Hin's Photo Corner: vivitar series 1

Showing posts with label vivitar series 1. Show all posts

Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 19AH in Gilroy Garden

2009-09-14 Posted by Hin Man

Tamron sp 70-210mm f/3.5 19ah adaptall-2 and Tokina at-x sd 80-200mm f/2.8 SD

I am in the process of upgrading my 70-210mm zoom to an AF one. I took out my favorite Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19AH zoom in the weekend with my boys in Gilroy Garden. Thanks to my good friend for the special Back to School coupon. We enjoyed the trip with a great discount for $10 per person. It is a great treat for my boys.

I had two copies of the Tamron Adaptall-2 P/KA Adapter and the same mishap of missing apertures come back again in the shooting. I thought I fixed it last time with scraping the connectors. But the problems comes and go in Av aperture mode. With a wiggle, sometime the f/stop come back to display. Whenever I get a problem with loose connection, I get F-- in the display whereas the aperture information is actually recorded with the picture. Unlike my previous adapter, my new adapter has no problems going to f/3.5 for the zoom. I need to sand off the contacts on my new adapter and see if the problem goes away.

I told others about this manual focus zoom. In my opinion, it easily beats all the first three versions of Vivitar Series 1 Zoom 70-210mm that I have tried. In terms of sharpness and ease of focusing, this is the best zoom that I have used. It may take some time to get used to. I like the focusing ring design with long focus throw and smooth and quick focusing with precision. And best of all, there isn't any zoom creeping that happens with the Tamron zoom as compared to version 1 and version 3 of the Vivitar Series 1 zoom.

photo with tamron sp 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 19ah and pentax k20d

Impressions & Notes

This lens grows on me. The more that I use it, the more I like it over the Vivitar Series 1 zoom.
It is not an easy lens to use due to its longer length. Weight is very similar to the Vivitar Series 1 zoom.
Sharpness is the best in this zoom along with superb focusing and zoom ring. I rate this zoom with the best manual focusing ring that I have used.
It engages you in precision focusing while you can zoom in and out without loosing your focus point. The lens has a CF which stands for continued focusing but I am not sure if that is what I refer to.
I find minor PF/CA but I can't tell if is better than the Komine Vivitar Series 1
The close up is at 1:2.6 and I favor my positive experience with Vivitar Series 1.
Color and contrast are more vivid and better in this zoom than the Vivitar Series 1 zoom

Related:

Comparing Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm Zooms

2008-11-04 Posted by Hin Man

v1 from Kiron

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 from Kiron

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, v1 from Kiron
serial number starts with 22
best in color and contrast
bokeh is very nice, next to Komin and better than Tokina
heaviest unfortunately, it is actually not much heavier than Komine copy, but it is bulkier
best build quality in construction
very inexpensive to get
sharpness square evenly with the Komine copy. But I do prefer the Tokina on sharpness when stopped down
close up is at 1:2.2 and I think the weight and the bigger size in barrel may hinder the usefulness in close up

v2 from Tokina

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 from Tokina

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, v2 from Tokina
serial number starts with 37
best in sharpness when stopped down to f/5.6 and smaller
lightest of the three and much usable in walk around
does quite poorly in close up with magnification at 1:4, I see ghosting in close up
color and contrast are reasonable, but I like the Kiron and Komine copies better for color, contrast and saturation
best in focusing ring, maybe my copy with Tokina is newer than the other, the focusing ring in my tokina copy is the best among the three versions that I have tried.
very inexpensive to get, a less competed model that should go well in terms of cost and value

v3 from Komine

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/2.8-4.0 from Komine

Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/2.8-4.0 from Komine
serial number starts with 28
the only version among the three that has 'A' settings
weight is middle tier in 860g in between 710g Tokina and the 879g Kiron
perhaps the barrel are not as big, I feel similar handling to the Tokina
close up is found quite decent at 1:2.5
I still prefer the color and contrast from Kiron but I will give the Komine slightly better than Tokina
sharpness is middle as 2nd runner after Tokina
Bokeh is best among the three versions, very close with Kiron copy
Some moderate Purple Fringe noted in test shots,
best overall due to the 'A' setting, faster speed in f/2.8 in the shorter end.
cost more than twice of v1 and v2

Vivitar 70-210 "Series 1" f/3.5 from Kiron

2008-03-18 Posted by Hin Man

I had few test shots with Vivitar "Series1" 70-210 f/3.5 that I had a hard time selling in a forum marketplace. I finally managed to sell it for a meager $63.00 to another forum member who had enjoyed this fine lens before. I prefer much lighter gear and this lens is the heaviest that I have handled but the color, contrast, sharpness is the best 70-210 that I have handled. According to this site Vivitar 70-210 Series 1 Macro Zooms - Mark Roberts Photography the "Series 1" version I have is the version 1 with serial number starting with "22" made by Kiron, I think the version 3 will be lighter one. Though it is not the best one as reported by Mark in his report, I think this version 1 from Kiron with the exception on weight, produces quite outstanding images. Here are my summary of impressions with few test shots:

Pros:

contrasty & sharp
great color
macro is 1:2.2 is quite pleasant
reasonably sharp at wide open at f/3.5
focusing & zoom ring are smooth
very clean lens
bokeh is reasonably pleasant to me

Cons:

quite heavy & challenging to use
I switch to MF on my K100D body for most shots in the series, AF switch for trap focus will be harder with the heavy weight on this lens

Test Shots: