Absolutely fantastic video, i love capturing city life with my big ol' Canon zoom! Hope you don't mind me making a list of timestamps for future viewers: 2:50 - Vivitar 70-200mm f3.8 9:00 - Kiron 70-210mm f4 14:10 - Sirius 70-210mm f4-5.6 18:50 - Canon FD 70-210 f4 Again, loved the video, keep up the good work!
Nikon 100-300mm f5.6 Ais over here. Cost 99 bucks. Not all lenses from that period have good IQ but this thing is very sharp on my D850. I didn't know the existing of this lens until I found it at a second hand store. No camerashop, just a store where they sell all kind of used products. I would call this lens a real gem.
Love this channel. I remember choosing manual lenses. I went for Tamron due to the adaptable 2 mount system. When I switched from Olympus to Canon all I had to do was buy a new adapter. Thanks for posting.
I've just picked up an 'oddball' tele-zoom, Hoya HMC 75-205mm f4 Macro, M42 mount. This will take a bit of getting used to. Zoom is push-pull - in for 205mm, out for 75mm. Focus is by a very wide grip on the push/pull section. Macro is by a built in rotating variable extender with a locking pin at zero extension. Aperture is f4 - f32 and stays where you put it as you zoom. Front filter is 55mm and rotates with focus. MFD is approx 4 feet / 1.25 metres without macro. Iv'e tried it indoors on my Eos M5 with M42/EF-M adapter and it is pretty damn good. I haven't seen another for sale with M42 mount (I like M42 as I have adapters for both EF-M & EF)
Another great review from our favourite Zenographer. You are spot on about the colour differences, especially Canon v Nikon lenses. I have a friend who is an award winning wedding photographer and he uses Canon, and his photographs, on digital, always appeared warmer than my Nikon digital pics. It used to be said that Canon was for portraits and Nikon was for photo-journalism, and I agree, that's the way it appears to me. I'm off to see if I can bag a bargain Canon FD 70-210mm f4 for my Fuji's. Thank you again
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it! The Nikon and Canon colour palettes do seem very different - I find Nikon colours interesting, but for me, Canon colours carry the day!
Another excellent presentation. The Canon 70-210mm f4 FD will be added to my collection shortly, which I will use with the Canon AE-1 Program SLR and the Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless with FD Lens to Fuji X Adapter. Thanks again!
Some of these overlooked lenses are really good performers. I bought a Nikkor 80-200 mm 4.5 which gives excellent output. Many years ago, the Vivitar 70-210 mm 2.8 series 1 received rave reviews from critics and was known to be carried around by pros for its quality of image. Very difficult to find these days to try on Nikon digital and film . Love the videos. Your knowledge and passion for photography and older equipment that doesn’t break the bank really shines through . Keep up the good work 👍
Some of the many Vivitar SLR's I know about some are M42 some PK......Vivitar-220/SL. Vivitar-400/SL. Vivitar XV-1. Vivitar XV-2.Vivitar XV-10. Vivitar XV-5. Vivitar-XC2. Vivitar-XC3. Vivitar-XC4. Vivitar-V335. Vivitar-v3800n. Vivitar-V4000. Thanks for the great videos. Mike.👍
Nice video as always. I think I’ll go back to my favorite camera store next week and buy the Kiron zoom they have in their $20 (US) discount bin. I have to admit though, I am a big fan of the Nikkor 80-200 with the rectangular rear baffle (early versions had a round rear light baffle). Some reviews have referred to it as being one of the sharpest in its class for that era. I only shoot film, but I do enjoy reading about the vintage lens / mirrorless match ups. After 50 years of shooting film maybe I’ll try something new one day. Keep up the great videos.
I got that Vivitar 75-150mm f/3.8 in a bundle with some other lenses and when I tested the lens it actually was a bit of a shocker; it was much better than I assumed and especially the close-up mode, quite liberating when zoom lenses aren't touted as "macro" but what it really is as the magnification isn't nearly there; but close-up, and it was capable of some magnificent close-ups.
After watching your vid on the Industar 26 (can't remember exactly which one it was) I ordered one from Russia. It arrived on Friday and it hasn't been off my Fuji X-T20 all weekend. I love it, getting some tack sharp images. Also, paired with my graphite silver X-T20 it is sooooo last century! Wonderful! Keep up the good work on these wonderful old lenses.
I still have my Kiron 80-200mm f/4. I rarely use it these days, but it was an excellent lens which I loved to use. It was sharp and produced beautiful colors, but I thought it really excelled when shooting B&W film because of its great contrast. It's a fairly large lens so it's a little unwieldy on my Olympus mirrorless cameras, but it's still a great lens if you can find one.
I have a Kiron 80-200mm f4.5 with ''macro''... Brilliant lens! I was especially surprised how sharp it was at 200mm! I've stopped using my 135mm primes - that's how good this Kiron is.
Try the Tamron 75-250 104A (not 04A - slightly inferior apparently). Highly impressed with it and can be found for £20ish. Be good to know what you think as I am actually rather inexperienced and am yet to try any of your talked about zooms. If the model number is not mentioned you can tell the difference by the larger gap in the writing at the bottom of the barrel - avoid that one (I like these little differences with models it was like searching for gold ha, and some don't know the differences)@@zenography7923
..I have been able to get (to my eyes) some amazingly sharp images and detail with this lens, and even found cropping small insect pics then sharpened a little are great, without needing a macro lens. I have been using a x2 converter with it too.
Try the Tamron 75-250 104A (not 04A - slightly inferior apparently). Highly impressed with it and can be found for £20ish. Be good to know what you think as I am actually rather inexperienced and am yet to try any of your talked about zooms. If the model number is not mentioned you can tell the difference by the larger gap in the writing at the bottom of the barrel - avoid that one (I like these little differences with models it was like searching for gold ha, and some don't know the differences).
I've been using the Vivitar 70-210 f4.5 lens for about 5 months. Wasn't sure if I'd like it enough (it was very cheap on E-Bay). I like it a lot. Gives very nice colours and blur is easy on the eyes. Took a while to get used to using it... Really like your channel, very informative and inspirational for photography...
Love the old Vivitar lenses. Have a couple in Nikon Mount and another in canon. And They were dirt cheap indeed... Haven’t tried the Kiron yet, but do have the old nikkor 70-210mm which I like too. Thanks again for another Sunday morning sermon...
Filmed a wedding several years ago using a SONY NEX-EA50 with a Canon FD to NEX adapter and the Canon FD 70-210 F4 ... customer loved the wedding film ! bought that lens for PEANUTS approx £40-50 I paid.
Your vids are very inspiring and have a artistic input on my photography!!!!! thx! I must have the Helios 44-2!!!! I also love the low contrasts of these glasses! I always reduce the contrast on my digital cameras too!!!! great!
Some lenses, which are underrated are the 70-150mm zooms. Among them are some of astonishing image quality, as the Kiron 4,0 70-150mm or the vivitar 3,8 70-150mm (first version, which was a two-ring-zoom). Best image quality at an adequate price are the canon FD 4,0 80-200mm L and the Tamron SP LD 2,8 80-200mm. The best of the six versions of the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 ist the third version 4.0 70-210 manufactured by Komine. The serial numbers start with 28.
I was very surprised by what these lenses can do - especially the Canon and the Vivitar. Their results are indistinguishable to those from much more expensive lenses!
@@zenography7923 The Canon FD 4,0 70 -210 was my first long focus telezoom lens in 1984. It is still one of my most used lenses. In 40 years of collecting photogear I was glad to have the opportunity to shoot with most of the mayor brands if they had the FD lens mount. The three FD versions (FD 4.0 80-200 ssc, nFD 4.0 80-200 and the last L-version with these focal length) are stunning. In this focal range there are several unique and rare lenses, which seem to be forgotten. One of them is the VIVITAR SERIES 1 4,5 90-180 flat field. Along with the later Nikon 70-180 Makro it is the ONLY true makro zoom lens produced. It goes down to 1:2 scale with real macro capabilities and is often compared with the Vivitar S 1 3,5 90mm Macro. The Flatfield zoom lens was manufactured by Kiron ( serial-no. 22...) and the prime macro by Tokina (37...).
I had the Vivitar 70-150 zoom back in the day and thought it very good. The matched multiplier was a bit disappointing though, not as good as the Teleplus 7 element.
I have the Kiron 28-210 f:4 - 5.6, which is a bit of a heavy sod, but produces some wonderful results. I don't know if Kiron made any bad lenses, but I've not come across one yet. Another zoom that punches above its weight is the Tamron 104, 80-210 F:3.8 - 4, which is almost SP performance and available for about 12 quid.
Really enjoying your videos. Just purchased my first vintage lenses to try out - an Olympus 135mm f3.5 & a Bell & Howell 70-210 f4-5 OM. Can’t find much info about the latter but was only £10 plus postage and am advised it’s in good nick.
@@zenography7923 Tested my Olympus 135mm 3.5 today fully open. Beautiful lens indeed - great rendering & bokeh. So much for so little (£35 on eBay). Thanks again for your review.
Getting a Vivitar from Ebay in Germany. They were good lenses back in the film days. Might also get a lens hood to screw into filter thread - makes better contrast. Can't wait to give it a road test.
@@zenography7923 Got one now. It's a series 1, f3.5, 70-210 with serial number starting 22 so a Kiron build - said to be the best quality. Amazing results and super Macro function too. Lovely softly-spoken colours. Heavy old beast but gives the lie to the 'zooms are not as good as primes' idea. Getting a 28mm series 1 '22' as well now. I just can't help myself. As you often say, they keep their value so you can always sell them later at no loss. (I won't).
Thank you for this very informative video and thanks for keeping your voice down too. I found myself very relaxed by the end! My immediate reaction to the video title was that they could hardly compare to my XC 50-230 for Fujifilm, especially considering that it’s an autofocus lens with stabilization. I paid $230 USD for mine new and I really do think that it’s an absolute steal at that price. I’d still consider it a great purchase at double that price, given the quality of the images and the effectiveness of the stabilization. Then you said the prices for these four lenses haha. Even combined with an adapter, any one of these would certainly be a fantastic bargain. Would you mind adding their names to box under the video or in a comment here? I’m in the US and I’d like to see if the prices are comparable over here. Thanks again, take care!
That Fujifilm lens sounds lovely, but the older zooms are so cheap and (in some cases) so nice that they're a lot of fun to shoot with! Names of lenses now added.
Hi I hope you’re doing good I lately bought a 70-210 f4 FD lens it needed some cleaning because of the fungus on its glass I tried to clean it but now when I’m putting back its elements I noticed that the blades are not fully open when at f4 but I can’t remember if this is how it behaves at f4 If you still have this lens please check for me to see if i did things right I looked online for hours and found nothing Many thanks
The Vivitar and Kiron are really nice pieces of glass. If you get them for your film system of choice and adapt them to serve double duty on your digital body it's really great for your budget. Actually right now the best kept secret is the 4/3 Zuiko Digital 50-200 f2.8-3.5 that works as a charm on M4/3 with phase detect AF and an adapter.
Just bought a Vivitar 70-210mm F3.5 very curious to how it will perform! I'm hoping to buy a Canon FD too, to compare and keep the one I like best! Lot's of different versions available!
Can you please do this for longer focal lengths? I'd love a budget 300mm lens, prime or zoom, so tell me which is the best! Preferably Nikon mount. Also, you are hilarious! That dry English humor kills me 🤣
If I could suggest another zoom lens you need to check out, it would be the Minolta MD 35-70mm F3.5 Macro. The image quality is outstanding right from F3.5, and its a very useable focal range for a travel lens. Cheap too.
@@Station9.75 I was about to call BS about the vignetting, as I use it on my A7Riii, but then I realized that you're using a medium format mirrorless haha. That cameras been on my dream list for some time.
Great review I was tempted by the vivitar, but it’s quite a heavy lens so I went for the m42 Sirius as I can use it with a speed booster in a theatre setting in low light. £30 for a good copy
Also to consider is the Nikon 70-210mm f/4 Series E lens. Another good option is the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, the first or second version with fixed f/3.5 max aperture, not the later variable aperture versions. I actually have both of these lenses and they are wonderful. I bought the Nikon Series E lens for about $70 USD three years ago and I found the Vivitar Series 1 (Canon FD mount) for literally $15 on Ebay about 2 years ago. I have used them to shoot film and adapted to my Fuji mirrorless camera.
My FD-mount Vivitar (Kobori-made?) 70-300mm f/4.5-5.3 suffers from gravity zoom, but it has captured some beautiful and memory-making images in the forty years I've owned it. No complaints at all. It's interesting to me that some of these push-pull zooms have their shorter focal length when they are physically extended and some the other way round. When the barrel is "pushed" on the Sirius (and on my lens), the "front" lens moves outward and the entire lens becomes physically longer _as does the focal length._ Intuitively, that makes sense to me. But on the others, when the barrel is "pushed" along the lens housing, and the entire package never gets physically longer _and the focal length shortens._ Can anyone explain this?
I have to agree with you with the Canon zoom. As someone who is wedded to using prime lenses, I was more than a little surprised with the IQ from this dirt cheap FD70-210 f4.
Just bought a Vivitar 200mm f3. 5 M42 for £10 is actually Komine cos of serial number.. though hasn't arrived yet may need a clean...seen some reviews...seems looked after from photos... cheers Have a good day....
AFAIK Vivitar was a dealer not a manufacturer. The V2000 was really a Cosina and so might be some of the lenses. I have a Cosina made Voigtländer (70-200) which is a fine lens. Pentax K mount.
I’ve wondered when you were going to come out with a long zoom videos. Slightly disappointed you didn’t feature the Nikon 70 210mm 4-5.6 which I’ve come to love very much for being really sharp and contrasty. :p I hope you do a video on old teleconverters eventually. I use a tc 16A with this lens to have an equivalent 336mm and while image quality does take a slight hit and you lose some light, it’s nice to have the extra reach and many of my recent favorite photos have been taken with this combo. Keep up the good work!!
Great review. I have the vivitar. I don’t shoot it enough. I love the blur and was surprised at the sharpness. It just oozes a filmic look that I love. Zoom creep is awful though. It’s my only knock against it. I’m gonna try the canon. I agree with you about the 50mm canon fd f1.4. It was the first vintage lens I bought when I went mirrorless. It definitely is sharp but it has character. There is something special about the old canon fd glass in general but that 50 is my fav !
my Canon FD 70-210 creates fantastic blur while zooming in and taking close ups of a leaf, a flower, a mushroom.:-) I'm also owning the 35-70. I wonder if you have experience/feedback of this one? Thanks for all your interesting information and the way you present this. from the other side of the Canal, Belgian greetings. Ivan
As always, thank you for your nice inspiring videos. Just to point out that it looks like Kiron did make some of this long zoom lenses (i.e the Vivitar 70-210 f3.5 Series 1) for Vivitar in the late 70's. I suppose that's why both brands are sometimes so close in terms of color rendering, sharpness and blur. Thank you for your work. Javier
I have a older zoom QT11 MC AUTO ZOOM 70-210 4.0-5.6 it is a 4.0 at all focal lengths alsoas well as a push pull zooming also bought it for peanuts . It also all metal construction and works well it is also a A lens so I set the Aperture with the wheel on the camera
As I understood it when I worked in the industry back in the 80's and 90's, the Kiron lenses were designed by ex-Nikon lens makers, so that would explain the Nikon-like performance. It was said that the name Kiron was a re-jig of Nikkor, but take that for what it's worth. Still, it's interesting. I had this zoom, a 28f2.8 and a 24f2, and regret ever parting with them
Don't believe it that Vivivitar got it for peanuts... beat 99p...+ postage on our favourite auction site looks nice too...tell your mate Gerry for me... Cheers Nigel.....
I shoot a Sony A7RII using a set of Canon FD primes from 20mm to 135mm. But I also have a wonderful Tokina ATX 100-300mm f4 lens that I'm still using too!
Had the Series 1 VIVITAR 70-230 if I remember correctly it was f2.8 for my NIKON F MOUNT ....shot this on my Sony A6000 when I had those as well as my EL NIKKORMAT .....Sold those over two years ago
The vivitar is good made by Kino Precision... Seen longer reviews the long end is really excellent for macro type shots nature etc.. Is very sharp.....
Vivitar Series 1 lenses always had a pretty good reputation. The Vivitar here doesn't seem to be a Series 1 lens, which can usually be identified by a red ring around the front of the lens. But apparently the Kiron 70-210 F4 was the same as the Vivitar Series 1, just rebranded (manufactured by Tokina, I think).
Kiron and Tokina are separate lens makers, both in the business of making lenses to be branded by any number of marketing companies like Vivitar, which do not actually make anything. As for the 70-200mm zoom, Vivitar was the first to market this class of zoom in its high quality Series 1 line. There were four or five successive versions of its 70-200mm zoom. Kiron and Tokina each made one or more of them. Vivitar marketed lenses both under its name alone, and also under its Series 1 line, where were cutting edge quality at the time.
I think prices on vintage zooms have not gone up because most of them have a rotating front barrel when focusing. This creates problems if used with a vnd filter. Any options with the rotating front barrel?
Thanks for you video. Since a few months, I'm the owner of a Vivitar 80-200. Hanging it in front of my Canon EOS 100D and Canon 250D, I could realized the quality of that zoom, then I bought 2 differents adapter rings, one mounted with a lens, and the other without lens... Unfortunately, the first ring is deforming the images a lot and cannot be used, the second ring, without lens is putting the zoom too far (1 cm) from the standard lens and then the focus cannot be done for a subject farest than 6 meters, so the zoom is not usefull and I'm very upset because my mother in law gave me that zoo just after the death of my father in law 6 months ago...Do you have an idea to solve that ?
On the one hand, I am a bit surprised how much vintage primes have skyrocketed in price. On the other hand, I am really not, given how much you promote them every chance you get ^^ Vivitar indeed made or branded some great lenses.
I have and use a number of Vivitar lenses. There are quite a few really good Vivitar lenses. But, I don't believe that they "manufactured" any of them. They supplied specs and various lens manufacturers built to those specs. Researching serial numbers will reveal who the manufacturer was, most of the time. Several of my favorite legacy lenses are Vivitar brand.
I'm not a fan of push pull zooms because it takes more time to compose precisely and dirt can easily get stuck underneath the mechanism, BUT the price of ca. € 50 for really nice examples makes me think twice. Especially the Canon FD, Pentax K and M42 mount push pull zooms are very affordable. If you're willing to choose a 3rd party brand (e.g. Tokina, Cosina, Mitakon, Panagor), the price is even lower. That's so cheap for a Japanese made metal lens that it makes me want to experiment with one :)
Looking to see how zoom lenses connect to rangefinder bodies.... Wait though, haven't we been told for years that zoom lenses aren't as good optically as primes?
@@zenography7923 Yes, I didn't know if you were aware of that, so I just wanted to mention it. Actually, in the whole segment on the Kiron, it's not apparent. Then at about 10:44, the light hits it just right and you can't miss seeing it. Kiron made some very good lenses, and as a matter of fact they manufactured some very good Vivitar branded lenses. I always enjoy your legacy lens videos. Thank you for making them. P.S. my wife feels that I own too many old legacy lenses, but I don't believe you can own too many. The hard part is finding the opportunity and time to use each of them.
Hard to believe that these cheap lenses produce such lovely images Their cost wouldn’t even pay for a quality UV filter on a modern equivalent costing 40 time’s more!
They were my initial thoughts. I had little expectations when putting a £10 Canon fd70-210 on a Canon RP. No, it does not perform to a modern red ring, but on the other hand, it's lighter, more affordable and has more than acceptable IQ for a usable zoom today.
Short Note about Vivitar: Their 70-210mm Series 1 are well regarded in every iteration (their even existed gold plated versions of it). Other than that there's two incredibly underrated superzooms worth checking out (which were also distributed under Vivitar): The 28-210mm f3,5-f5,6 and the 28-200mm f3,5-f5,3. These were the first superzooms that were sharp at every instance and covered almost all common focal lengths. When these were released they basically were every ambitioned amateurs dream when it came to travel. www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/cosina-vivitar-28-210mm-f3-5-5-6-macro.html www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/vivitar-28-200mm-f3-5-5-3.html The reviews on the pentaxforums. Most Vivitar Series 1 is underrated anyway. If you can put up with manual focus then you can get some pretty good results.
I was really surprised by the Vivitar - a very nice lens indeed, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a wide range of photographic situations. I'll have a look at those reviews, thanks!
Also Vivitar made no lenses. They had various companies manufacture lenses for them. Check out this page to verify what company produced your copies if you wish. The first two digits of the serial number are the key. www.apotelyt.com/camera-kit/vivitar-catalog
Absolutely fantastic video, i love capturing city life with my big ol' Canon zoom!
Hope you don't mind me making a list of timestamps for future viewers:
2:50 - Vivitar 70-200mm f3.8
9:00 - Kiron 70-210mm f4
14:10 - Sirius 70-210mm f4-5.6
18:50 - Canon FD 70-210 f4
Again, loved the video, keep up the good work!
Not at all, that's very helpful, thanks!
Nikon 100-300mm f5.6 Ais over here. Cost 99 bucks. Not all lenses from that period have good IQ but this thing is very sharp on my D850. I didn't know the existing of this lens until I found it at a second hand store. No camerashop, just a store where they sell all kind of used products. I would call this lens a real gem.
Hi Nigel, many thanks! Indeed nice lenses! Best wishes, Ralf
Love this channel. I remember choosing manual lenses. I went for Tamron due to the adaptable 2 mount system. When I switched from Olympus to Canon all I had to do was buy a new adapter. Thanks for posting.
The adaptall system was a pretty good piece of design, for sure!
I've just picked up an 'oddball' tele-zoom, Hoya HMC 75-205mm f4 Macro, M42 mount.
This will take a bit of getting used to. Zoom is push-pull - in for 205mm, out for 75mm. Focus is by a very wide grip on the push/pull section. Macro is by a built in rotating variable extender with a locking pin at zero extension. Aperture is f4 - f32 and stays where you put it as you zoom. Front filter is 55mm and rotates with focus. MFD is approx 4 feet / 1.25 metres without macro.
Iv'e tried it indoors on my Eos M5 with M42/EF-M adapter and it is pretty damn good. I haven't seen another for sale with M42 mount (I like M42 as I have adapters for both EF-M & EF)
I just ordered the Canon FD 70-210mm f4. Thanks so much!
Another great review from our favourite Zenographer.
You are spot on about the colour differences, especially Canon v Nikon lenses.
I have a friend who is an award winning wedding photographer and he uses Canon, and his photographs, on digital, always appeared warmer than my Nikon digital pics.
It used to be said that Canon was for portraits and Nikon was for photo-journalism, and I agree, that's the way it appears to me.
I'm off to see if I can bag a bargain Canon FD 70-210mm f4 for my Fuji's.
Thank you again
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it! The Nikon and Canon colour palettes do seem very different - I find Nikon colours interesting, but for me, Canon colours carry the day!
Another excellent presentation. The Canon 70-210mm f4 FD will be added to my collection shortly, which I will use with the Canon AE-1 Program SLR and the Fujifilm X-T3 Mirrorless with FD Lens to Fuji X Adapter. Thanks again!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Some of these overlooked lenses are really good performers. I bought a Nikkor 80-200 mm 4.5 which gives excellent output. Many years ago, the Vivitar 70-210 mm 2.8 series 1 received rave reviews from critics and was known to be carried around by pros for its quality of image. Very difficult to find these days to try on Nikon digital and film . Love the videos. Your knowledge and passion for photography and older equipment that doesn’t break the bank really shines through . Keep up the good work 👍
Many thanks, glad you're enjoying the videos!
Another awesome review... I love some of the Fuji shots!!!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
@@zenography7923 Watching again to make sure I missed nothing!!
Such a great channel - really interesting!
Some of the many Vivitar SLR's I know about some are M42 some PK......Vivitar-220/SL. Vivitar-400/SL. Vivitar XV-1. Vivitar XV-2.Vivitar XV-10. Vivitar XV-5. Vivitar-XC2. Vivitar-XC3. Vivitar-XC4. Vivitar-V335. Vivitar-v3800n. Vivitar-V4000. Thanks for the great videos. Mike.👍
Thanks for the tips!
Nice video as always. I think I’ll go back to my favorite camera store next week and buy the Kiron zoom they have in their $20 (US) discount bin. I have to admit though, I am a big fan of the Nikkor 80-200 with the rectangular rear baffle (early versions had a round rear light baffle). Some reviews have referred to it as being one of the sharpest in its class for that era. I only shoot film, but I do enjoy reading about the vintage lens / mirrorless match ups.
After 50 years of shooting film maybe I’ll try something new one day. Keep up the great videos.
Remember over 40 years ago, with the Olympus OM, when I bought a Vivitar 70-150 / 3.8. Small, light, and in fact a good zoom for its time.
Vivitar made some nice lenses, for sure!
I got that Vivitar 75-150mm f/3.8 in a bundle with some other lenses and when I tested the lens it actually was a bit of a shocker; it was much better than I assumed and especially the close-up mode, quite liberating when zoom lenses aren't touted as "macro" but what it really is as the magnification isn't nearly there; but close-up, and it was capable of some magnificent close-ups.
After watching your vid on the Industar 26 (can't remember exactly which one it was) I ordered one from Russia. It arrived on Friday and it hasn't been off my Fuji X-T20 all weekend. I love it, getting some tack sharp images. Also, paired with my graphite silver X-T20 it is sooooo last century! Wonderful! Keep up the good work on these wonderful old lenses.
It's a nice little lens - enjoy!
Never expected ASMR from a lens review
Expect the unexpected my friend!
I still have my Kiron 80-200mm f/4. I rarely use it these days, but it was an excellent lens which I loved to use. It was sharp and produced beautiful colors, but I thought it really excelled when shooting B&W film because of its great contrast. It's a fairly large lens so it's a little unwieldy on my Olympus mirrorless cameras, but it's still a great lens if you can find one.
Kiron made some very nice lenses - I'll look out for that one, thanks for the tip!
I have a Kiron 80-200mm f4.5 with ''macro''... Brilliant lens! I was especially surprised how sharp it was at 200mm! I've stopped using my 135mm primes - that's how good this Kiron is.
Kiron made some very nice lenses, no doubt about it!
I have a VIVITAR 70-210 SERIES 1 first version, is really nice! Saludos desde México!!!!!
Found your channel, I'm gonna binge watch all your videos :)
I hope you're enjoying them!
I am a fan of the Tamron SP glass, zooms and primes. Terrific value for well regarded glass.
I must try some Tamron glass - I hear it's very good!
Try the Tamron 75-250 104A (not 04A - slightly inferior apparently). Highly impressed with it and can be found for £20ish. Be good to know what you think as I am actually rather inexperienced and am yet to try any of your talked about zooms. If the model number is not mentioned you can tell the difference by the larger gap in the writing at the bottom of the barrel - avoid that one (I like these little differences with models it was like searching for gold ha, and some don't know the differences)@@zenography7923
..I have been able to get (to my eyes) some amazingly sharp images and detail with this lens, and even found cropping small insect pics then sharpened a little are great, without needing a macro lens. I have been using a x2 converter with it too.
Try the Tamron 75-250 104A (not 04A - slightly inferior apparently). Highly impressed with it and can be found for £20ish. Be good to know what you think as I am actually rather inexperienced and am yet to try any of your talked about zooms. If the model number is not mentioned you can tell the difference by the larger gap in the writing at the bottom of the barrel - avoid that one (I like these little differences with models it was like searching for gold ha, and some don't know the differences).
Being new to the hobby I have greatly enjoyed your reviews. You have helped me so much in purchasing great vintage lenses. Thank you.
Many thanks, glad you're enjoying the channel!
I've been using the Vivitar 70-210 f4.5 lens for about 5 months. Wasn't sure if I'd like it enough (it was very cheap on E-Bay). I like it a lot. Gives very nice colours and blur is easy on the eyes. Took a while to get used to using it... Really like your channel, very informative and inspirational for photography...
Vivitar lenses are often surprisingly nice - as you've discovered!
I love my FD 70-210mm, FD 135mm 3.5 and my not so old EF 200 mm L2.8.
Love the old Vivitar lenses. Have a couple in Nikon Mount and another in canon. And They were dirt cheap indeed... Haven’t tried the Kiron yet, but do have the old nikkor 70-210mm which I like too. Thanks again for another Sunday morning sermon...
I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks!
Filmed a wedding several years ago using a SONY NEX-EA50 with a Canon FD to NEX adapter and the Canon FD 70-210 F4 ... customer loved the wedding film ! bought that lens for PEANUTS approx £40-50 I paid.
Your vids are very inspiring and have a artistic input on my photography!!!!! thx! I must have the Helios 44-2!!!! I also love the low contrasts of these glasses! I always reduce the contrast on my digital cameras too!!!! great!
I'm glad the videos are proving useful, many thanks!
Some lenses, which are underrated are the 70-150mm zooms.
Among them are some of astonishing image quality, as the Kiron 4,0 70-150mm or the vivitar 3,8 70-150mm (first version, which was a two-ring-zoom).
Best image quality at an adequate price are the canon FD 4,0 80-200mm L and the Tamron SP LD 2,8 80-200mm.
The best of the six versions of the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 ist the third version 4.0 70-210 manufactured by Komine. The serial numbers start with 28.
I was very surprised by what these lenses can do - especially the Canon and the Vivitar. Their results are indistinguishable to those from much more expensive lenses!
@@zenography7923 The Canon FD 4,0 70 -210 was my first long focus telezoom lens in 1984. It is still one of my most used lenses. In 40 years of collecting photogear I was glad to have the opportunity to shoot with most of the mayor brands if they had the FD lens mount. The three FD versions (FD 4.0 80-200 ssc, nFD 4.0 80-200 and the last L-version with these focal length) are stunning.
In this focal range there are several unique and rare lenses, which seem to be forgotten. One of them is the
VIVITAR SERIES 1 4,5 90-180 flat field. Along with the later Nikon 70-180 Makro it is the ONLY true makro zoom lens produced. It goes down to 1:2 scale with real macro capabilities and is often compared with the Vivitar S 1 3,5 90mm Macro.
The Flatfield zoom lens was manufactured by Kiron ( serial-no. 22...) and the prime macro by Tokina (37...).
I had the Vivitar 70-150 zoom back in the day and thought it very good.
The matched multiplier was a bit disappointing though, not as good as the Teleplus 7 element.
I have the Kiron 28-210 f:4 - 5.6, which is a bit of a heavy sod, but produces some wonderful results.
I don't know if Kiron made any bad lenses, but I've not come across one yet.
Another zoom that punches above its weight is the Tamron 104, 80-210 F:3.8 - 4, which is almost SP performance and available for about 12 quid.
Really enjoying your videos. Just purchased my first vintage lenses to try out - an Olympus 135mm f3.5 & a Bell & Howell 70-210 f4-5 OM. Can’t find much info about the latter but was only £10 plus postage and am advised it’s in good nick.
That sounds like a very nice find - enjoy!
@@zenography7923 Tested my Olympus 135mm 3.5 today fully open. Beautiful lens indeed - great rendering & bokeh. So much for so little (£35 on eBay). Thanks again for your review.
Getting a Vivitar from Ebay in Germany. They were good lenses back in the film days. Might also get a lens hood to screw into filter thread - makes better contrast. Can't wait to give it a road test.
Vivitar made some very nice lenses - including this one! Enjoy!
@@zenography7923 Got one now. It's a series 1, f3.5, 70-210 with serial number starting 22 so a Kiron build - said to be the best quality. Amazing results and super Macro function too. Lovely softly-spoken colours. Heavy old beast but gives the lie to the 'zooms are not as good as primes' idea. Getting a 28mm series 1 '22' as well now. I just can't help myself. As you often say, they keep their value so you can always sell them later at no loss. (I won't).
Thank you for this very informative video and thanks for keeping your voice down too. I found myself very relaxed by the end!
My immediate reaction to the video title was that they could hardly compare to my XC 50-230 for Fujifilm, especially considering that it’s an autofocus lens with stabilization. I paid $230 USD for mine new and I really do think that it’s an absolute steal at that price. I’d still consider it a great purchase at double that price, given the quality of the images and the effectiveness of the stabilization.
Then you said the prices for these four lenses haha. Even combined with an adapter, any one of these would certainly be a fantastic bargain. Would you mind adding their names to box under the video or in a comment here? I’m in the US and I’d like to see if the prices are comparable over here.
Thanks again, take care!
That Fujifilm lens sounds lovely, but the older zooms are so cheap and (in some cases) so nice that they're a lot of fun to shoot with! Names of lenses now added.
Hi
I hope you’re doing good
I lately bought a 70-210 f4 FD lens it needed some cleaning because of the fungus on its glass
I tried to clean it but now when I’m putting back its elements I noticed that the blades are not fully open when at f4 but I can’t remember if this is how it behaves at f4
If you still have this lens please check for me to see if i did things right I looked online for hours and found nothing
Many thanks
Mine doesn't open up fully when it's not mounted on a camera - so it sounds like you're okay!
The Vivitar and Kiron are really nice pieces of glass. If you get them for your film system of choice and adapt them to serve double duty on your digital body it's really great for your budget. Actually right now the best kept secret is the 4/3 Zuiko Digital 50-200 f2.8-3.5 that works as a charm on M4/3 with phase detect AF and an adapter.
Now that sounds like a nice lens! Enjoy!
Just bought a Vivitar 70-210mm F3.5 very curious to how it will perform! I'm hoping to buy a Canon FD too, to compare and keep the one I like best! Lot's of different versions available!
Nice video on vintage Lenses. I know the place from the pictures. It's South Woodford and George lane.
Another wonderful video. I am binge watching your channel and I feel no shame. Considering a Nikon AIs 80-200 f4 for my D610.
No shame necessary Ken, welcome aboard and glad you're enjoying the videos!
Can you please do this for longer focal lengths? I'd love a budget 300mm lens, prime or zoom, so tell me which is the best! Preferably Nikon mount. Also, you are hilarious! That dry English humor kills me 🤣
I'd like to look at some longer lenses - I'll keep a lookout for some. Glad you're enjoying the channel!
I get goose bumps when I hear your voice. Absolutly stunning. When will I hear you an audible? :D
Thanks!
we keep nagging him at work about it ;-)
Honestly, you really should think about doing paid voice-overs. You would be very good at that quite naturally.
If I could suggest another zoom lens you need to check out, it would be the Minolta MD 35-70mm F3.5 Macro. The image quality is outstanding right from F3.5, and its a very useable focal range for a travel lens. Cheap too.
I use that lens with my Fuji GFX 50R. Vignettes at the widest end but it’s still a really fun and versatile lens for the money.
@@Station9.75 I was about to call BS about the vignetting, as I use it on my A7Riii, but then I realized that you're using a medium format mirrorless haha. That cameras been on my dream list for some time.
@@shawnbrynelson5333 - Call bs? That would be weird thing for me to lie about.
Anyway the 50R is awesome, it’s reignited my love of photography.
Great review I was tempted by the vivitar, but it’s quite a heavy lens so I went for the m42 Sirius as I can use it with a speed booster in a theatre setting in low light. £30 for a good copy
Also to consider is the Nikon 70-210mm f/4 Series E lens. Another good option is the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, the first or second version with fixed f/3.5 max aperture, not the later variable aperture versions. I actually have both of these lenses and they are wonderful. I bought the Nikon Series E lens for about $70 USD three years ago and I found the Vivitar Series 1 (Canon FD mount) for literally $15 on Ebay about 2 years ago. I have used them to shoot film and adapted to my Fuji mirrorless camera.
I used to have that series e lens some years ago - it really was very nice!
My FD-mount Vivitar (Kobori-made?) 70-300mm f/4.5-5.3 suffers from gravity zoom, but it has captured some beautiful and memory-making images in the forty years I've owned it. No complaints at all. It's interesting to me that some of these push-pull zooms have their shorter focal length when they are physically extended and some the other way round. When the barrel is "pushed" on the Sirius (and on my lens), the "front" lens moves outward and the entire lens becomes physically longer _as does the focal length._ Intuitively, that makes sense to me. But on the others, when the barrel is "pushed" along the lens housing, and the entire package never gets physically longer _and the focal length shortens._ Can anyone explain this?
I have to agree with you with the Canon zoom. As someone who is wedded to using prime lenses, I was more than a little surprised with the IQ from this dirt cheap FD70-210 f4.
It's surprisingly good, for sure!
Just bought a Vivitar 200mm f3. 5 M42 for £10 is actually Komine cos of serial number.. though hasn't arrived yet may need a clean...seen some reviews...seems looked after from photos... cheers
Have a good day....
Cheers Phil, enjoy the Vivitar!
AFAIK Vivitar was a dealer not a manufacturer. The V2000 was really a Cosina and so might be some of the lenses. I have a Cosina made Voigtländer (70-200) which is a fine lens. Pentax K mount.
Cosina made some very nice lenses, for sure!
I’ve wondered when you were going to come out with a long zoom videos. Slightly disappointed you didn’t feature the Nikon 70 210mm 4-5.6 which I’ve come to love very much for being really sharp and contrasty. :p I hope you do a video on old teleconverters eventually. I use a tc 16A with this lens to have an equivalent 336mm and while image quality does take a slight hit and you lose some light, it’s nice to have the extra reach and many of my recent favorite photos have been taken with this combo. Keep up the good work!!
Glad you enjoyed the video, thanks!
Great review. I have the vivitar. I don’t shoot it enough. I love the blur and was surprised at the sharpness. It just oozes a filmic look that I love. Zoom creep is awful though. It’s my only knock against it. I’m gonna try the canon. I agree with you about the 50mm canon fd f1.4. It was the first vintage lens I bought when I went mirrorless. It definitely is sharp but it has character. There is something special about the old canon fd glass in general but that 50 is my fav !
It's one of the nicest 50 1.4s I've shot!
my Canon FD 70-210 creates fantastic blur while zooming in and taking close ups of a leaf, a flower, a mushroom.:-) I'm also owning the 35-70. I wonder if you have experience/feedback of this one? Thanks for all your interesting information and the way you present this. from the other side of the Canal, Belgian greetings. Ivan
Hi Ivan, I haven't used the shorter Canon but I have used its Olympus OM equivalent - that one's very nice indeed!
As always, thank you for your nice inspiring videos.
Just to point out that it looks like Kiron did make some of this long zoom lenses (i.e the Vivitar 70-210 f3.5 Series 1) for Vivitar in the late 70's. I suppose that's why both brands are sometimes so close in terms of color rendering, sharpness and blur.
Thank you for your work.
Javier
Thanks for the info Javier, very interesting! Glad you enjoyed the video.
I have a older zoom QT11 MC AUTO ZOOM 70-210 4.0-5.6 it is a 4.0 at all focal lengths alsoas well as a push pull zooming also bought it for peanuts . It also all metal construction and works well it is also a A lens so I set the Aperture with the wheel on the camera
These old zooms can be a lot of fun - enjoy!
As I understood it when I worked in the industry back in the 80's and 90's, the Kiron lenses were designed by ex-Nikon lens makers, so that would explain the Nikon-like performance. It was said that the name Kiron was a re-jig of Nikkor, but take that for what it's worth. Still, it's interesting.
I had this zoom, a 28f2.8 and a 24f2, and regret ever parting with them
Kiron made some very nice lenses, no doubt about it - and that 24/2 sounds wonderful!
@@zenography7923 It was. I'd buy another in a flash if I saw it for sale
Don't believe it that Vivivitar got it for peanuts... beat 99p...+ postage on our favourite auction site looks nice too...tell your mate Gerry for me... Cheers Nigel.....
Great info...I have a nice Tamron 24-70mm zoom lens but looking for an AFFORDABLE longer zoom lens for my Niko D750! Thanks...
Thanks, glad it was useful!
I have the Vivitar in PKA mount, it's about 1" shorter than the Series 1 and as far as I can see, just as sharp.
This vivitar was unexpectedly nice - quite a surprise!
I shoot a Sony A7RII using a set of Canon FD primes from 20mm to 135mm. But I also have a wonderful Tokina ATX 100-300mm f4 lens that I'm still using too!
It sounds like you have a very nice collection!
Had the Series 1 VIVITAR 70-230 if I remember correctly it was f2.8 for my NIKON F MOUNT ....shot this on my Sony A6000 when I had those as well as my EL NIKKORMAT .....Sold those over two years ago
this was actually 210mm ......
The vivitar was quite a surprise to me - it made some really nice images!
The vivitar is good made by Kino Precision... Seen longer reviews the long end is really excellent for macro type shots nature etc.. Is very sharp.....
I found it a nice lens that can make some very nice images. Some of these third party lenses can really come up with the goods!
Trying to bid for vivitar on our favourite auction site.. thanks Nigel....
Vivitar Series 1 lenses always had a pretty good reputation. The Vivitar here doesn't seem to be a Series 1 lens, which can usually be identified by a red ring around the front of the lens. But apparently the Kiron 70-210 F4 was the same as the Vivitar Series 1, just rebranded (manufactured by Tokina, I think).
Kiron and Tokina are separate lens makers, both in the business of making lenses to be branded by any number of marketing companies like Vivitar, which do not actually make anything. As for the 70-200mm zoom, Vivitar was the first to market this class of zoom in its high quality Series 1 line. There were four or five successive versions of its 70-200mm zoom. Kiron and Tokina each made one or more of them. Vivitar marketed lenses both under its name alone, and also under its Series 1 line, where were cutting edge quality at the time.
I think prices on vintage zooms have not gone up because most of them have a rotating front barrel when focusing. This creates problems if used with a vnd filter. Any options with the rotating front barrel?
which vivitar lens are youtalking about
Would You do an episode On the real long zooms from 500 and up ?
If I can gather some together, I will!
@@zenography7923 that would be absolutely amazing and thank you for creating one of the most interesting channels on RUclips !
Thanks for you video. Since a few months, I'm the owner of a Vivitar 80-200. Hanging it in front of my Canon EOS 100D and Canon 250D, I could realized the quality of that zoom, then I bought 2 differents adapter rings, one mounted with a lens, and the other without lens... Unfortunately, the first ring is deforming the images a lot and cannot be used, the second ring, without lens is putting the zoom too far (1 cm) from the standard lens and then the focus cannot be done for a subject farest than 6 meters, so the zoom is not usefull and I'm very upset because my mother in law gave me that zoo just after the death of my father in law 6 months ago...Do you have an idea to solve that ?
It depends on the mount of the Vivitar lens you're using - which mount was it originally made for? It might be incompatible with your Canon camera.
which is the smallest in size
Hello, could you make a video about jupiter 3 or some sonnar clones lens? Recently I love those sonnar things and wanna buy one.
If one comes my way, I certainly will!
I thought that vintage zooms were pretty much useless. It seems that they are fine. I think i ll buy the Canon FD first.
It's really quite something - quite a surprise!
The vivitar lens is 15 elements in 10 groups and 6 leaves in the Iris.....
That vivitar lens is in fact made by Bauer.
On the one hand, I am a bit surprised how much vintage primes have skyrocketed in price. On the other hand, I am really not, given how much you promote them every chance you get ^^
Vivitar indeed made or branded some great lenses.
They certainly did - some of them were wonderful!
I have and use a number of Vivitar lenses. There are quite a few really good Vivitar lenses. But, I don't believe that they "manufactured" any of them. They supplied specs and various lens manufacturers built to those specs. Researching serial numbers will reveal who the manufacturer was, most of the time. Several of my favorite legacy lenses are Vivitar brand.
I didn't realise that, thanks for the info!
I'm not a fan of push pull zooms because it takes more time to compose precisely and dirt can easily get stuck underneath the mechanism, BUT the price of ca. € 50 for really nice examples makes me think twice. Especially the Canon FD, Pentax K and M42 mount push pull zooms are very affordable. If you're willing to choose a 3rd party brand (e.g. Tokina, Cosina, Mitakon, Panagor), the price is even lower. That's so cheap for a Japanese made metal lens that it makes me want to experiment with one :)
Some of these are very cheap indeed, and make great images too. Vintage lenses hold their value, so you can always sell on if it's not for you!
Any thoughts on the Nikon 70-210mm f4?
I'm afraid not - I haven't used that one!
Looking to see how zoom lenses connect to rangefinder bodies.... Wait though, haven't we been told for years that zoom lenses aren't as good optically as primes?
Technically that may well be true I guess, but some of them make some really nice images!
Are you familiar with the book, The Authentic Guide to Russian and Soviet Cameras by Jean Loup Princelle (2004)?
I've heard of it, but haven't read it I'm afraid.
im surprised you didnt warn against lens haze...is that not a problem for you?
You're right, I should have - thanks for reminding me.
You say peanut next thing we have to sell a kidney
Oh gosh, don't do that!
Looks like that Kiron lens has a big spot of fungus on the front element.
I think you're right, thanks for pointing it out. I think it's just behind the front element, so I might be able to clean it easily - fingers crossed!
@@zenography7923 Yes, I didn't know if you were aware of that, so I just wanted to mention it. Actually, in the whole segment on the Kiron, it's not apparent. Then at about 10:44, the light hits it just right and you can't miss seeing it. Kiron made some very good lenses, and as a matter of fact they manufactured some very good Vivitar branded lenses. I always enjoy your legacy lens videos. Thank you for making them. P.S. my wife feels that I own too many old legacy lenses, but I don't believe you can own too many. The hard part is finding the opportunity and time to use each of them.
Hard to believe that these cheap lenses produce such lovely images
Their cost wouldn’t even pay for a quality UV filter on a modern equivalent costing 40 time’s more!
I was very surprised by how well the Vivitar and the Canon lenses worked - both compare well with much more expensive lenses!
Actually old manual zoom lenses for film cameras r on the crap side compared to today's zooms.. On another hand primes r totally different..
They were my initial thoughts. I had little expectations when putting a £10 Canon fd70-210 on a Canon RP. No, it does not perform to a modern red ring, but on the other hand, it's lighter, more affordable and has more than acceptable IQ for a usable zoom today.
They surprised me by the quality of their images - quite unexpected - and I had fun shooting them too!
My wallet gonna take another hit...😅
Resist, resist, resist - oh alright then!
Vivitar is just a brand, they never manufacture anything
They were a brand with good quality.
I didn't realise that - thanks for the info!
Yup Vivitar lenses were made by Cosina,Tokina,Kiron,Schneider, Samyang etz etz...
Short Note about Vivitar: Their 70-210mm Series 1 are well regarded in every iteration (their even existed gold plated versions of it). Other than that there's two incredibly underrated superzooms worth checking out (which were also distributed under Vivitar): The 28-210mm f3,5-f5,6 and the 28-200mm f3,5-f5,3. These were the first superzooms that were sharp at every instance and covered almost all common focal lengths. When these were released they basically were every ambitioned amateurs dream when it came to travel.
www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/cosina-vivitar-28-210mm-f3-5-5-6-macro.html
www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/vivitar-28-200mm-f3-5-5-3.html
The reviews on the pentaxforums.
Most Vivitar Series 1 is underrated anyway. If you can put up with manual focus then you can get some pretty good results.
I was really surprised by the Vivitar - a very nice lens indeed, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it in a wide range of photographic situations. I'll have a look at those reviews, thanks!
Also Vivitar made no lenses. They had various companies manufacture lenses for them. Check out this page to verify what company produced your copies if you wish. The first two digits of the serial number are the key. www.apotelyt.com/camera-kit/vivitar-catalog