In a way it's a find. It shared the same optical formula with the first
legendary 70-210 f3.5 S1. I don't think it was multi coated since it seemed to
suffer from an inordinate amount of flair. If I remember correctly there
was also a special matched multiplier available for that lens which was nice
to have in a pinch. (It is a lot more compact than the Series 1 due to
it's slightly slower max aperture and two touch design, but still relatively
ruggedly built). I happen to have it's little brother a 70-150 same
optical formula and I have the MM for that which gives you a lot of lens
in a very small package, the 75-205 isn't a lot bigger as I recall.
At 05:00 AM 1/18/2003 -0800, you wrote:
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
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx
