Vivitar 100mm/F2.8 macro (or ... attack of the killer gerbil!)

[Farkle-Mpls]

<p>I got a Kiron-manufactured (Vivitar 100mm/F2.8 lens from a fellow FD enthusiast recently. This is not the infamous 105mm Kiron/Viv Ser 1 but a different lens.</p>

<p>In case anyone is curious as to the macro capability/resolution here is an image shot at F11 1/60s with off-camera flash on Kodak Gold 200 film in a Canon FTb.</p>

<p>My step-son wanted a picture of his pet gerbil so I thought it was a good family-bonding sort of photo exercise. The image reminds me of those old B&W 1950s-era movies where Hollywood simply took close up imagery of a rat or spider and masked it into a dramatic scene -- complete with helpless, screaming women. Yeah, those were the glory days of pre-Sci Fi cinema.</p>

<p>ON A RELATED TOPIC ...</p>

<p>I foolishly sold my Kiron 105mm/F2.8 macro (which also sold as a Vivitar Series 1) a year ago. Does anyone know the difference between THAT lens and this one? This one is NOT labeled as a Series 1 but it has the same slide-out built-in shade. I wonder if it's a predecessor to the Series 1 design ...? The serial # is 22700xxx which implies Kiron-manufactured, Jan 1977 (I think 1987 would be too recent but I'm guessing).</p>

[Farkle-Mpls]

<p>Photo didn't upload ... sorry for the suspense!</p><div></div>

[Farkle-Mpls]

<p>Here's an outdoor shot using the same lens. Nice performer, actually. Nice and sharp.</p>

[Farkle-Mpls]

<p>Lousy luck with server timeouts on picture uploads today ... here's the promised image.</p><div></div>

[User_502260]

<p>I haven't looked at the one marked Series 1 recently and that one may be marked f/2.5 but from what I remember, all three are the same lens. I have two of the Vivitar 100/2.8 (22XXX...) lenses are they are quite good. For comparison I also have the 90/2.5 Vivitar Series 1, the 100/4 New FD, the 100/4 FLM, the Cosina made 100/3.5 under the Phoenix, Vivitar and Promaster names and also the 90/2.5 Tamron SP (2nd version) which I can use with the FD adapter. In other mounts I have the Vivitar 90/2.8, Panagor 90/2.8 and Rokunar VH-Q 90/2.5. When I have the patience I take out the 100/4 Bellows Rokkor-X and use it on the Auto Bellows III. The 100/2.8 Vivitar mscro is pretty heavy so if I don't need to get all the way down to 1:1 I'd rather carry the 90/2.5 Series 1. What about the Cpsine made 100/3.5 lenses? Very light and surprisingly sharp.</p>

[andy_game]

<p>I also have this Vivitar 100mm f2.8 lens. I use it sometimes for tabletop closeups and have had some good results. But because it is so solid and heavy and I don´t have a lens support on my tripod, to cut down on shake I prefer to use the much lighter and more compact Tokina AT-X 90mm f2.5. I too have read that the Kiron 105mm, the Vivitar 90mm Series 1 and your Vivitar 100mm f2.8 (and the Tokina 90mm too I think) are basically the same lens.</p>