 Jake Trexel |
Vivitar lens I have a Nikon FM3a body. Due to the fact that I am disabled, $ is a problem. I am looking a Vivitar 20-210, manual focus for $139, and a Vivitar telephoto 500 mirror reflex, manual for $109. Prices from B&H. 30 years ago I had several vititars and they were good. Do you think these lenses are good or bad, if bad what would you recommend ? I am home bound, and will be shooting out of a open window at birds, flowers and so on. thanks Jake
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Kerry L. Walker |
Thirty years ago Vivitar was a good lens, but that was 30 years ago. Sadly, that is not the case today. Check out the used equipment at B&H. (I have no qualms about buying used gear from B&H.) They have a Kiron 70-210 zoom (Kiron used to make some of those great Vivitar lenses) for $89.00 and several Promasters (made by Tamron, no slouch there) and Sigmas avaliable. You can get a better lens for less money. I would avoid the reflex lenses. They aren't too good and have a fixed aperature. You would get better resluts, in my humble opinion, by getting one of the zooms and a 2x teleconverter than you would with a reflex lens. Good luck.
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doug Nelson |
Great choice of a camera, Jake. If you don't see a Nikkor lens you want at KEH, look for a Tokina or Tamron. Vivitar made a good one, a Series I, in the 70's that's said to be pretty good. Forget the 500mm. It's a highly specialized lens, needing a tripod for sharp shots. As Kerry says, you'd be better off putting a 1.4x, 1.5x or 2x extender on your zoom. You'll still need a tripod for this set-up. You mentioned a desire to do macro in an earlier post. Nikkor 50mm macros are very reasonable used, or you can put a 25mm extension tube on any Nikkor 50 and see if that meets your need. If you see a Vivitar, Tokina or Tamron 90mm f2.5 macro, buy it. They are all said to be the same optics. It will let you do macro work without getting right up on the subject. You should use a tripod for macro shots, too.
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John G. Clifford Jr |
The FM3A is a great camera and I think you'll be happy with it. Look on eBay for used Nikon AI-S lenses from the 1980s. These are great lenses and they are very reasonably priced since they're not fully supported by most Nikon dSLRs (the exception being the D200... hooray!). I'd pick up an 80-200/f4.0 and a 35-105/f3.5-4.5, and a 50/f1.8. Make sure they're the AI-S lenses, not the earlier AI or cheaper Series 'E'. I own all these lenses and have been very happy with their optical and build quality on my FE2.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Now Jake, this comes from personal experience. About five years ago I picked a 28mm Vivitar lens for landscape photography on my old workhorse Minolta XGM (about as old as the Vivitars you're talking about) because it was only about $80 and a dedicated focal length, better DOI. For what it is I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. It is a simple lens for a relatively simple camera that I use alot and I cannot say enough about this lens. I also have about a ten year old Vivitar 3800 manual flash. I am admittedly from the low end of the photography/cash-cash spectrum. But I have to recent Vivitar product and no complaints. Bear in mind, the used items you find there are probably being sold on consignment for someone else. Check the return policies but, seeing as B and H is a very big and well known name, I think you could feel confident and go for it. Burn a roll of film the second you get, don't worry about composition to much, but make sure you focus well so that you can see if the lens is good. Get the film developed one hour and then you'll have plenty of time to return the equipment if it faulty. I hope you get a chance to get out soon. There's no feeling like being, even only at the mall, with a camera in your hand. Let me know how things went. Merry Christmas. Chris Walrath
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BetterPhoto Member |
P. S. I agree with Doug on the 500mm for now. You could get a couple of filters for that money. Chris
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Jake Trexel |
I can't thank all of you enough for your support. Being home bound I have no one to turn too like I use to. All most all the time that I ask for help, and I explain that I am disabled I get such stupid remarks. With the people, all of them, at this site have been wonderful to me. Thanks so much. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Jake Trexel jtrexel@ix.netcom.com
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Kerry L. Walker |
Always glad to help. I am also glad to see that, although the disability may limit you a bit, that you haven't let it put an end to your photography exploits. We are looking forward to the time when you create a gallery and show us some of those shots you create. BTW, I have had a friend for over 35 years who has CP. Even though it has limited her physical abilities I have to say that she is a LOT smarter than I am. (OK, folks, I know that isn't saying much but give the girl some credlt. lol.) Nice girl too to have put up with me for all that time, especially since I pick at her all the time. (She loved it!)
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