[uday029]

Hello all,

I am a Pentax newbie who recently bought a Pentax K-3. I was just going through my local craigslist to see if I can find any good used lenses and found an old VIVITAR 85mm - 205mm screw on lens for about $25. I know that its an old manual focus lens but for that price I am super tempted to buy. Even if I wont carry it with me all the time, I can use it to take photos of moon once in a while.

I looked up on pentaxforums lens reviews and found decent reviews:
Vivitar 85-205mm f/3.8 Lens Reviews - Vivitar Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

My question is, would it fit K-mount or do I need an adapter? Also, anything else I should know/ask before I buy the lens? How do I check the lens for fungus or mold?

Thank you.

[boriscleto]

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/58-troubleshooting-beginner-help/110658-u...x-dslrs-f.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/58-troubleshooting-beginner-help/259929-s...es-online.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/54-pentax-lens-articles/59245-pawnshop-le...ers-guide.html

[manntax]

If the lens is in M42 mount then your Pentax K mount adapter will allow you to use it.

[tibbitts]

My suggestion is that unless you're buying old lenses as a hobby in itself (which is ok), it makes no sense to buy a lens like the one you're talking about. As a practical matter it would be inconvenient to use for general-purpose photography: not just manaul focus, but manual aperture, stop-down metering, manual SR setting, and the need for an adapter. You can buy a nearly-new zoom that with greater range that will generally outperform almost any '70s-'80s zoom, and have all the automated features, for 3-4x the price. If you can afford a new K3, an extra $50-$75 for a lens shouldn't be that big a deal.

[Arjay Bee]

Vivitar 75-205 and 85-205 are fun - I have had two over the past few years and they can be very sharp and quite contrasty. Just factor in $60 for the genuine adapter but that can be shared with all the other old lenses you will acquire and enjoy playing with,

See examples by myself and others of the images this lens is capable of in this thread. I like post number 314 in the thread.

To check the lens for fungus or mold hold a penlite or similar in the rear end of the lens in a shady room and shine it up the lens and look for fuzzy growth and granules of obviously foreign matter gathered on each of the lens surfaces. Look at the surfaces obliqulely not straight on for clearer dust isolation. A little dust is normal, laboratory sized growth of industrial grade penicillin is bad. Lens delamination is also possible - this will cause rainbow like arcs of colour on the edges of doublet or triplet lens elements

Also turn the aperture ring and use your finger to push the aperture blade lever at the base of the lens to see if the blades stop down snappily or sluggishly. Snap is good, slug is bad. As you move the ring from narrow aperture to wide do the blades stay closed or do they open as the ring is turned. Again snap is good slug is bad.

[vonBaloney]

There are certainly a few exceptions, but most cheap old screw-mount zooms will look like crap on modern cameras, and you can find plenty of them for around 20 bucks, so don't get too excited like you're going to miss a deal or something. The m42 adapter you'll need will be more expensive than the lens...

[Just1MoreDave]

I have one of these.

It is not a bad lens but I think $25 is too expensive. I'll send you mine if you pay for shipping - probably $13. Here are more photos of it: https://picasaweb.google.com/Just1MoreDave/Vivitar8520838?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[uday029]

Thank you all for your opinions. I am definitely not going to carry it around all the time. I think I just got attracted to the price (never before I saw lens that's less than 50 bucks). I have never used a manual lens before so I guess a manual focusing zoom would be a little complex for me. The adapter surely costs as much or even more than the lens. I think I will save the 20 bucks.

[promacjoe]

I have the Vivitar 85-205 and the 75-205, And I must say I have gotten really good results from both. Better than some of my autofocus lenses. even though the Vivitar 85-205mm f/3.8, is not a one touch zoom, it is very functional and does not exhibit any lens creep. well worth the money if the lens is in good shape. If you can, look through the lens and make sure there's no major dust or scratches on the glass. Also work the lens aperture and make sure it moves freely. Over the years minus gotten some oil or something on the blades and no longer moves freely. if everything checks out good, it will be well worth the money.

[uday029]

I have one of these.

It is not a bad lens but I think $25 is too expensive. I'll send you mine if you pay for shipping - probably $13. Here are more photos of it: https://picasaweb.google.com/Just1MoreDave/Vivitar8520838?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Thank you Dave. I appreciate your offer. I think it would cost more than the lens to ship it from Colorado to Nevada . The seller on craigslist dropped the price to $20. I am still hesitant to buy this. I am instead looking at 500/600mm mirror lenses. At least I can use it for shooting moon and its light to carry.

---------- Post added 12-02-14 at 09:43 PM ----------

I have the Vivitar 85-205 and the 75-205, And I must say I have gotten really good results from both. Better than some of my autofocus lenses. even though the Vivitar 85-205mm f/3.8, is not a one touch zoom, it is very functional and does not exhibit any lens creep. well worth the money if the lens is in good shape. If you can, look through the lens and make sure there's no major dust or scratches on the glass. Also work the lens aperture and make sure it moves freely. Over the years minus gotten some oil or something on the blades and no longer moves freely. if everything checks out good, it will be well worth the money.

Thanks promacjoe. Do you know how much the lens weighs? I am going to check out the lens tomorrow and see if the seller will drop the price further. Also, which adapter do you use?

[Arjay Bee]

I am instead looking at 500/600mm mirror lenses.

And now you will have lots of comments about the inferior quality of mirror lenses. Like this one.

[promacjoe]

I have a 500mm f8, mirrored lens. And I must say it is probably the worst I have. The depth of field is very short, And It does not have a aperture. Other than changing the time value or ISO value, The only way you can reduce the light, is to install a rear mount neutral density filter. Which is very inconvenient. you would be better off purchasing the Vivitar lens and a large front mouth tele-converter. And that's not really a good combination.

take my advice, if you need a longer lens, save up for a Sigma 150-500. Or something better.

[uday029]

And now you will have lots of comments about the inferior quality of mirror lenses. Like this one.

I did read a lot of negative comments about mirror lenses on some forums. Currently I can not afford any of the "real" telephoto lenses and I don't think I can afford them anytime in the near future. Moreover, I rarely go out and shoot birds/wildlife/sports. I can not justify spending for a "proper" telephoto lens which I probably use less than 1% of the time. I think its smarter to buy a small and light cheap lens to shoot some telephoto shots and later buy a good lens if I find myself using it a lot. Don't you think so?

[Arjay Bee]

If the lens quality is so bad that the images you obtain are unusable then it will just sit on a shelf. Many of the used reflex lenses on the market look to be in unused condition, for the reason that they largely are unused due to them being not worth the effort. Save up for a used real telephoto lens. :-)

[vonBaloney]

I will add one of those comments -- cheap mirror lenses are REALLY bad. There are some decent ones, but they usually go for over $100.

You know, I have one of those vivitars like you are looking at -- I tried to sell it on Craigslist for $10, couldn't get any takers.