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

Oldhand · Last edited by Oldhand on Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:36 pm; edited 1 time in total

The title says it all.
The best of this line of lenses are excellent.
I have some.
But the thought occurred to me that this forum would be the perfect place to ask for considered opinions on which of the Vivitar Series 1 Lenses were the best of the tribe.
Clearly some were just so-so while others really shone.
There are reviews all over the 'net but there does not seem to be a compendium of opinion on them all in one place.
Soooo... here we go.
Please feel free to contribute.
OH

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7581 Location: Hong Kong

It is hard to tell which one is the best. Every one have different set of criterion. However, I think most people will agrees the best macro prime is 2.5/90(Bokina) and the best macro zoom is 90-180mm Flat Field.

Oldhand · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 9:13 am Post subject:

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

It's not always easy to do a direct comparison against other lenses, but I highly rate -

Vivitar S1 24-48 / 3.8. An odd zoom, it's a big heavy two ring lens with a 77mm filter ring. Mine is a Kiron, and very good.
It's the only zoom I have in this short and wide range, and it's unfair to compare it with 35-70's. But I think it is good enough to withstand comparison with other lenses in the same range.

Vivitar S1 28 / 1.9. VMC. Stunning lens, got to have a hood though. Made by Tokina
I hardly use any other 28mm lens now, and I have 17 others to choose from. It's possibly not as sharp as the Rokkor, Zuiko and Pentax prime 28's in my arsenal, but it's so close it doesn't matter, and the bokeh at 1.9 is the attraction.

Vivitar S1 70-210 / 3.5 Macro. A great lens, legendary and rightly so. But it is a big heavy old thing. Kiron.
I don't know if this is the sharpest of the pair of 70-210's or not, they are both sharp and very good. This might have the optical edge?

Vivitar S1 70-210 / 2.8 - 4 The Komine lens is smaller and lighter than the Kiron, so it gets used a lot more. Another worthy legend
But this wins on the versatility and usability front. It never dissapoints.
Are these 70-210's the best of the Soligor CD, Miranda, Auto Steinheill, Tamron, Yashica lenses I've got in a similar range ? The Yashica 80-200 / 4 is in the same league for sure - a direct competitor, although slower. But does the Tokina AT-X SD 80-200 / 2.8 trump them all? I can't say for sure, it's a small and fiercely fought place at the top of the league.

Vivitar S1 28-90 / 2.8 - 3.5 VMC. Macro. Another Komine, another great lens. A very easy to use one touch macro zoom.
A newcomer, but it gets a lot of use. 28-90? it's got to withstand comparison to the 35-70 bracket, and it holds up well against the benchmark Rokkor and the Tamron 17 A. I would put it in second place.

anktonio · Expire: 2017-02-22

I have the second version of the Vivitar S1 70-210 f/3.5 made by Tokina. It is the lightest of the three first versions. I have seen results from other high-end brand lenses in the same focal, and I can only say that this S1 equals or exceeds them at all focal. In my eyes and opinion.

Certainly deserves to be called S1, is very good. Subsequent to the third versions are not interested, their quality was reduced drastically.

However, there are some other Vivitar lens that comes in disguise: not belong to the Series 1, but worth it. for example, Vivitar 28mm f/2.0 Close Focus (Komine version)... really good!

Happy shots!

bernhardas · Expire: 2017-05-23

Oldhand · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 12:04 pm Post subject:

iangreenhalgh1 · Expire: 2014-01-07

I think copy variation has to be considered too, I had a Tokina made S1 70-210 that was clearly inferior to other people's copies and a S1 2.3/135 that was rotten, both were in pretty much mint condition so no doubt left the factory with issues.

anktonio · Expire: 2017-02-22

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

eno789 · Joined: 27 Aug 2010 Posts: 159 Location: California

Agree about the 90mm f/2.5 Macro (pre-Bokina) and 90-180mm f/4.5 Flat Field.

There's also a S1 105mm f/2.5 Macro that goes to 1:1. This is actually the same lens as Kiron/Lester Dine 105mm f/2.8 Macro, or a non S1 Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 Macro.

bernhardas · Expire: 2017-05-23

Thanks oldhand and lloydy.

To oldhands original question, I can only nod to the previous answers.
I would count the bokina and macro zoom as very good lenses.
All other fixed length are good to very good. The 35 1.9 was actually not branded as s1, but I would count it in the same quality.
I have only two series 1 zooms of the original lot. The early 70-210 which is good, and the 35-85 2.8 which is a bit disappointing.
All later s1 zooms are a pure marketing exercise and all disappoint more or less.

So the worst lens in my opinion and experience is the 35-85 from the original s1
And the 100-500 from the later s1.

sceptic · Joined: 01 Jun 2013 Posts: 255

Another vote for the 90/2.5. Of all my S1 lenses; 90/2.5, 70-210/3.5 (Kiron), 70-210/2.8-4.0 (Komine), 200/3.0 and 100/2.8 (as pointed out, the same as the S1 105/2.5), the 90 is clearly the optically best performer. It's the only one I would consider rivaling modern lenses in terms of performance. To be fair, I don't have any modern tele zooms with which to compare the 70-210 lenses, but I don't find them to be in the same league as the 90/2.5. The 200/3.0 was a bit of a disappointment, with severe purple fringing at large apertures.

SonicScot · Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 10:54 pm Post subject:

Commenting to put a marker down, I'll be back with my soon-to-be considered opinion when I have more time/energy.

texsport · Joined: 12 Feb 2013 Posts: 53

Great discussion!

Have all the lenses mentioned except the 24-48, but will look for a copy, though I tend to shoot XPan or Widelux when I want to go wider.

Everything but the 28-90 used mostly on OMD, but still shoot most of them fairly frequently on film with Olympus and Canon cameras.

I use the 200/3 on OMD for outdoor sports. Lots of stadia limit the length of lenses these days. It's compact and nice and hefty in hand.

28-90, 90 "Bokina",and 90-180 Flat Field used all the time.

Texsport

woodrim · Joined: 14 Jan 2010 Posts: 4060 Location: Charleston

Anyone that has paid attention would know that I am a fan of Series 1 lenses, although I do not have as many as others here. Since I do not have a single manual zoom in my collection of lenses, I can only comment on the primes, but not likely to say anything I have not said before. I have 2.5/90, 2.3/135, and 3/200. While the 2/28 and 2.8/28 Close Focus lenses by Komine are not labeled as Series 1, I think they easily could have been. I have them both.

A few words about the blue/purple fringing. I only see minimal CA from the 90mm and only in the extremes where it would be expected. The 135mm and 200mm do suffer from it, but I found a remarkable difference when I upgraded my camera to the NEX-5N. In many cases I no longer experience CA and when I do, it is much less apparent than with the older sensor of my Sony A200. I also find it easily corrected, so it became a non issue with me, especially given the overall image quality of the lenses.

The 2.5/90 will get my vote for the best of the three I have. It seems insanely sharp and is quite so even at f/2.5. I rarely use it with the 1:1 optical adapter, probably because I rarely do macro photography. I do appreciate its standard macro mode and use it for close up photography. Whether shooting close or far, the lens performs wonderfully. The build quality is extraordinary.

The 2.3/135 is also very sharp from wide open, although you better have good focusing skills with such a narrow depth of field. Focusing is quite close for a lens of this focal length, which makes it very useful for flowers and butterflies. Again, the build quality is excellent.

The 3/200 was the first one I purchased. I was initially struck by the blue fringing and I was equally disappointed with the wide open performance. I had a hard time hitting the focus perfectly until I had plenty of practice. With that practice came much better results, including less CA, but the wide open performance was still lacking. I found that I could only get acceptable wide open results in subdued lighting. I should mention that this was all with my older A200. When I started using the NEX-5N there was a remarkable difference; even more so than with the 135mm. With the change of sensor, suddenly wide open pictures were crisp in any lighting. It was revealing just how much difference was made by the camera. The 200mm has been my most used of the three lenses and the lens that has produced the largest number of favorite shots. Granted, much of the photography that I do - for instance, sea birds - requires the longer focal length. I rate the lens very good with sharpness and bokeh, has close minimum focus, and like the others, it is built very well.

Should I stumble upon any of the other S1 primes at good prices, I won't hesitate to buy. I may even be tempted to purchase the 3rd version, Komine 70-210 zoom.

I will offer pictures from the three lenses, all at wide open. Maybe some I have not already shared.

S1 2.5/90

S1 2.3/135

S1 3/200

kenetik · Joined: 02 Mar 2014 Posts: 521

Beautiful shots as always, Woodrim. I wish I could produce that kind of art with the Series 1s. I have several series 1 lenses now, and agree with almost all of what was said before. As for the dogs of the bunch, I don't know there really were any bad lenses in the original lineup. I guess if you paid a ton for a 35-85 new back in the day and were disappointed, you might disagree. But even that lens, while unremarkable at the desired 2.8 aperture, isn't a bad lens, I've seen some amazing output from that one.

The only lens I have labeled Series 1 that isn't very good or fun to use is the 70-210 2.8-4 Cosina version. It's a shame because the copy I have looks brand new.

I also think the Komine 2 and 2.8 Close Focus lenses could have been Series 1, they're excellent. In fact, IMO almost everything Komine made for Vivitar could have been Series 1. I have a 100-200 Viv/komine which is outstanding, the 400/5.6 is the best manual long lens I have used.

I saw the 35 1.9 mentioned earlier, people forget that wasn't a Series 1.

Edit: I'm interested in what people think of the 28-105 Viv/Kiron. I love the 28-90. You don't hear nearly as much mention of it's slightly bigger brother.

eeec · Joined: 16 Jun 2013 Posts: 45 Location: Edmonton, Canada

Besides reiterating that the 90/2.5 is one of the finest lenses ever made, I'll comment on a non-Series-1 Vivitar: the 75-205mm f/3.8. I like it as much as either of the 70-210 Series-1's that I've had (versions 2 and 3). It can be snatched on eBay for $25, is built like a tank, is super-sharp, and handles great. Almost 30 years of using it and I've never been let down.

The 28-90mm that's been mentioned is also a great lens, though I've had two that the apertures have gone bad on.

bruzzo · Joined: 05 Jul 2012 Posts: 153

A very interesting topic indeed! A nice thread to read to get my weekend started with a few of these excellent Vivitar lenses that I have after being forgotten for awhile.

I have not tried all the Vivitar series 1 lenses, so it's hard to actually say which is the best. But I guess I will go with the one that I use the most for this discussion.

And ironically, the one I use the most that is Vivitar is the Vivitar 28/2 "Close Focus" by komine. Yes it's not a series 1 but I think it's worth a mention as anktonio and Woodrim did already in this thread. Great little lens with much versatility for everyday use, great on both FF and APSC.

The second I find myself use most is the Bokeh King "Bokina" 90/2.5 Macro. I heard the S1 105/2.5 is also of very high quality that rivals the Bokina. I haven't tried the 105/2.5 so I would go with the Bokina but I'm sure it's a great lens too based on the samples I saw.

Third one I use most I think is a draw: the 28-90/2.8-3.5 and the 70-210/3.5 (2nd Tokina version) since I often bring both of them together. Both provide pretty close focusing capability, and I like these zoom ranges a lot. However, these zoom ranges are quite competitive and you can find many alternatives with these kinds of ranges. Eg. I would consider the Tamron 19AH 70-210/3.5 optically superior to the Vivitar S1 Tokina 70-210/3.5, but the Vivitar is a lot smaller and lighter so I think is a fair trade off to the optical quality of the 19AH, and also worth a mention is that it has less purple fringing in F3.5 than the Tamron imo at least in my copy. The 28-90 is imo a good lens for video as well. Relatively large aperture compared to conventional 28-105 / 28-135 range gives it an edge to other alternatives.

But I think I'll take my Vivitar 200/3 and 135/2.3 out to give it a spin this weekend as many here have reminded me about these two lenses. Neither of them had much usage since I find myself choosing the more modern Sigma 70-200/2.8 than the 200/3, and the Soligor 100/2 rather than the 135/2.3. Hopefully I'll shoot some nice pictures with these two lenses this weekend Smile

.

Oldhand · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:26 am Post subject:

I hope that the topic for this thread hasn't been misunderstood.
I was not suggesting that a single lens was the best of the Vivitars, or a single lens the worst.
What I imagined was that there would be commentary on the Vivitar lenses that were the known to be excellent. Clearly these lenses would be more useful and desirable than those Vivitars which were poor performers.
Anyhoo I'll nominate the Vivitar 70-210 f3.5 from Kiron - even though there is quite a following for the Komine version. Strangely, there seems to be lots of positive words written about the Komine but very few images are ever posted. The best that I have seen are usually of Kiron origin.
Here are a few quick snaps from my S1 Kiron 70-210/3.5 - all taken at f3.5 and strangely without me noticing it - with the lens in macro mode. Embarassed

OH

RAART · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 5:38 am Post subject:

@bruzzo - I have S1 70-210mm zoom (Kiron) in Nikon mount and also 19AH and my S1 zoom wipes the floor with 19AH. Maybe it is my copy of 19AH while other Tamron 03A is also better than 19AH in terms of sharpness and CA. It speaks for the quality of Series 1... I love my Kiron zoom and never will part with it.

@woodrim - Amazing series of pictures... for my m4/3 Oly I went for Konica but I see that could be easy also S1 primes...

RAART · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 6:00 am Post subject:

tao · Expire: 2015-03-12

I know that the OP as well as everyone on this thread was thinking about the "true" vintage S1. However lately there has been resurrected S1's available in some markets. These were mostly rebranded Samyang so they should be pretty good. Anyhow, some exceptions were known. There were a Japanese-made Vivitar Series 1 55/1.2, which I believe was made by Cosina, and a Chinese-made Vivitar Series 1 85/1.8 of unknown origin.

BTW, I like my 90/2.5 macro.

bernhardas · Expire: 2017-05-23

Oldhand

I really like the bird pictures, but the last one could be straight out of Angry Birds Very Happy

Oldhand · Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 8:11 am Post subject: