I've always been amazed at the sharpness my older Vivitar 80-200mm lens provides. It's a Kobori-made version.... ser. #77xxxxx. It rivals many more modern and much more costly lenses. I've seen them for as low as $20.00 on eBay. This is an example of what I'm talking about. For those on a budget, I don't know of a better lens for the money! Vivitar 80-200mm F4 MACRO FOCUSING ZOOM MC Lens Reviews - Vivitar Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

[Adam]

I've always been amazed at the sharpness my older Vivitar 80-200mm lens provides. It's a Kobori-made version.... ser. #77xxxxx. It rivals many more modern and much more costly lenses. I've seen them for as low as $20.00 on eBay. This is an example of what I'm talking about. For those on a budget, I don't know of a better lens for the money! Vivitar 80-200mm F4 MACRO FOCUSING ZOOM MC Lens Reviews - Vivitar Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

Beautiful gradients and colors. Well done! Looks like a definite keeper of a lens

[photomax7]

Lovely rendering...good glass is good glass no matter how old it is.

[Dewman]

Here's another shot using this same lens. My eyesight is such that I find it hard to focus with manual lenses, so I placed it, along with several other Vivitar lenses on the Market Place. The sale is pending. I think the buyer will be very impressed, as was I.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

File Date

 

[photomax7]

The colours are so natural looking, great lens...have you tried the the catch in focus technique with it. I'm in the same boat with the eyesight...will be putting my time served K/M-series lenses on the Marketplace as I now have AF equivalents.

[françois]

yep! it's mine now! can't wait to try it!

François

[bscott]

Really well done.

[Dewman]

Francois is the new owner of this stellar Vivitar! I have no doubt we'll be seeing some photos from him very soon!

---------- Post added 03-22-18 at 04:18 PM ----------

The colours are so natural looking, great lens...have you tried the the catch in focus technique with it. I'm in the same boat with the eyesight...will be putting my time served K/M-series lenses on the Marketplace as I now have AF equivalents.

No, strangely I've never tried the catch-in-focus technique. I usually just pre-focus to a pre-determined distance, then move forward or backward until the image comes into focus, then hit the shutter. It works pretty well for me when shooting flowers and/or bees.

[oculus]

There's something special about the sensor in the K-50 as well. It really matches well with good legacy glass. The 16 MP seems to have been just enough resolution without exposing the "weaknesses" in older glass. I loved my K-50.

[Dewman]

There's something special about the sensor in the K-50 as well. It really matches well with good legacy glass. The 16 MP seems to have been just enough resolution without exposing the "weaknesses" in older glass. I loved my K-50.

I considered "up-grading" to a K-3 or K-1, but I got along just fine with my10 MP K2000 for about 3 years before I got my first K-50. Like you, I LOVE my K-50 and see no reason to change horses in the middle of the stream. It does everything I want or need. Same goes for my K-30. Wonderful pieces of equipment. I think Francois will really enjoy the Vivitar 80-200mm lens he bought from me..... the one used for the photos above. I even found the original box it came in, along with the factory pamphlet. The original price on the box said $199.50! Maybe I should have asked more!

[Arjay Bee]

Don't forget that there is also a dedicated Vivitar lens club to show off these wonderful old lenses. Do a search for "share the beauty" :-)
Those are great examples from that lens.

[photomax7]

Francois is the new owner of this stellar Vivitar! I have no doubt we'll be seeing some photos from him very soon!

---------- Post added 03-22-18 at 04:18 PM ----------




No, strangely I've never tried the catch-in-focus technique. I usually just pre-focus to a pre-determined distance, then move forward or backward until the image comes into focus, then hit the shutter. It works pretty well for me when shooting flowers and/or bees.

That's pretty much the same technique except the camera camera decides when to fire...I use it with my macro lens because at 1:1 there can be a lot of camera shake hand-held...just activate catch-in-focus in the menu and switch the body or lens if it has a switch to manual focus...pre-frame-up as desired, move back a bit, press and hold shutter moving forward till focus is achieved and the shutter will fire automatically...If framing up off centre use the selective-focus-point focusing option for positioning the area desired...try it as it's a handy feature.