Vivitar 75-205 f3.8 lens

Anyone have any opinions on this lens? I picked one up cheap and no

its not a series 1 lens, but it seems better then my old Magnicon 28-

200 MF lens. Im using this on a FD Canon body. Its seems solid. How

does the image quality compare to others including some Canons? I

wasn't able to find any higher end lenses that I could afford, so I

picked this one up.

I also found a Sigma 75-300 MF lens for the same amount almost as the Vivitar. Should I cosinder that one or stay with the Vivitar. The few comments I could find on the Vivitar seem to think its a good lens well made, even if it is heavy.

BTW, that Vivitar is the SAME optical formula as the 70-210 f3.5 series 1 lens, but it is cost reduced construction, in part because it is a 2-touch design. I've found that it is as sharp as most newer 3rd party zooms, although it is bulkier than many of them. I'd say that it is comparable to the Canon FD 80-200mm f4, but not quite as good as the later Canon FD 70-210 f4.

Althought they both performed acceptably from a picture standpoint both older Sigmas I had fell apart.

I've had one for over twenty years, it's quite sharp especially in close-focusing mode (I believe it does 1:4). Very solidly built, heavy piece of glass. Showing a bit of fungus :(

The one store I called also has the series 1 70-210 lens. Its over twice as much. Is the 70-205 just as good optically or should I go for the series 1 version? I still have a chance to take the one back and get the other, so I want to be sure. The construction on the 75-205 is quite heavy duty regardless, but it is also quite heavy for its size.

I was just wondering of the lens quality was the same between these 2 lenses (normal vs series1) as I've seen the series 1 70-210 and it is obviously bigger with a 67mm filter size and f2.8 aperature which is much brighter then the 70-205mm. They both have close focussing as far as I know. I would assume the series 1 is sharper with better color/ contrast/ etc.

Oops. I called them to get more info and it is a F3.5 lens, not f2.8. Oh well.

Well, how much is twice as much? Is it $60 vs. $30, or $200 vs. $100.

 

In my experience, the 70-210mm f3.5 Series 1 lens can be gotten for under $60 on ebay without too much trouble. (I've paid as little as $35 for a near mint example). I've paid as little as $25 for the 75-205 f3.8, also near mint.

 

Personally, I kind of like the 2-touch non Series 1 lens if it's noticeably cheaper. The 1-touch control on used examples of the Series 1 lens often gets stiff over the years, while the 2-touch lens's controls don't seem to suffer from this.

 

The difference between these lenses is NOT sharpness - it's in the mechanical criteria. They are optically nearly identical, except for the size of the front element group.

I checked Ebay and there are no lenses for Canon FD mounts. The one place sold the 75-205 for $115 Canadian. The other shop that has the series 1 (and these guys are usually more expensive then most) has the version 1 (67mm thread one) of the 70-210 f3.5 for $250 Canadian. I know thats expensive, but at least at a store I get a receipt for insurance and know what I'm getting. I'm also looking now at the Tamron 28-80 SP lens for the other lens option. I already have a Canon 50mm 1.4 FD and a Vivitar 17-28mm zoom. That should round it out. I may look for a better 2x as well as the ones I have a poor units. Any opinions on the mentioned Tamron SP lens?

If this is the 2-touch lens with the matched 2x teleconverter and a 58mm filter ring, I had one for a couple years (Minolta mount). Can't say I was ever disappointed with it, but I sold it when I switched over to Minolta prime lenses.

 

Unfortunately, it's been so long since I had it, I don't think I have any photos left on line that I took using this lens.

I managed to find a couple of Vivitar 28-90 Series 1 and 70-210 Series one lenses. Hopefully I'll get them. Are todays lenses sharper then these two, like the EF Canon lenses? Im just wondering what insurance would replace the 2 Vivitar lenses with today since Vivitar is now out of business. Hard to beat the Vivitars f2.8 on the wide lens for the price they are going for. Also if anyone buys lenses off Ebay, is there a way to get the serial number checked before buying to see if its a stolen lens or not?

In my opinion, and I'm a guy with many of them, just about any lens made in the past few years, be it Sigma, Vivatar, Tamron, or a class 1 lens by Canon or Nikon are all pretty close. The age of computer manufacturing has arrived, and they all sell good lenses. And I love to shop for them on eBay, and get real nice lenses cheap

<p>Wow! What a confusing thread! OK, so it was last posted to over 5 years ago... The lens is much older than that. :)</p>

<p>Let's be clear here. There are at least seven different lenses that were mentioned in this thread mistakenly for each other. Notably there are the:</p>

<ul>

<li>Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/2.8-4 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm">Lens review</a> *</li>

<li>Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm">Lens review</a> *</li>

<li>Vivitar 70-210mm f/4.5</li>

<li>Vivitar 70-210mm f/4.5 Macro</li>

<li>Vivitar 70-210 f/4-5.6</li>

<li>Vivitar 75-205 f/3.8 (1 and 2-touch, made by Kiron) *</li>

<li>Vivitar 75-205 f/3.5-4.5 macro focusing (made by Tokina) *</li>

</ul>

<p>Of the Series 1 listed above there are 5 versions that I know of. This page details some of the differences: <a href="http://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm">Vivitar Series 1 70-210 Macro Zoom</a>. The Vivitar 75-205 f/3.8 in it's two versions are somewhat different animals from the Series 1 versions. I have not directly tested the differences in resolution and so forth but I would be willing to bet that they are very similar in the IQ they produce. </p>

<p>Prices for any of the lenses with an "*" listed above here are as of 2010, in the $150 ~ $250 range - USD. Unless there is significant damage or the seller just doesn't know any better, you can expect to pay approximately in this price range for any one of these lenses. The lenses not marked with an "*" (above) may go for as little as $20 even if in pristine condition. They are not very sharp and really not worth your time to mess with. </p>

<p>I hope this serves to straighten out some of the misinformation on this page.</p>