The Knight Rider theme brought a huge smile to my face. I recently bought the Meyer Opitk Gorlitz 135mm F2.8 (later called Pentacon) and it lives up to its reputation of being a 'bokeh monster' with 15 blades. I would recommend it.
I thought some might get a kick out of the Knight Rider theme LOL! Thank you for the recommendation. I'll look out for it, sounds like you can get some great bokeh on it. Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much! I do like making these videos. It feels nice to share my experience with these lenses and happy to hear people enjoy listening to them. Definitely more to come. Thank you for watching!
Great video! As luck would happen I had this lens on the way about the time of your post. It just arrived today and I'm excited to put it through the paces.
Thats awesome! It's a gem of a lens. I'm interested in knowing your experience with it so after you've tried it let me know what you like and don't like about it. Cheers!
Fantastic presentation, documentary style! I have the 2.8 135mm version. I can't wait to test it :). Just subscribed. Excellent photos and the video. Keep up the good work!
Hello thank you for subscribing! I went back to your channel and subscribed also. Great content! Thank you for watching the video, Vivitar made some very good 135mm f2.8s. I'm curious how you like it. Let me know. And thank you for watching!
Great question! Both are great but if I had to choose I would pick the 135 f2.3 because of the longer focal length and the slightly larger aperture. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Vivitar's Series 1 lenses were all designed to compete directly with the best lenses of the major camera makers and did so successfully. They usually brought something extra to the table, as in this case, very fast maximum aperture. Vivitar practically invented the 70--210mm zoom in this series. The most famous was probably the 90mm 2.5 Macro, which was consider the best macro lens in the world for some years. Although a "third party" brand, the Series i lenses were every bit as expensive as their Nikon, Canon and Pentax alternatives. The only Series i I ever owned was the little known 90-180 4.5 zoom, which was considered the optical equivalent of the best prime lenses of that time. It was my first zoom, but I almost never used it. (Large, very heavy, and optically slow.) Sold it for twice what I paid for it. New, it was somewhat north of $500 in a day where they put you in Leica pricing..
Great summery! I wondered about the 90-180 and if it would be worth getting and if the flat field would bring any benefits to what I like to shoot. Thanks for clearing that up. 👍🏼
@@studiotrejo3047 At the time it was made and sold new, it was probably the sharpest, optically best, zoom lens on the market. (Also, one of the shortest zoom ranges and smallest apertures). Mainly for its weight, I found that I almost never used mine. Like other Series 1 lenses, it was exquisitely made, but in use, not so happy an experience. Improvements over the years in optical glass and lens coatings probably make it nothing special any more as a picture-taker. Today, its is more of a collectible than a user. It actually has an entertaining history. Vivitar originally made the lens with the idea of selling it to dentists ("Open wide for the Series 1."), not the general photo market, thus the long but short range of focal lengths to the zoom. However, its size, weight, and price made that a non-starter. Being stuck with a warehouse full of them, Vivitar launched an ad campaign to sell it as the "best zoom money can buy", photo magazines tested it and declared that to be a true statement, and the rest was history.
Soviet Posters book on your shelf. Working in a custom photo lab for years, I made 4x5 copy negs of my soviet favorite posters and made prints of them back in the 80's into the 90's. I have a pile of them in a 24x36 box. Man With A Camera, advertising, Potemkin, the Sternberg Brothers, etc. All on photo paper, not digital. I'm in San Francisco.
I was not even aware that Vivitar was still in business. Back in the 70s when I was taking photography classes in college most of us became very familiar with the brand. In fact theirs flash the 283 I would even buy today if they were still making them.
Yes they are still in business but not the powerhouse of lens marketing they were in the 70's-80's. Unfortunately today Vivitar is slapped on many electronics just because of name recognition. But some of their vintage lenses and the flash unit you mentioned, are still sought after. Did you own or try any of their lenses when you taking classes in college? What do you think was the overall opinion of Vivitar lenses at that time do you think?
Yes I changed the rubber focusing. The old one is still there but I put a new one on top as the old one had become loose. The more I uses the old rubber focus the looser it got. So I just added one on top. Works great!
Hello! You can attach a vivitar lens with a Nikon F mount to the FTZ adapter. The FTZ adapter allows for lenses with an f mount to be used on a Z camera. So if you have a lens with an F mount, the part of the lens that attaches to the camera, then you can use the FTZ. I hope this helps you. Thank you for watching!
Hello thank you for watching! The Vivitar Series 1 lenses began manufacturing in the early 1970's. They included primes and zooms. They continued to improve and upgrade their lenses into the 1980's. Check out this link for more info: www.apotelyt.com/camera-kit/vivitar-catalog Cheers!
The Knight Rider theme brought a huge smile to my face.
I recently bought the Meyer Opitk Gorlitz 135mm F2.8 (later called Pentacon) and it lives up to its reputation of being a 'bokeh monster' with 15 blades. I would recommend it.
I thought some might get a kick out of the Knight Rider theme LOL! Thank you for the recommendation. I'll look out for it, sounds like you can get some great bokeh on it. Thanks for watching!
I hope you post more reviews of vintage lenses like this. love you content.
Thank you so much! I do like making these videos. It feels nice to share my experience with these lenses and happy to hear people enjoy listening to them. Definitely more to come. Thank you for watching!
Great video! As luck would happen I had this lens on the way about the time of your post. It just arrived today and I'm excited to put it through the paces.
Thats awesome! It's a gem of a lens. I'm interested in knowing your experience with it so after you've tried it let me know what you like and don't like about it. Cheers!
Fantastic presentation, documentary style! I have the 2.8 135mm version. I can't wait to test it :). Just subscribed. Excellent photos and the video. Keep up the good work!
Hello thank you for subscribing! I went back to your channel and subscribed also. Great content! Thank you for watching the video, Vivitar made some very good 135mm f2.8s. I'm curious how you like it. Let me know. And thank you for watching!
Another winner!
Great review. Thanks for the info. Want one to complete my vivitar s1 collection.
It’s a great lens! A great addition to your collection. Thank you for watching!
For portraits which would have better bokeh and dreamy looks this lens or the 90mm
😊
Great question! Both are great but if I had to choose I would pick the 135 f2.3 because of the longer focal length and the slightly larger aperture.
Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Awesome review! :D
Hey! Thanks for checking it out! These are fun to do.
Vivitar's Series 1 lenses were all designed to compete directly with the best lenses of the major camera makers and did so successfully. They usually brought something extra to the table, as in this case, very fast maximum aperture. Vivitar practically invented the 70--210mm zoom in this series. The most famous was probably the 90mm 2.5 Macro, which was consider the best macro lens in the world for some years. Although a "third party" brand, the Series i lenses were every bit as expensive as their Nikon, Canon and Pentax alternatives. The only Series i I ever owned was the little known 90-180 4.5 zoom, which was considered the optical equivalent of the best prime lenses of that time. It was my first zoom, but I almost never used it. (Large, very heavy, and optically slow.) Sold it for twice what I paid for it. New, it was somewhat north of $500 in a day where they put you in Leica pricing..
Great summery! I wondered about the 90-180 and if it would be worth getting and if the flat field would bring any benefits to what I like to shoot. Thanks for clearing that up. 👍🏼
@@studiotrejo3047 At the time it was made and sold new, it was probably the sharpest, optically best, zoom lens on the market. (Also, one of the shortest zoom ranges and smallest apertures). Mainly for its weight, I found that I almost never used mine. Like other Series 1 lenses, it was exquisitely made, but in use, not so happy an experience. Improvements over the years in optical glass and lens coatings probably make it nothing special any more as a picture-taker. Today, its is more of a collectible than a user. It actually has an entertaining history. Vivitar originally made the lens with the idea of selling it to dentists ("Open wide for the Series 1."), not the general photo market, thus the long but short range of focal lengths to the zoom. However, its size, weight, and price made that a non-starter. Being stuck with a warehouse full of them, Vivitar launched an ad campaign to sell it as the "best zoom money can buy", photo magazines tested it and declared that to be a true statement, and the rest was history.
Soviet Posters book on your shelf. Working in a custom photo lab for years, I made 4x5 copy negs of my soviet favorite posters and made prints of them back in the 80's into the 90's. I have a pile of them in a 24x36 box. Man With A Camera, advertising, Potemkin, the Sternberg Brothers, etc. All on photo paper, not digital. I'm in San Francisco.
That is very interesting! We have had that book for years now. Fascinating how art is used throughout history. Thank you for watching!
The ultimate killer lens from Vivitar was the super-rare 450mm f4.5 mirror lens.
That is a rare one! Do you have it? Have you used it?
I was not even aware that Vivitar was still in business. Back in the 70s when I was taking photography classes in college most of us became very familiar with the brand. In fact theirs flash the 283 I would even buy today if they were still making them.
Yes they are still in business but not the powerhouse of lens marketing they were in the 70's-80's. Unfortunately today Vivitar is slapped on many electronics just because of name recognition. But some of their vintage lenses and the flash unit you mentioned, are still sought after. Did you own or try any of their lenses when you taking classes in college? What do you think was the overall opinion of Vivitar lenses at that time do you think?
change rubber focusing ?
Yes I changed the rubber focusing. The old one is still there but I put a new one on top as the old one had become loose. The more I uses the old rubber focus the looser it got. So I just added one on top. Works great!
Soap bubble bokeh for days from the Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.8... and it's so lightweight I barely feel it on my camera.
I have the VMC version on MD mount for Minolta film cameras but have been using with a mirrorless camera with excellent results.
Very cool! I also use it on mirrorless and love it. I always look for reason to use it. I think it's a special lens. Thank you for watching!
Can I attach vivitar (49 mount size) lens with nikon ftz mount adopter?
Hello! You can attach a vivitar lens with a Nikon F mount to the FTZ adapter. The FTZ adapter allows for lenses with an f mount to be used on a Z camera. So if you have a lens with an F mount, the part of the lens that attaches to the camera, then you can use the FTZ. I hope this helps you. Thank you for watching!
Looks totally like a "Keeper" lens.
It totally is! It still surprises me when I see the performance and rendering. Love this lens. Thanks for watching!
Vid starts at 3:42
Pretty sure the series one lenses started manufacture in the 80s, not 70s
Hello thank you for watching! The Vivitar Series 1 lenses began manufacturing in the early 1970's. They included primes and zooms. They continued to improve and upgrade their lenses into the 1980's.
Check out this link for more info:
www.apotelyt.com/camera-kit/vivitar-catalog
Cheers!