Cheapskate Charlie here...
I pulled my $25 vivi 135 out of the bag yesterday to play around. I am still liking the OOF look of this lens, but you all know I like the swirly stuff.

The other thing that just blows me away is how sharp it is wide open. Not tootin' my own horn too much, but I got a couple of BIF (bee in flight) Manual focus shots at F2.8 that kind of shocked me. I was at least 10ft from the bee. I mean, who needs AF? of course I probably tossed 30 to get two but still...



And a greater than 100% crop....



But back to what I like about this lens... the swirleys







And a couple of 'experimental / goofin' off' reflected image shots... Not for everyone I know, and I certainly have not perfect the idea yet...
Can't tell if I like the color or not...







Plus it's an ok la familia schnaportrait shooter










Thanks for looking, everyone needs a 135 2.8 in their bag, or at least on the shelf.
As the kids use to say, Peace out...

Nice ones Gus, I really like the second bee shot (not the crop), the way it just seems to be hanging there.
Classic look for that era of lenses, you reminded me, I must try out my Pentax 135 3.5 that I got for a fiver (with a mint leather case as well) and try it on the K20.

Actually Gary, the second is a crop... I just forgot to mention it... here is the original which I like for the reason you mentioned... It just looks like he is hang there.


I still love my Pentax M135 3.5, sharp a tack.

That BIF is truly awesome...I'd be thrilled if I got that, wow!...they are all enjoyable images, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the kind words....

Nice, I like this series! Interesting bokeh specially in the fourth photo! Cool effects in those child photos!

Georg, thanks for the comment... that swirly bokeh is why I like some of these cheapies... Hin and Jay showed me early on that some of these lenses have a look I personally like. Since then, I have bought way to many 20-50 dollar lenses. I probably could have had the entire Pentax Ltd. set by now if I had gone that way instead.

I really like the Radio Flyer nastalgic looking image. Also like the the orange flower where part of the image is black. Not often this combination works, but yours is great, probably because of the beautiful translucent lighting. I like what you are attempting with the abstract shot of the girl, but I think the round circle where her eye would be spoils it. My how your girl has grown! Mine is already ignoring me and wouldn't want to be seen with me when her friends are around.

JMR

Oh, I feel your pain everyday... my 6 year old already is ignoring me when I pick her up from school. As soon as she sees me, she gets a pained look on her face and quickly says goodbye to her friends... If I dare ask "how was school today?" she cringes and says "I dont want to talk about it!"

Nice to see there are reasonable price glass out there with these type of results. Really like the last one Gus. JIM

Jimbo, There are still some great lenses out there for little money IMO... I would love to have all the great Pentax classic lenses, but my reality is definately somewhere at the low end of the price spectrum... someday I will sell all of this old glass and buy the Trinity... but for now, it is my duty to report on the cheap ones... and it is always a pleasure to find a cheapy that produces...

Super shots, Gus!

Funny thing, last night your post got me looking on the bay, put a lowball bid on a Vivitar 135 / 50 / 2x converter trio, and to my surprise won it as the only bidder. your fault

Then this morning I went near crazy because I couldn't find this post! Thank God I finally did, as I was seriously considering divine guidance / hallucination....

My guess it was hallucination... or maybe a flashback, depending on your indulgences from days gone by. Had it been a Helios-44m you bid on and won, then I would say Divine Guidence... 8^)

Hope you have as much luck with your vivi's as I have had with mine. I think the 2x converters are real hit and miss, but I do have vivi macro converter that is really nice....
Post em up when you get em!

Thanks again to all who commented... I thought I would post this one, shot through a slightly opened door...
The girls have been a pain lately about letting me take shots of them, so these thru the door or thru the window shots
may be the only stuff I get for while.

But it does ok as a indoor lens if you have the room.

[stevebrot]

Steve, I look forward to your shots... This lens seems to like the overcast / shadows... So the 9 mths of overcast in SW WA should be nice for this lens as it does have a bit of CA if blasted into a high contrast area. Well, at least on the days in those 9 mths when it is not raining... the vivi 135 weather seals seem a bit lacking! haha

Remind me again where you are in WA...

The 9 month of darkness seem to be drawing to a close here. The sun is out as I type this and the buds of my flowering plum are finally bursting into bloom. All I can say is that it is about time

I am in southwest Washington just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.

Steve

I cant remember who I have told my life story to, so forgive me if this is old info to you. But I did my wonderbread years in Salem, with
a jr high stint in Lakewood Wa... go Lochburn Lions

Only later was I transplanted, kicking and screaming to Ca...

Salem had 33,000 folks there when I left. I spent almost every day in summer fishing or tubing on Mill Creek. The Willamette
was pretty polluted back then from the mills. A great place to grow up.

I miss it!

[stevebrot]

I cant remember who I have told my life story to, so forgive me if this is old info to you. But I did my wonderbread years in Salem, with
a jr high stint in Lakewood Wa... go Lochburn Lions

Only later was I transplanted, kicking and screaming to Ca...

Salem had 33,000 folks there when I left. I spent almost every day in summer fishing or tubing on Mill Creek. The Willamette
was pretty polluted back then from the mills. A great place to grow up.

I miss it!

Salem has a population of about 150,000 now, but it is still a nice place to live (IMHO). The Willamette is pretty clean, though I would not voluntarily go swimming in it below Oregon City. ( Portland still has the occasional spill of raw sewage into the river. )

I was actually born in the area (Oregon City), but grew up in Seattle and have lived in a number of places since then:

• Bozeman, Montana
• Walla Walla, Washington
• Vancouver, Canada
• Bamfield (Vancouver Island), Canada
• Port Angeles, Washington
• Longview, Washington
• Bremerton, Washington
• and for the last 20 years...Vancouver (USA), Washington

This is a great part of the world, though it is with some envy that I have observed your recent posts of spring flowers. It looks like your spring is at least a month ahead of ours.

Steve