A real chunk

[kiev4a]

Received the Vivitar Series I 35-85mm f2.8 lens (Nikon ai mount) I picked up earlier in the week off Ebay. Beautiful and BIG (I'll have to post a photo of it). It is a varifocal lens, meaning you have to refocus after zooming. It has the look of a Kino-made) lens--really heavy duty. Since Kino did make some of the Vivitar Series I stuff, I suspect that is the case. This particular lens gets high marks in the forums and I can't wait to give it a workout.

[rogprov]

Sounds great! I hope it works well for you.

Are you aware of this ?

www.cameraquest.com/VivLensManuf.htm

Roger

[kiev4a]

Thanks for the link. Yep, I was correct. It was made by Kino

[rogprov]

Reading a bit further on it appears you've got yourself one of the all time great "cult" lenses!

Quote:

Kiron 28-85mm Varifocal Macro Zoom Review (Modern Photography 1981)
Kiron's varifocal 28-85mm f/2.8-3.8 zoom rated 34 out of 36 excellent ratings for center and corner sharpness (and the two holdouts were both very goods) at 28, 50, and 85mm. Contrast rated as all highs at 28mm, all but one high at 50mm, and mostly high at 85mm (center).

Based on our lab and field experience with the 28-85, we're happy to say that it performs splendidly - better than any lens in this focal-length range we've tested so far...

The lens close focuses to 1:4 macro shots without the need for macro buttons or special settings. Both the 28mm and 50mm settings were superb by f/5.6. Pincushion distortion was under 1.25%. Light falloff at 28mm was a relatively high 1.4 stops at f/5.6, but only 0.3 stops at 85mm.

Here is an example of a Kiron varifocal mid-range zoom that is very sharp and very contrasty, while delivering its best performance at the wider and faster 28mm end of its range.

Unquote

Roger

[rogprov]

I think the above although a bit different is the same lense formulation.

[kiev4a]

I also have the 28-85mm 2.8-3.8 zoom and it produces great results although I haven't really used it much. Although the 35-85 f2.8 is much larger in diameter than the 2.8-3.8, it feels better balanced on the camera than the smaller lens.

Kiron made arguably the best aftermarket lenses of that era. The problem was they cost nearly as much as the manufacturer's lenses and I think that limited the market.

I also have the Kiron 80-200mm f4 macro lens with the zoom lock feature. It also is ranked at the top of the after market manual focus lenses.

[kiev4a]

Here's the beast on the F4.

[Randy]

Nice combo Wayne.

[kiev4a]

The nice thing is the lens and body are heavy enough to use for heavy carpentry work and could give a mugger a major head wound -- things not possible with a plastic Nikon or Canon DSLR.