All this recent talk of Vivitars has elicited a couple of questions... Not long ago, I won a bid on eBay for a very nice but older Pentax body and accessories. Among the pile was this NEW M-42 Vivitar zoom, 85 to 205mm, f/3.8 to 22.0. This was a sort of 'throw in' item, as I was really buying the body, not all the lenses... Apparently the seller was getting rid of all his M-42 gear, so he more or less threw it in.
In the meanwhile, I got to thinking about it. On a long list of non-Pentax M-42 lenses I recently reviewed, it seems that particular focal length has not been repeated by Vivitar nor any of the others in the business. And Vivitar has apparently only made one of that model. They make other ranges of zooms that repeat focal lengths, but not in 85-205mm. Does anyone have any idea if anyone has tested this lens, or has other data on it? I plan to do some of my own testing, of course, but in the meanwhile...the focal length is sort of an oddball, and I wondered about it. Thanks, all... keith whaley
