by Kiron)
Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 (made by Komine)
Vivitar Series 1 35-85mm f/2.8 (Variable focus, made by Kiron)
Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 (67mm version made by Kiron)

S

lumens pixel · Expire: 2021-06-25

Does any of these survive the comparison against a Canon nFD 70 210 f4 or a Minolta MD 75-200 f4,5 or 70 210 f4?

alex_d · Joined: 19 Jan 2019 Posts: 440

The best one is the one you don’t have, and the worst one is the one in your bag.

BrianSVP · Joined: 09 Jun 2023 Posts: 440 Location: Philadelphia

In my experience, the v3 (Komine) version of the VS1 70-210 is a significantly better lens than the Canon, beating it in image quality, max aperture (2.8-4 variable), and close focus ability (.7m vs 1.2mm). The Canon only really beats it in weight (700g vs 860g).

That Minolta f/4 is IMO a better lens than the Canon and is pretty comparable in image quality to the Vivitar.

The constant-aperture Kiron version of the Vivitar also produces excellent images, but is significantly more unwieldy than the later Komine version.

Phalbert · Joined: 17 May 2009 Posts: 398 Location: Namibia

[quote="stevemark"]I just got a pretty nice sample of the Vivitar S1 3.8/24-48mm zoom. Here it is - together with another three of the most famous Series 1 zooms & varifocal lenses, namly the

Vivitar Series 1 24-48mm f/3.8 (made by Kiron)
Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 (made by Komine)
Vivitar Series 1 35-85mm f/2.8 (Variable focus, made by Kiron)
Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 (67mm version made by Kiron)

These are all in MD mount, right?
What's the condition of the 35-85?

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4288 Location: Switzerland

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

BrianSVP · Joined: 09 Jun 2023 Posts: 440 Location: Philadelphia

The 35-85 is kind of an odd duck, but one area where it surprisingly hasn't gotten a lot of attention is how it renders bokeh on closeups.

Very defined "soap bubbles" similar to those that drive Meyer Trioplan prices through the roof, in a lens that typically sells for $50-$100.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1375

That 28-90mm version is an interesting focal length and aperture, I already have primes to cover up on c/y mount but this zoom would be interesting paired with the Zeiss 80-200mm. How good is wide open from 50-90mm for portraits ? That would be my main usage for it (maybe wider from time to time)

Phalbert · Joined: 17 May 2009 Posts: 398 Location: Namibia

@ kiddo
Remember, the 28-90 is vari-focal, not true zoom. If you can live with it... But it has a very good reputation. I can confirm that.
I have an OM and a PK copy.

blotafton · Joined: 08 Aug 2013 Posts: 1663 Location: Sweden

BrianSVP · Joined: 09 Jun 2023 Posts: 440 Location: Philadelphia

One other thing about the 28-90mm. Every single unserviced example of this lens I have ever come across, and it has been many, has had oily/slow aperture blades.

Every. Single. One.

The upshot of this is if you are planning on shooting film on your native mount you will have to have your lens serviced if you want proper exposures. I've seen this described as an "unserviceable" aperture, but fortunately, that's far from true, and the procedure is fairly simple.

1) Remove the three grub screws at the front, and unscrew the front group. Mark the original position and count the turns, as this group is used to set infinity.

2) Remove the second group using a pin spanner

3) Remove the three JIS screws on the front of the iris The iris now pops out as a single assembled unit

4) Apply acetone on the inset ring holding the element on the back of the iris and remove with a small friction tool.

5) The iris can now be cleaned by flooding with naphtha and swabbing

6) wipe off any excess oil from the inner barrel portions where the iris sits, and reinstall everything in the reverse order of disassembly

While you are in there, it's also worth checking the lens surfaces for any oil that might have migrated onto them and cleaning if necessary.

If you are using this lens on a fully manual adapter, some slowness in the blades is fine, but in many cases, they end up completely frozen, so you'll have to do such a cleaning, anyway.

Even if you don't realize that your example has a slow iris, after this cleaning, you will notice that the action is much snappier.