Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell	Search Used
end

Archive 2009 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Aberdeen Photo
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Has anyone shot/owned the Viv Series 1 85mm 1.4 lens? I used to have a couple of Series 1 lenses years ago and was intrigued by this lens. Would love to hear your impressions if you have used it.
Thanks
Tom

Sep 12, 2009 at 05:17 AM

cogitech
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #2 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

It is the same as the Samyang/Polar 85/1.4 Aspherical that is enjoying popularity right now.

Optimized for wide open sharness, but not as good as other 85s once stopped down. Excellent bokeh.

Overall, a hell of a decent lens for the money.

Sep 12, 2009 at 05:32 AM

Aberdeen Photo
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

cogitech; what did you think of the lens overalll. Do you have some samples you could email me? Thanks for the response...

Sep 12, 2009 at 05:49 AM

Makten
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #4 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Lots of samples: http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=14608

Sep 12, 2009 at 06:26 AM

cogitech
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #5 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Aberdeen Photo wrote:
cogitech; what did you think of the lens overalll. Do you have some samples you could email me? Thanks for the response...

I've based my response on all the samples/reviews I have seen out there, not the least of which are posted by Makten.

A few quick google searches using the different names (Vivitar, Samyang, Polar, Rikenon, there may be others) with "85mm f1.4" should get you all the samples/discussion you need.

Sep 12, 2009 at 01:03 PM

Jonas B
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Makten; that was a good link, many nice images and a sometimes poor discussion...

There are a few more images available at the "Admirable..." thread. (I'll have to look at the supposed comparably bad IQ when stopped down comparing to the images from my memory from my Pentax A*85/1.4 and Summilux 80/1.4, I wish I had the money to keep all my lenses forever...).

Sep 12, 2009 at 01:56 PM

Makten
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #7 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

It's not "bad" stopped down. Just not as good as other 85 mm lenses.

And since you can get a Canon or Nikon 85/1.8 and a Vivitar/Samyang/Whatever 85/1.4 for less money than the usual f/1.4 lenses alone...

Edited on Sep 12, 2009 at 05:00 PM · View previous versions

Sep 12, 2009 at 02:28 PM

Aberdeen Photo
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Thanks Makten for the link; very good performance esp wide open.
Tom

Sep 12, 2009 at 04:10 PM

Makten
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #9 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Aberdeen Photo wrote:
Thanks Makten for the link; very good performance esp wide open.
Tom

Yup, wide open is what you'd use it for, since you can get better results with smaller and lighter AF (or MF) lenses @ f/2.8 and beyond. But just as with the Sigma 50/1.4, you don't have to worry about stopping down.

It peaks at around f/5.6.

I plan to take it out tomorrow. Any special things you'd like to see from it (performance-wise)?

Sep 12, 2009 at 05:04 PM

cgiff
Offline
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #10 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

cogitech wrote:
Overall, a hell of a decent lens for the money.

That about sums it up. I am really happy that I bought it, at this price you really can't regret it.

If you need autofocus, D (distance) for flash work, or will be shooting stopped down a lot and don't care about bokeh, the Nikkor 85/1.8 is still the call. But the bokeh and sharpness from this lens wide open is excellent! I couldn't ask for more, except maybe closer focussing, but oh well.

Sep 12, 2009 at 06:10 PM

Aberdeen Photo
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Yup, wide open is what you'd use it for, since you can get better results with smaller and lighter AF (or MF) lenses @ f/2.8 and beyond. But just as with the Sigma 50/1.4, you don't have to worry about stopping down. It peaks at around f/5.6.

Whatever you got; but how it performs at diff apps would be nice & thanks

Sep 13, 2009 at 04:31 AM

Jonas B
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #12 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

I got curious about this talk about the Samyang being less good stopped down. I hadn't taken an images stopped down to smaller than f/4 or so earlier but now I shot a series of images. The scene looked like this:

I shot the same scene with the Samyang 85/1.4 and the Canon EF 85/1.8 (and also the Olympus OM100/2.8 just for the "fun" while I were at it). Then I put 100% crops together. They look like this:

All the images are available here. There are crops from a part just under the center of the images and from the right border.

The images are dull and boring, no PP at all, no sharpening. They can be downloaded for sharpening and whatever if anyone is interested.

regards, /Jonas

Sep 13, 2009 at 08:08 PM

Aberdeen Photo
Offline
Dedicated FM
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Thanks for that Jonas!

Sep 13, 2009 at 11:46 PM

Jonas B
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #14 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

You're welcome.
The result is a bit puzzling. I didn't expect the Samyang to hold up that well against the EF85/1.8 (comparing the lenses stopped down to around f/8 and f/11). I don't see much of a difference in the center of the image. At the border the Samyang shows more CA, but not less detail.

Why doesn't my Samyang lens show the bad result we have seen from the, this far, single review (Lens tip)? Some possible reasons may be

* My EF85/1.8 is a bad copy (unlikely, it has performed as expected and in a sinple USAF test chart test it "outperformed the sensor" in the expected f-stop range)

* Lens tip surely had their test target at a shorter distance

* Sample differences

I'm planning to do a second try with a closer target some rainy day. Until then this "not bad at all" result feels good.

Sep 14, 2009 at 10:17 PM

Jonas B
Offline
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #15 · Vivitar Series 1 85 1.4

Update: the stimulating and exciting exercise continues. I have added a series, or two, of images looking like this:

to the same gallery as the outdoor scenes above.

The image above shows the difference in the center of the image, 100% crop, EF95/1.8 at f/8 versus Samyang 85/1.4 at f/8. I don't think anyone is fainting over the difference. The border is another story. Here the Canon is better.

The final conclusion is up to anyone. These test images tell me that there is nothing wrong with the Samyang lens stopped down except for weak borders.

Good light,

/Jonas

Sep 18, 2009 at 01:05 PM

end
FM Forums \| Alternative Gear & Lenses \| Join Upload & Sell end