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01-13-2008, 04:19 PM   #1
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K10D and Access 70-210 mm 3.5

I have a new K10D- and some old lenses from my family. One of the lenses is an Access 70-210 mm f/3.5 "one-touch macro zoom"- the box indicates it's a Pentax-K mount.

I thought all K-mount lenses were supposed to fit on the K10D... This one doesn't seem to. I'm posting a couple of quick photos of the mount in case that helps.





Thank you for your time,

Darren

01-13-2008, 05:20 PM   #2
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you're going to have to grind off a good portion of extending collar. once that's done it'll fit. since it's not an A lens you should be able to very easily take the mount off and grind it down. someone else probably has a link for you about how to do this. there's also a few vivitars like this.
01-13-2008, 06:25 PM   #3
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Hi dchemist

That 'Access 70-210 mm f/3.5' closely resembles a 'Vivitar Series I' lens to me ? Were Vivitar lenses possibly rebranded as 'Access' for the Canadian market ?

Best regards
Richard

Last edited by Confused; 01-13-2008 at 06:49 PM.
01-13-2008, 08:43 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by roy Quote
you're going to have to grind off a good portion of extending collar. once that's done it'll fit. since it's not an A lens you should be able to very easily take the mount off and grind it down. someone else probably has a link for you about how to do this. there's also a few vivitars like this.
Thanks Roy, that's what I was afraid of... I'll search around for a link (unless someone can direct me to a good one).

Will grinding off the collar affect it's fit to my family's other Pentax? i.e. What's the purpose of the collar?

01-13-2008, 09:07 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Confused Quote
Hi dchemist

That 'Access 70-210 mm f/3.5' closely resembles a 'Vivitar Series I' lens to me ? Were Vivitar lenses possibly rebranded as 'Access' for the Canadian market ?

Best regards
Richard
Hello Richard,
You know, I've googled for the Access lens without finding much, I have no idea about it being rebranded for the Canadian market. I'm in Vancouver, WA and I think the lens was purchased in the early 80's in Portland.

Now that I'm looking for the 'Vivitar Series I' I see they look and their descriptions sound very similar.

for example... this is a good description by Joseph Albert from the photo.net forum, "I think there are 4 standouts among the old Series 1 lenses...

d. 70-210/3.5 (62mm filter thread version)

'd' is an interesting design. it is a push-pull zoom design, but unlike other telephoto zooms of similar speed and focal length range, 210mm is achieve with the zoom barrel next to the camera, and you zoom the barrel out to move down to 70mm. virtually all of the f/3.5 amd f/4 zooms in this range lack a tripod mount, and they are big and heavy enough to be a liability in your quest for sharp images when the camera has to be mounted on the tripod. higher magnifications are most sensitive to vibrations, and with this vivitar lens, you are at teh high magnification 210mm focal length with the zoom barrel close to the camera. this means that when the camera is mounted on a tripod, the center of gravity of the lens is close to the camera tripod mount, and a stable combination results.
I've tried half a dozen f/3.5 and f/4 tele zooms with low focal length in the 65-80mm range and top end in the 200-210mm range. None of them had a tripod collar except the old Tamron 70-210/3.5-4, an old design. when it was replaced with the new tamron 70-210/3.5, the tripod collar was left off. anyway, in spite of some of these lenses I've tried having more modern optical designs than the Vivitar 70-210/3.5, I've gotten sharper results with the Vivitar lens, and I believe the reason is the design of having 210mm be with the zoom barrel close to the camera. I can't prove it, but that's my belief.
Note that this lens came in 67mm and 62mm filter thread versions. The 67mm filter thread version seems to have had some inconsistency across samples, but this seems to have been resolved with the 62mm version.
"

The manual with it said the lens was made in Japan for MagnumOptics and Research, Inc. in Denver, CO. Access is a registered trademark of Magnum Optics and Research.
01-13-2008, 10:08 PM   #6
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I did find a pretty close match on this site... Vivitar 70-210 Series 1 Macro Zooms - Mark Roberts Photography

This Access lens matches the version 2. It even has a nice link to the fix.

Sounds like a cult classic- I'm curious to know what it's worth. Price on the box was $521.
01-14-2008, 07:17 AM   #7
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Hi dchemist

Re your information:
QuoteQuote:
I think the lens was purchased in the early 80's in Portland.
The only reason I initially mentioned Canada was the location stated in your OP. If this lens was purchased in Portland, that tends to indicate a rebranding exercise of some description, probably sold & marketed specifically for the USA ? I have the Vivitar Series I version of this telephoto lens in Olympus OM1 mount and it is indeed a very fine optic. It weighs a fair amount and can easily tip over a camera body fitted to a tripod, if the head of the tripod has not previously been tightened sufficiently ! I know from bitter experience, although it only happened once and I fortunately managed to catch the camera before it hit 'terra firma' !

Best regards
Richard

01-14-2008, 07:21 AM   #8
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Hey Roy, you've done some tinkering before. What do you think about the tiny black screws that are on the flange piece that sticks out? (One is visible at 8 o'clock position on the second photo)

If you unscrew all those, the flange would just come out whole right? and you need not to whip out a dremel tool. Though I'm guessing the amount of open 'space' on the rear of the lens is gonna be bigger and you'll have to exercise caution to avoid dust getting in.
01-14-2008, 08:43 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by FotoPete Quote
Hey Roy, you've done some tinkering before. What do you think about the tiny black screws that are on the flange piece that sticks out? (One is visible at 8 o'clock position on the second photo)

If you unscrew all those, the flange would just come out whole right? and you need not to whip out a dremel tool. Though I'm guessing the amount of open 'space' on the rear of the lens is gonna be bigger and you'll have to exercise caution to avoid dust getting in.
I modified my Serries 1 70-210 F3.5 by removing the tiny screws and dropping the flange out, I then modified the flange down to the size of a normal pentax one.

Lens looks for all the world like the series 1 70-210 F3.5 Version A that I own, except for the lack of the "macro" switch, that put you in close focusing mode.

What is the filter size, the version A lens is 67mm.
As for the price, I am shocked if it was $521. I bought my Series 1 new for $350 in 1981. I would expect a rebranded lens to be cheaper not more.

Also as you can see from my location, there is not a "rebranding" of the vivitar products for the canadian market. To me this seems to be a rebranding for a retail chain from a third party manufacturer. It would be curious to see the serial number as that might tell who made actually it,.

Optically I have been very pelased with my S1 lens, the only complaint is the weight of the front group, and the fact that the zoom length drifts if the lens is pointed down on a tripod. Lacking the tripod mount, I don;t use this often on a tripod also due to the weight, but it was a great walk around nature lens.
01-14-2008, 07:42 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lowell Goudge Quote
I modified my Serries 1 70-210 F3.5 by removing the tiny screws and dropping the flange out, I then modified the flange down to the size of a normal pentax one.

Lens looks for all the world like the series 1 70-210 F3.5 Version A that I own, except for the lack of the "macro" switch, that put you in close focusing mode.

What is the filter size, the version A lens is 67mm.
As for the price, I am shocked if it was $521. I bought my Series 1 new for $350 in 1981. I would expect a rebranded lens to be cheaper not more.

Also as you can see from my location, there is not a "rebranding" of the vivitar products for the canadian market. To me this seems to be a rebranding for a retail chain from a third party manufacturer. It would be curious to see the serial number as that might tell who made actually it,.

Optically I have been very pelased with my S1 lens, the only complaint is the weight of the front group, and the fact that the zoom length drifts if the lens is pointed down on a tripod. Lacking the tripod mount, I don;t use this often on a tripod also due to the weight, but it was a great walk around nature lens.
Thank Lowell for the input- The filter size is 62 mm, which would make it like the version 2 (from my link above). There is no macro switch and the macro magnification is 1:4.5 according to the manual.

The retail outlet was "Robert Waxman" and the serial is #8104220.
01-19-2008, 06:12 PM   #11
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Fixed...

I removed the 'flange' and pulled out the dremel tool... It fits nicely now.

Here are the results:
03-31-2009, 11:42 PM   #12
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Hello. Iīve got an exactly identical lense with Nikon mount. My "brand" is TEFNON (made in Japan). The Nikon version donīt have the flange (I use it on a Digital Canon with adapter, and it gives a nice vintage look). If you search for TEFNON 70-210, you will find a little photos and some lenses use to be for sale on ebay, the Minolta version seems to be most common. The optical quality is quite good, some chromatic aberration and soft at 3,5 but good at 5,6.

sorry for talking about other brands than Pentax, but I want to help you identify your lense.

/federico, sweden
08-20-2009, 07:37 AM   #13
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I also have an Access 70-210mm 3.5-4.5 macro lens. Your pictures are interesting because mine doesn't look a thing like yours. I used mine as a kid with my K1000 20 years ago, but have had no problems attaching it to my K10D (I didn't have to modify anything).

Also, don't worry about the box indicating it's a K-mount lens. On those old lenses I always check the letters next to the red dot near the mount. Yours indicates it's a Pentax K-mount by the letters P/K in red, just like all my old lenses.

I don't have any photos of my 70-210, yet; but I think I'll take some and post them here, because I'm having hard time coming up with anything in Google too. Here's a photo I took last year with my 70-210 and a JCP 2x Tele-Converter attached to my K10D:
08-20-2009, 07:45 AM   #14
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The front of my lens reads: Access P-MC 70-210 Macro, and it's f/3.5-4.5
01-28-2010, 04:03 PM   #15
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Those lenses are not the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 lenses. Yes, they do look similar. I have the first three editions in front of me, and though it's kind of similar, they are not the Viv S-1 lenses.




Gordy
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