I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $125.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
So sharp you will cut yourself
Cons:
Eat your Wheaties!
This has been one o fmy favorite lenses since the day I got it. I got my from 'new old stock' and it is a gem. Great color rendition and sharper or as sharp as anything I have in my bag.
Registered: September, 2006
Posts: 587
Location: Arizona, USA
Lens Review Date: April 17, 2008
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $250.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Built and optical quality, price,
Cons:
Can't think of any (the weight don't bother me)
My favorite lens. I have several versions of it. The finish and built quality of this lens is in a class of it's own. I love the sharpness and the beautiful bokeh.
I have had many older manual focus macro lenses which suffer from a problem because of sensor reflections - specially when stopped down, and photographing a dark area surrounded by a lot of light).
This is the only older lens where I have been completely unable to re-produce this common phenomenon.
Tested on *ist D, DS and K10D.
Registered: January, 2007
Posts: 3365
Location: Newcastle Australia
Lens Review Date: July 17, 2008
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): None indicated
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Brilliantly sharp. Excellent colour rendition and bouquet
Cons:
None whatsoever.
Without doubt the favourite lens in my collection. Its Macro capability is breathtaking. Used as a 105mm lens, again produces brilliant results. An outstanding lens in all aspects.
I use it on a k10d, no problems. If one becomes available for sale, I recommend to purchase immediately.
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $200.00
| Rating: 9
Pros:
Sharpness, renditions, colour, lack of AF
Cons:
Heavy, rare flare in some light, optimized for close focusing distances
I got this as an upgrade to a 50mm /1.7 with extension tubes, a total world of difference. My go to lens now for almost everything, especially portraits.
I get better results using this and cropping than using my DA 50-200mm zoom.
I did a shootout with this and a DAF 100mm Macro, I returned that lens as the Vivitar is better and every way, save one: Autofocus.
The colours are fantastic and I love the out of focus you get with this lens.
Focusing is very easy (though the throw is about two and a half revolutions) and it is very sharp, even wide open.
Strangely only about 10% of what I shoot with this lens is macros.
I would recommend this to anyone. If it was autofocus and better flare protection it would easily be a $1000 lens.
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $375.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
optics, long focus throw, build, true 1:1
Cons:
weight
I'm being right up-front in admitting I paid the enormous going rate for this lens (even higher as I write this a couple months later).
While I have not lab measured this lens I have used it in numerous situations and always find it to be incredibly sharp and without distortion. Colours render fine and I have not had any issue with flare, thanks to the built in lens hood (one you simply pull out).
The focus throw on this lens is the longest I have ever used. From infinity down to about 90cm is a quarter turn, so it's darned easy to use as a telephoto. Another quarter turn and you're at 60cm and almost 1:3 magnification. Then it's a half turn to get to 1:2. Unbelievably you can rotate it almost a second time before getting to 1:1! This provides incredible control. And the action is smooth with a large rubberized barrel region to hold on to.
Fully extended with hood out it's almost 20cm long. And at 656g it is no lightweight. Nonetheless its incredible quality means I am as likely to have it on the camera as any other lens in my collection, FA Limiteds included.
Maybe it goes without saying, but though manual focus, this is an auto-exposure lens. The aperture ring starts at f/2.5 and goes to an incredible f/32. Not every lens has such a minimum aperture and it might be handy to approach it for macros. Though personally, I stay on the safe side of that figure to avoid diffraction effects.
Is this Vivitar Series 1 worth the trumped up price?
Registered: June, 2008
Posts: 9677
Location: Florida Hill Country
Lens Review Date: August 25, 2008
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $99.00
| Rating: 9
Pros:
Well made; Modern appearance despite "Age"
Cons:
out of production
Excellent manual focus lens that looks good on modern bodies. It is well made and a piece of art. In my opinion it is the best in the 100-105 mm range with 1:1. To bad its out of production. This lens has a "cult" following and as resulted in relatively high prices.
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $240.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Sharpness, build quality, focus precision
Cons:
not auto focus, some purple fringing
I just bought one off ebay, (this is actually a pre-series-1 era, called 100mm F 2.8, serial 227xxxx mfct by Kiron). I could not yet do some serious test, but in the few shots I could take... well for the first time I had the impression that the detail limit was my K10D sensor, instead of lens resolution!
The build quality is amazing, focus ring is smooth and precise, yes, it's not auto focus, and if you shot wide open, the DOF could demand some attention, but still... no regrets!
Registered: October, 2008
Posts: 1
Location: London / Southampton
Lens Review Date: April 26, 2009
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): None indicated
| Rating: 9
Pros:
Incredible build quality and IQ.
Cons:
Purple fringing at wide apertures
What a great lens! A keeper for sure. Mine has s/n 22402927.
For starters this is probably the sharpest lens in my bag. When used from f/8 to f/32 the colour rendition, contrast and sharpness are astounding. The lens performs as well at 1:1 as it does at infinity, making this a great portrait lens too, although the extreme sharpness makes skin textures and individual hairs stand out rather too much for some tastes, although this does give some beautiful effects on b&w film, especially when printed on grade 4 paper. Still when this lens is used as intended as a macro or as a street / landscape telephoto the IQ is simply unbeatable.
For macro work at f/8 the bokeh is clean and unoffensive giving photos a really lifelike 3D quality. Even up at f/32 where diffraction normally hits the sharpness a little image quality is stellar, and 100% crops look as good as the original.
The only area where the performance of this lens is less than great is from wide open to f/5.6, where purple fringing is poorly controlled around areas of high contrast - at f/2.4 the lens is essentially unusable even in low contrast situations, but by f/4 fringing is well controlled enough to use the lens with B&W film. Unfortunately this appears to be more of a blooming effect than a lateral CA problem, making correction with processing very difficult. But this wasn't designed as a low light portrait lens, and shouldn't be used as such, although B&W film does give a little leeway.
Build quality is great; there is no mechanical play or problems with lubrication even after 20+ years of use. For normal use from infinity to 3ft focus is acheived by only a quarter-turn of the ring making focusing a breeze. And there's a built in lens hood - what more could one ask for!
Overall this is a stellar macro lens, with almost unbeatable IQ. Get one if you can, and hang onto it - I don't believe there's a better macro around.
Registered: March, 2009
Posts: 280
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Lens Review Date: August 24, 2009
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): None indicated
| Rating: 9
Pros:
High built quality; extremely high macro image quality
Cons:
This is a macro lens; not the best for non-macro work.
Very well build like a tank, on par with Pentax K lenses. Phenomenally high Macro image quality. Bitting clarify and resolution for Macro work. But it is a macro lens. Not that great when doing non macro work. Occasional purple fringing. I guess that I am asking too much. http://picasaweb.google.com/yyyzzz/V...eat=directlink
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $187.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
An extremly impresive lens that delivers excellent results
Cons:
A wee bit of purple fringing in contrasty situations which stopping down helps somewhat.
My version is the Kiron 105mm f2.8 from the mid 80's.
This lens was designed for macro work and delivers excellent resolution,contrast and bokeh....I like this lens better in some cases then my Micro Nikkor 105mm f2.8 and the Micro Nikkor 55mm f2.8 which was quite surprising...definitely one of the better macro lenses.
Registered: May, 2007
Posts: 425
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Lens Review Date: October 7, 2009
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $200.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Very sharp. Great bokeh. Great build. Very smooth focusing.
Cons:
Purple fringing. Very low contrast below F4 on my version. Very heavy.
Fantastic lens. One of the sharpest I have ever used on film or digital. The build quality is great and the focusing smooth. I did not like the result at anything below f4, but beyond that it was incredible. It did have a tendency to purple fringe on high contrast areas. Sadly I sold mine and will eventually replace it with the Voigtlander macro, but would not hesitate to buy one again at a reasonable price.
Registered: November, 2008
Posts: 28
Location: Nīmes, France
Lens Review Date: November 17, 2009
I can recommend the Vivitar Series 1 105mm f2.5 Macro: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $70.00
| Rating: 9
Pros:
Large aperture, built quality, good IQ, colours
Cons:
Heavy, purple fringing, "cult" lens
I am reviewing the Vivitar 100mm f2.8, the same lens but was marked differently.
I bought this lens after reading many positive reviews of this lens. Yes, many people call it "legendary" but compare to my Vivitar 100m f3.5 (made by Cosina). I can't find any thing much superior.
Positive: Large aperture, built quality and IQ is very good. Bokeh and colors are excellent.
Negatives: Heavy. A little heavy for photomacrography when you use with many macro accessories. Sometimes LoCAs are visible.
