Vivitar Series 1 90mm f/2.5 Macro lens

[W. Bill Magac]

A couple of months back I posted an inquiry about using the Olympus 45mm f/1.2 lens with my LS300 for interviews. It is a nice lens, but I did not buy it for various reasons. Last week I came across an old post on reduser.net about a DP who used a Vivitar Series 1 90mm macro lens with his RED to shoot a music video. I remembered I have one of these lenses. It has been sitting in my Domkey camera bag with my Nikon FM2 camera for the past 25 years unused. I took the lens out of the bag and to my surprise it was clean with no mold. So I ordered a Metabones Nikon F to M4/3 adapter from B&H. The adapter just arrived and I connected the adapter and lens to my LS300. Reset the camera's VSM to 100% (S35). A quick test showed no vignetting and nice shallow depth of field. I will try to use this lens for my next interview. Moral of the story, good glass lasts a lot longer than cameras.

I found a monster....

Enjoy.

[Ken Plotin]

Sold all my Nikon glass a while back...this lens w/Nikon mount was a superstar.
Arguably, one of the sharpest lenses ever in 35mm photography.
You have a classic!

Ken

[Steve Ritchie]

That is a great lens, highly regarded. I have an Elicar 90mm f/2.5 (Contax mount), which may be made by the same contracted optical company that Vivitar used.

Does your lens focus down to 1:1? The Elicar does, it's huge and heavy but the image quality never disappoints me. I use it for most interview shoots with the LS300. I've also used it on speed booster with very favorable results. The Contax/Yashica mount adapters are rather iffy, the way the attachment works on lower end adapters, it's easy to turn the lens too hard and disconnect the latch. The Nikon F mount is far more robust for a lens that size. Use that Vivitar, and enjoy it!

[W. Bill Magac]

For 1:1 focusing, the Vivitar requires the macro extender. The extender looks like a Metabones speedbooster. I have one, but I seldom used it.