The Return of Vivitar Series 1 Lenses

Miserere · 03-04-2009, 02:00 PM

I've started seeing them on Ebay, shipping from Miami. I suppose they're the same as the Samyang, Polar, etc. that are coming from Korea.

85mm f/1.4 and 800mm f/8 CAT lenses. I'd be very interested in knowing how this last one performs. It's a T-mount that comes with the appropriate adapter for your camera.

I've seen some of these Vivitars from Beach Camera too.

I wonder what other lenses they'll release...

.

Just1MoreDave · 03-04-2009, 02:38 PM

The mirror lens is going to be a tough sell at that price to anyone who has used the Korean-built Vivitar 500mm f8 mirror. (Which is worth about the $50 I paid.) If they had said "soild", they might have attracted more interest.

stevebrot · 03-04-2009, 04:01 PM

I think I like the looks of the 85/1.4 a little better in the Vivitar trim than the Polar/Samyang examples we have seen.

Steve

*Igilligan* · 03-04-2009, 04:21 PM

I thought I had read on hear the the Polar/Samyang had been sent back to the man. for some reason... Very strange to see a new Vivi series 1, I hope they paid a pretty penny to re-badge it as such and that it does not suck....

Surprised it is not an 'A' lens though... I knew it was not AF but not 'A' means it does not talk to the camera or the flash...

stevebrot · 03-04-2009, 04:57 PM

Check this out...You don't even have to go to eBay to get one...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Series_1.html

Steve

Steinback · 03-04-2009, 07:02 PM

Saw they were up on B&H a few days ago without a photo. Looks like they do have an "A" setting at B&H, maybe the picture of the one on ebay is for another mount?

Makes me wonder if Vivitar's current owners will set up a Canadian distributor, a year or so ago when I asked around at a couple of local shops looking for flashes I was told there wasn't one at that time.

Just1MoreDave · 03-04-2009, 07:28 PM

Originally Posted by Steinback

Saw they were up on B&H a few days ago without a photo. Looks like they do have an "A" setting at B&H, maybe the picture of the one on ebay is for another mount?

They did the same thing with the Samyang and Polar versions - pictures showed a version with no A, but it wasn't the Pentax. Everyone got the correct version.

$350, wow. If I could sell my Super-Takumar for that, it would be an even trade.

*fwcetus* · 03-04-2009, 07:57 PM

This is not actually to quibble with the ~content~ of this thread (really!), but is to lament the fact that the ~real~ top-notch VS1 lenses have not returned.

The VS1 lenses of the 1970's and perhaps the early 1980's represented state-of-the-art (for their time) lenses, built with high quality and heaping spoonfuls of innovation. However, during the latter 1980's and certainly in the 1990's, imaginative VS1 designs were few and far between, as the "Series 1" label was applied to almost any lens (or point-n-shoot camera) that was not actually a toy. I'd say that this trend has continued in this century. (Fortunately, there have been a few notable exceptions.)

I'm afraid that the label "Series 1" has been grafted onto the brand "Vivitar" on far too many products over the past couple of decades, and so often that I would argue that Vivitar Series 1 lenses have not ~really~ returned, but are still AWOL. Again, though, this is not really to directly disagree with the point of this thread, but merely to lament over the dilution of the "VS1" label...

[I'll get off my soapbox now...]

*Igilligan* · 03-04-2009, 08:01 PM

And I lament the bastardization of the Series 1 name too... but this is a 85mm 1.4 so I am dying to see how the "Vivitar" version holds up...

Miserere · 03-04-2009, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by Steinback

Saw they were up on B&H a few days ago without a photo. Looks like they do have an "A" setting at B&H, maybe the picture of the one on ebay is for another mount?

It's a Nikon mount in the Ebay photo.

*fwcetus* · 03-04-2009, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by Igilligan

And I lament the bastardization of the Series 1 name too... but this is a 85mm 1.4 so I am dying to see how the "Vivitar" version holds up...

Good point, and I agree with you. I do have to say that a manual focus 85/1.4 could be a good sign (assuming that there is some quality to back up an interesting concept). It could almost sound "Voigtlander-ish" - <g>.

Miserere · 03-04-2009, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by fwcetus

I'm afraid that the label "Series 1" has been grafted onto the brand "Vivitar" on far too many products over the past couple of decades, and so often that I would argue that Vivitar Series 1 lenses have not ~really~ returned, but are still AWOL.

No worries, I know what you're saying and completely agree with you. Maybe I should have added a question mark at the end of the thread title. The 85mm f/1.4 lens, if it's the same as the Samyang/Polar, is not a crap lens from what I've seen, so maybe somebody is trying to bring back the quality that once used to be associated with Vivitar Series 1 lenses.

I've been saying for ages that if somebody introduces the following lenses in P/KA mount (even if they're manual focus) with above average IQ and affordable price, that they'll make a fortune:

24mm f/2
50mm f/1.2
85mm f/1.4
135mm f/2

So far they've introduced one of them.

.

*fwcetus* · 03-04-2009, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Miserere

No worries, I know what you're saying and completely agree with you. Maybe I should have added a question mark at the end of the thread title. The 85mm f/1.4 lens, if it's the same as the Samyang/Polar, is not a crap lens from what I've seen, so maybe somebody is trying to bring back the quality that once used to be associated with Vivitar Series 1 lenses.

I've been saying for ages that if somebody introduces the following lenses in P/KA mount (even if they're manual focus) with above average IQ and affordable price, that they'll make a fortune:

24mm f/2

50mm f/1.2

85mm f/1.4

135mm f/2

So far they've introduced one of them.

That's the kind of thinking (and wishing) that also caused me to suggest, "It could almost sound "Voigtlander-ish" - <g>".

Miserere · 03-04-2009, 09:14 PM

There's a nice detail about this Vivitar 85mm that I liked. The focus ring turns in the same direction as those of the mount it belongs to. So Nikon and Pentax turn clockwise (from the photographer's point of view) while the Canon ring turns anti-clockwise. The classic Vivitars never did that (they turned the Canon way) and to this day even Sigma doesn't change the rotation direction to fit the brand. Tamron does it with some models.

.

*fwcetus* · 03-04-2009, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by Miserere

There's a nice detail about this Vivitar 85mm that I liked. The focus ring turns in the same direction as those of the mount it belongs to. So Nikon and Pentax turn clockwise (from the photographer's point of view) while the Canon ring turns anti-clockwise. The classic Vivitars never did that (they turned the Canon way) and to this day even Sigma doesn't change the rotation direction to fit the brand. Tamron does it with some models. .

The ol' classic Tokina lenses did that, too - their focus directions coordinated with the mounts (one of the minor advantages of using the Tokina AT-X 90/2.5 Macro over the VS1 90/2.5 Macro, for example).