Veteran Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 582 | Review Date: May 20, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 2 |
Pros: | Cheap | Cons: | Poor focus distance | | I picked up this lens is a bulk lot.
By todays standard, this lens is rubbish. A kit lens does a better job at both IQ and Macro focusing.
I tested this lens side-by-side with a cheap and nasty Sigma 35-80 (4-5.6). Seeing as the Vivtar is useless at 3.5, both were tested at 4.5. The sigma focused nearly as close and produced much crisper shots.
Avoid - spend you $'s on a macro tube for your kit lens instead.
| |
Veteran Member Registered: February, 2011 Location: Colorado, USA Posts: 830 | Review Date: April 4, 2011 | Not Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Macro Capabilites, Sharp IQ | Cons: | Barrel Distortion, CA, Build Quality, Rotating Front Element | | Please note: Review and comments are merely my opinion about this one particular copy, which I purchased off eBay.
I bought this lens off eBay in good working condition. I’m not really sure who manufactured this lens but the serial number printed on the barrel reads 097xxxxxx Japan; it’s most likely by Cosina. This copy is a PK-A/R mount with Ricoh Pin which had to be removed.
Lens has a metal mount with plastic barrel construction. Build quality is “OK”. Aperture ring is a little loose but snaps precisely into place for each marking. Focus ring is smooth and well damped. Front element does rotate during focusing. Although aperture seem to work properly, lever and related mechanisms rattles loosely. Zoom ring is a little tight for my taste.
Color reproduction is quite accurate. I took a few a comparison test shots and in my opinion this Vivitar actually produced sharper images and better contrast than my DAL 18-55 kit lens particularly at f8-f10. Unfortunately, barrel distortion is quite noticeable up to 35 mm and rather unacceptable at 28mm. CA is fairly visible; although flare seems to be well controlled.
As far as replacement for my kit DA-L 18-55mm, this Vivitar is probably not it, at least not for me. Though it can produce surprisingly sharp images, CA and barrel distortion is unacceptable in my opinion. To be honest, I don’t see myself walking around with this lens. About the only reason I can see myself using this Vivitar is for its macro capabilities. Without it I would have given this lens a 6 rating.
| |