| Author: | | New Member Registered: February, 2019 Posts: 15
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 4, 2023 | Not Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Good at f5.6 and f8 | | Cons: | Long, heavy, bulky and expensive | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 6
Value: 4
Camera Used: Digital full frame and film
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It's always interesting seeing something that looks different, and this does make some old gear attractive to buy for some people. To me it often conjures up the question why didn't unusual designs catch on and become more widespread when they were released. I borrowed a well used version with perfect glass. I really did not want to pay through the nose for what some sellers want for this lens.
For a wide angle lens this is a heavy and large and long 35mm lens. It's much like a 1970's 135mm lens in terms of size and shape. Seems to be unique in as much as distortions around the edge are low. They are especially low if you use a camera with a crop sensor. Coatings are good but you will need a wide lens hood to help reduce flare and increase contrast a bit. The length of the lens is concerning as long lenses equate to handling wobble and image blur. This is one reason why traditional shorter wide angle designs help with sharper imaging in low light using low shutter speeds. This is why a long thin 35mm lens with wider f1.9 aperture built in is a contradiction in terms.
The initially attractive f1.9 aperture is a bit pointless as you get soft images and bleaching between contrasting lines and glow off of bright areas. Bokeh/background blur is fair - not good - and this is often the case with 35mm wide angle performance. Things start sharpening up at f5.6 and f8 where contrast and colours start looking good and more with it, and then start trailing off a bit. Depth of field/range of focal depth at f5.6 to smaller aperture sizes is superb, but that's what wide angle lenses all do.
Central sharpness at f1.9 is 6/10. Sharpness at f5.6 and f8 is 8/10. Sharpness at f11 is 7/10. Ability to reach infinity with sharp results is roughly the same. Ability to focus close up to to 10 yards (where most people dare to venture beyond with reviews) is a little better on each count.
In the online world it's often assumed and plagiarised that a Vivitar serial number that starts "28*****" is a Komine and this equated to top quality performance. I have no clue if that is accurate or just assumed. If it's true then this is made by Komine.
If you want an expensive lens that weighs a lot and bulks up your carrying gear and that is awkward to hold steady then go for this. But without that wider open set of apertures doing much good, what is the point? A good Pentax M 28mm (some designs are good) or Takumar 35mm (some designs are good) or even a good Vivitar "Komine" f2.8 28mm will out perform this f1.9 lens for much cheaper prices. So this is one for the collector with money to give away.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2016 Location: New York, NY. Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 6, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build quality, easy to handle. | | Cons: | Soft wide open. | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: Sonsung NX30, Sony a7 II, Canon 5D MkIII
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I've had this lens for a while and used it with all of my systems.
It could be dissapointing wide open if compared with today's optics, however at f/1.9 it has that glamour-like glow that I love and can be virtually gone when shooting with flash at a fast speed.
Stepped down its amazingly sharp. Great for portraiture and landscape.
The focusing ring has a long throw, great for shooting video.
If you like manual lenses it's definitely a lens to try, a keeper. If you haven't shot manual lenses you're missing a lot.
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: September 27, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, well build | | Cons: | Busy bokeh, long and heavy, becomes well known and expensive | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 8
Camera Used: A7
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This lens is extremely sharp from wide open, without glow. Stopped down, it's sharper than my very trusty Nikkor 35mm f/2.
Colors are good. Mechanically, the Vivitar feels like a tank.
Downsides are:
- It's much bigger than expected for a 35mm f/2 (almost) lens, it's quite heavy. It's thinner but longer than the Nikkor.
- Bokeh is not the best, still ok, not "exploding" like the 28mm f/1,9 or the Komine 28mm f/2 but not as smooth as the Nikkor. Can be pleasing thought depending on pictures.
- It becomes quite well known for it's sharpness and prices are rising.
Mine was a very good value for about 80 € in m42 mount. Body has some wear but optics are pristine.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: January, 2011 Posts: 440 | | Review Date: August 18, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | extremely well made, sharp, sharp lens | | Cons: | kinda long, m42 manual iris | |
I wasn't expecting much from this lens, but my copy has really impressed me with how sharp of a lens this is! Also the build is really good, with beautifuly smooth click stops, and a well-damped focus ring.
It makes a great "standard" lens on aps-c, only down side is that it's a manual iris.
| | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 30
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 13, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast, Close focus, good IQ | | Cons: | Soft and glowy wide open | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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I wasn't intending to get this lens... it was bundled with some others that I was surprised to win on eBay. This copy is in excellent condition and effectively cost me well under $10 including shipping.
Let's start with a close-up shot wide open:
Nice, eh? Ok, I cheated and adjusted levels a bit to improve contrast, but that's all.
Wide open, this lens is still sharp enough, but it has low contrast and some classic fast-old-lens glow. It is a very appealing softness that works well for portraits and generally is more character than defect. Bokeh are generally nice, although there is a thin bright ring visible in the PSF.
Stopped down, it gets perfectly sharp. Contrast is still relatively low.
On film, the low contrast would be the issue, and 8/10 would be about as good as the IQ gets. That's assuming that the full-frame edges hold up, which I haven't tested. However, on my 14MP APS-C digital, the contrast is not low enough to be harmful and image quality is about 9/10.
Mechanically, aside from being a little large, it is competitive with Takumars of the same period. Build is easily at least 9/10.
Which brings me to the obvious comparison: this vs. my 35mm f/2.0 S-M-C Takumar. First, let me say that the Tak is better. In fact, it is technically much better wide open and contrast is consistently better in just about any circumstances. However, the images from this Vivitar are just as pleasant to look at, perhaps more romantic as opposed to the documentary look of the Tak. The Vivitar bokeh are better. Did I mention that the Tak cost over 12X as much!
One more comparison: this vs. my 35mm f/3.5 Super Takumar. These lenses are opposites. The Tak has great contrast, making appealing images by overly intense colors. These two lenses almost define the boundaries for how different IQ can be and yet both be quite good.
In summary, despite the price, this Vivitar is really viable as a "fast normal" for APS-C. It is nothing short of stunning for the price I paid....
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2009 Location: Hampstead, NC Posts: 17,291 | | Review Date: January 22, 2010 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Sharp at F4.0, Fast | | Cons: | soft wide open | |
I promised more of a review after time, but I've realized that I don't use this focal range that often as I tend to shoot more nature, and I'm not the greatest on manual focus.
The lens is soft wide open, but is pretty sharp by f4.
I got this lens with a Spotmatic lot at a pawn shop and got a fantastic deal, I think it's really worth a lot more than I paid for it. It's really a more useful focal length for a DSLR than a 50mm. I would definitely use it more if I lived in a city, this could be a great street lens, especially in low light. Here are a few more photos:
I have uploaded these photos in another
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