Comments on Hin's Tech Corner: LBA repurchase Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 1:1 Macro from ...

From the old German report, Vivitar 100mm was bet...

2010-04-01T12:34:23.860-07:00

From the old German report, Vivitar 100mm was better than the Kiron 105mm in wide open aperture and in tele-end.

Michael has compared the Kiron 105mm with the Tamron 90mm 2.5 (52BB) on his blog, and his result matches the report
http://michaelmcbroom.com/blog/?p=230

Since I have the same Tamron 52BB, I would do a comparison test too with the Vivitar 100mm this weekend and see if it has the same weakness as the Kiron ones. :)

Thank you for the valuable inputs. I can be wrong...

2010-04-01T11:01:22.685-07:00

Thank you for the valuable inputs. I can be wrong about this as I hear from others mentioning about similar optics among the various incarnations. The color in the Lester A Dine 105mm f/2.8 is amazing when I used it on flowers and I don't recall seeing warm color that make the pictures non-natural. The caveats that I found mostly happens in finding CA/purple fringing when I used it on an event shooting on a singing performer wearing a white head in sunset outdoor lighting.

I only have one shooting using the Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 with Pentax K-x. The color and bokeh is beautiful but I really can't quantify which one is better as I used different cameras. One thing that I hope is not finding CA/purple fringing in the 100mm as easy as I found in Lester 105mm.

Hi Hin, Sorry for being unclear, but can you comp...

2010-03-31T12:23:19.197-07:00

Hi Hin,

Sorry for being unclear, but can you compare the color output of your previous show by Lester A dine with this 100mm in similar lighting? I know it may not be easy, but
I have come acrossed this interesting old test report to compare the Kiron 105mm 2.8 with Vivitar 100mm 2.8

http://www.nikon-foto.de/templates/stuff/kiron/kiron_artikel_105_4.jpg

and seems like these two lens are not the same and optically the 100mm is superior. Too bad they didn't mention the serial # on the Vivitar lens so I can't be sure the 100mm they tested is made by Kiron as well

The upper chart on the report is sharpness, and the lower chart is contrast. The horizontal line is from the middle of the lens to the edge.

On the bottom of the page you can see their optical quality score and mechanical (build?) quality score

Here is my German translation with Google's help, if there is any German speaking fiends here, please let me know if I got it wrong :)

Vivitar 100mm 2.8 Macro
- Such a macro lens!The open aperture and the aperture 5.6 was measured in infinity. The values show that on the lens is infinitely good and therefore it can be used as telephoto lens.
At f11 was measured with the macro ratio of 1:2. Even then sharpness are excellent and brilliance. It is a very good macro lens, which also brings good results in tele ends.
- Color : Natural
- IQ value (less is better): Open aperture-2.8; Tele- 1.8, Macro-1.6; Overall 2.1

But on the Kiron 105mm 2.8, their comment is less favorable, as reflected on their charts:

- At full aperture the lens is only to adjust. The sharpness in this area only moderate. In tele end at aperture 8 is still good. When macro at 1:2 and f/8, however, is good. It is a lens that, bring mainly used in short-end macro range, good to very good results

- Color - On the warm side
- IQ value (less is better): Open aperture-5; Tele- 3, Macro-1.8; Overall 3

I was confused too as all the people are saying the 105mm is the same as the 100mm. So, if you can confirm the Lester A dine 105mm is indeed warmer than your 100mm, it can be an evidence that 100mm is different and better :)

@Vincent, I no longer have the Lester A Dine as I ...

2010-03-31T10:25:08.692-07:00

@Vincent, I no longer have the Lester A Dine as I sold it already. As far as I can tell, they are the same optically.

Hi Hin, Since you have had both the Vivitar 100m...

2010-03-30T23:54:11.726-07:00

Hi Hin,

Since you have had both the Vivitar 100mm 2.8 and the Lester A Dine 105mm, can you plEASE confirm the color output of these two lens are exactly the same? I really like the color output of the 105mm, and I just purchased a 100mm 2.8 and will receive it Friday.

Thanks,

Vincent

You know, I think I have the Kiron version of that...

2009-11-11T10:50:58.928-08:00

You know, I think I have the Kiron version of that lens. I will have to check it out when I get home, but as I recall, the images from it are pretty good.

Hi Hin, Very very fine lens ... I bought its Kiro...

2009-11-10T18:22:50.969-08:00

Hi Hin,

Very very fine lens ... I bought its Kiron counterpart (the now famous 105/2.8 Macro) about two weeks ago, and i just had the time for a few shots before the cloudy and rainy weather arrived :-( ...