[jsherman999]

.

I really, really, really wish it was Spring here, because a macro lens with this pedigree should be used to count the hairs on a bee's nose.

So, in the meantime, I'll just snap what I can, sorry for the boring subjects, hopefully the IQ this lens is capable of comes across:



.
both wide-open (f/2.8):


Crops of above:




f/2.8

Crop of above left (1/200s handheld):




f/2.8

Crop:

[gheins]

We Just met. Is "love at first sight" TMI for a lens?

[AlexJ]

I have Lester's twin brother - the Vivitar Series 1 105mm. It's one of the four lenses I purchased which was influenced by Jay's shots.

I have a soft spot for bokeh as you can see.

[jsherman999]

Nice, Alex, love the color wash bokeh, sweet.

Everything's still dead here. And winter doesn't even officially start for another month. Depressing.

f/4




In this leaf shot, I just pointed up & shot randomly to check exposure histogram, and looked at the detail captured later (wind was blowing heavily, but shutter speed was about fast enough)



Crop:

[Mechan1k]

OK ... thoroughly impressed with the above leaf shot there ... that detail is simply amazing.

[UpNorth]

OK ... thoroughly impressed with the above leaf shot there ... that detail is simply amazing.

Man - You're not kidding Simon - that's sharp!


jsherman - Where around here did you find a leaf with green still on it in November?!?!?
Only 4 months or so until we get at least a sniff of Spring - maybe.....

Tim

[jsherman999]

Man - You're not kidding Simon - that's sharp!


jsherman - Where around here did you find a leaf with green still on it in November?!?!?
Only 4 months or so until we get at least a sniff of Spring - maybe.....

Tim

Thx Simon & Tim.

Tim, that's in a rock garden near Lake Harriet. I see you're from MN, where do you shoot usually?



.

[UpNorth]

Thx Simon & Tim.

Tim, that's in a rock garden near Lake Harriet. I see you're from MN, where do you shoot usually?



.

The bulk of my shooting seems to be at one of my kids' sporting events, on our once-a-year big family vacation, or at our cabin in northern Wisconsin. Although last weekend I knew I HAD to go shoot SOMETHING - what with winter coming and all - so I ran over to Minnehaha Falls and messed around for an hour or so.


How about you?

Tim

[dcmsox2004]

hi all... i just received my clone of lester... in brand new condition......
for all those who have 'dined', how about your experiences and tips for
using this beautiful piece of metal and glass.....
curious as to those who have 'shot' other than macro with this lens....
what say you my fellow forum friends....
regards and thanks, dave m

[jeffrey r]

Congrats--which specific lens did you get? I ended up with my Vivitar Series 1 105mm Macro when I jumped into an ebay auction late and ended up with it for a great price. Simply put, these are outstanding lenses whatever the application. I have used it for shots of my family when I have been outside doing some macro work, and it really can produce beautiful people shots. It is not just a macro lens. Its bokeh is very smooth, and the lens is super sharp (some may say too sharp for portrait work, but I never found it "too sharp" for that use). Just a great lens all-around.

[dcmsox2004]

Congrats--which specific lens did you get? I ended up with my Vivitar Series 1 105mm Macro when I jumped into an ebay auction late and ended up with it for a great price. Simply put, these are outstanding lenses whatever the application. I have used it for shots of my family when I have been outside doing some macro work, and it really can produce beautiful people shots. It is not just a macro lens. Its bokeh is very smooth, and the lens is super sharp (some may say too sharp for portrait work, but I never found it "too sharp" for that use). Just a great lens all-around.

i got the lester dine version.... ebay purchase... seller (100%) told me he'd purchased 4 of these a while back... the one i got is virtually brand new, even has the paperwork that came with it..... i just got a new k-x, but looking forward to shooting this new lens with the k200d as well........ lba strikes again.... but a reasonable investment....

[jsherman999]

.

This lens - the Lester Dine, Viv S1 105, Viv 100 2.8, and Kiron versions - all basically exactly the same optically - can be used for general telephoto and portrait use nicely.

In fact, I think this lens feels like a Cz 100 in the hand. I know that's heresy to Zeiss owners, but I've used a Cz on my Nikon briefly and this Lester Dine is almost as nice. Maybe a touch more CA with the Viv/Lester/Kiron, but the Cz is not CA-free either.

I used it for many different applications in the three incarnations I've owned it in now (Viv S1 105, Viv 100 2.8, Lester,) and it's just a joy to shoot.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

I was wondering: since Lester A Dine currently uses the Sigma 105mm macro, would that make the Sigma part of this club?

[jsherman999]

I was wondering: since Lester A Dine currently uses the Sigma 105mm macro, would that make the Sigma part of this club?

.


NO!! Just like the later poorly-built and soft autofocus "Vivitar Series 1"'s are impostors also.

Although the Sigma 105 is a pretty nice lens by itself.... It's just not really a Lester.

[Laurentiu Cristofor]

A couple of shots.

First is handheld, so not as sharp as it should be - my hands aren't that steady. But it's my first shot with this lens and I like the colors.

f/8:


Second is on tripod, part of my old camera shots, a 3 second exposure.

f/11:


It's the exposure calculator of a Zenit EM camera.