I went out to shoot some tall grass to see how the lens fares wide open and to check out the out of focus rendering and I have to say it is actually quite nice. Like many old lenses, there isn't the snappy high contrast typical of made for digital lenses today, which is probably a result of the lens coatings used then but it does exhibit good sharpness. Shooting at f/3.5 does have some corner softness but quickly improves when stopped down to a smaller aperture. Light fall off at the corners is not excessive and I kinda like the colour rendition.
This lens is probably overlooked in Pentax mount because Pentax also has the popular M 200mm f/4 telephoto that is more widely available on eBay. However some tests done on the internet pitting the two lenses head to head appear to give the Vivitar the edge optically. The lens looks pretty ordinary in appearance (I think the M 200mm looks a lot nicer) but build quality is solid but not heavy.
About the only criticism of this lens is the dinky built-in lens hood which when slid out is simply too short to be really effective. Like all legacy lenses without the benefit of an auto aperture setting, the only practical exposure mode to use is Manual, which can be a hit or miss affair as exposure readings will vary when shooting at different apertures. So plenty of use of the Green button to determine the camera's preferred exposure is needed.
If you like to try using old manual focus lenses for fun, this is a good telephoto to look out for. And it definitely won't cost too much to give it a try..
1 comment:
hello,
thanks for your review. i might be interested in this lens for its relative low cost combined with the brightness it gives. however i'm actually looking for something just a bit longer, say a 300mm. but the 300mm f/4's or faster are wildly expensive. perhaps this lens is sharp enough to crop a bit. what are your thoughts? and could you perhaps send a sample photograph of it wide open?
kind regards,
Koen
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