My new Canon Vivitar macro lens

[Just1MoreDave]

I found a really cheap Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Auto Macro, made by Komine. One reason it was cheap was because it was a Canon FD mount.



I took a chance that Vivitar or Komine had some way of making the mount so that it was easier to shorten. If they did, I didn't find it. Since the lens is a macro, I decided not to machine the mount (probably not possible with my tools anyway). Instead, the extra distance acts like a short extenstion tube. I can focus to about 5 ft. or so. You can see the gap between the mount and lens in this photo:



The photos compare this with my recently finished Pentax-M 50mm f4 Macro, which I had to paint some. If you look close you can tell, but I got tired of redoing it. It works fine. The Vivitar does 1:1 magnification, opens to f2.8 and has one more aperture blade, but it is much bigger.



The Pentax is practically a pancake by comparison. It would be nice to have a full test but I don't know if the results would mean much for K or M42 mount versions. Also I had to modify the aperture mechanism so the stops are not what shows on the ring - but now it stops way down, to f64 or so. It's an interesting lens.

[sajah]

Where is the photo? Please add because this is interesting, thank you.

[Just1MoreDave]

Originally Posted by sajah

Where is the photo? Please add because this is interesting, thank you.

I seem to have a problem with Picasaweb and direct links. Try accessing this album instead, it might work:

Picasa Web Albums - David - Vivitar Canon...

[sajah]

Thanks now I can see the pic. Yup it's big

[Just1MoreDave]

Example photo, which I am calling "Beechwood, Aged". This is at f2.8 I think: