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cult lens fun

A little much needed fun this afternoon...

1970's vintage, generation 1, Vivitar 70-210mm Zoom w/macro "cult lens" adapted to my Canon 450D/XSI
Lens was 41USD + shipping from ebay, OM to EOS adapter another 20, and finally a Canon rear lens cap another 3
This lens retailed for 425USD in the 1970's!!!

(caveat, there are many variants of this lens, some are crap)

Macro mode playtime:
(hand held, first attempts.... Im very impressed)
IMG_2895_hf.jpg

IMG_2900_hf.jpg

IMG_2905_hf.jpg

IMG_2910_hf.jpg

IMG_2914_hf.jpg


Amazing lens, it can do 210mm zoom wildlife shots, 70mm portrait, a macro of a flower or anything in between...
A Gerber multitool for your camera :)

alright Crissy or ummmm whomever, your turn ;)
 
neat..i have the Pentax mount version of that lens around here somewhere
 
Wow, man.... those are gorgeous pictures. You have a fantastic eye for composition, dude. That second picture is very frame-able. We need to see more photography from you, Butch!
 
Judy,

I just bought a 3rd generation (the pinnacle for the group) in Pentax mount.... waiting for it to arrive

well dig that thing out and dust it off, sheesh kid :p
 
Wow.....looks like something I'd see in national geographic! :0o:
 
omg hush kyle ;) :p

and thanks all
 
I just bought a 3rd generation (the pinnacle for the group) in Pentax mount....

well did that thing out judy and dust it off, sheesh kid :p

The I'd have to use it with an adaptor..come to think of it that's what i do with my pentax macro lens. My daughter has my pentax DSLR and I've been shooting with Olympus for a few years now. Gave my daughter the autofocus pentax lens and kept all the older manuals ones with me.
 
I have a set of bellows for my old pentex spotomaticII that I mount a 52mm lens on and you can focus on a pin point with it ,lighting is a ***** but
 
Ooooooh so nice *doe eyes*.

You should take more pictures of your nepenthes!!!
 
  • #10
Beautiful! Can anyone point out a Canadian source for these lenses (not fleabay)? Are they still commonly available.
 
  • #11
Ref information on which variants to get/avoid:
http://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm

Overall, 3rd gen seems to be regarded as the best with the 1st gen a very close second.

1st gen seems to sell for about 1/3rd the price of 3rd gen
 
  • #12
I have a set of bellows for my old pentex spotomaticII that I mount a 52mm lens on and you can focus on a pin point with it ,lighting is a ***** but

You can get screw mount adapters for just about any brand DSLR and 4/3 micro 4/3. Plus you can buy a Leica Mount (P39) to Pentax Screw mount (M42) adapter for under $10. This will allow you use most enlarger lenses (39mm mount) which can be used as superb macro lenses. A 100/105mm enlarger lens should give you <=1.2x magnification (depends on the length of the bellows rail) with plenty of lens to subject distance for lighting. A 52mm lens will give you about 3x magnification but your lens to subject distance is well 2cm.

If you used a Spotmatic before stop-down metering is no stranger to you, which is what you'll have to use with a digital camera.

Beautiful! Can anyone point out a Canadian source for these lenses (not fleabay)? Are they still commonly available.

These were very popular lenses and there are plenty of them in used market. Try some of the larger camera stores that sell used equipment. The only one that comes to mind in Canada is www.henrys.com. Be sure to read the links Butch posted to determine exactly which generation lens you might be purchasing.

Note you can find these with Nikon AI mounts but you'll have no metering ability on your D5100. You probably won't be able to meter with other manual focus lenses even with an adapter.

See:
http://support.nikonusa.com/app/ans...on-d5100,-d5000,-d3100,-d3000,-d60,-d40x,-and
http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/slr-lens.html
 
  • #13
Very very nice photos Av! I finally have something to contribute. They don't live up to yours, but I tried :).

These were all taken today with my Vivitar 70-210mm (in Olympus mount to Canon EOS) in macro mode.

D. cunefolia
cunefolia-full.jpg


D. cunefolia leaf
cunefolia.jpg


D. "Chimanimani Mountains"
chim-mts.jpg


D. adelae flower
adelae-1.jpg


U. sandersonii flower
sandersonii.jpg


Not CPs, but still worthy of this thread. Biltmore Estate and the moon taken yesterday. Both taken with the same lens listed above in regular mode at 210mm. The moon is a 100% crop.

biltmore2.jpg


moon.jpg


Thanks for looking!
Crystal
 
  • #14
Very nicely done Crissy, a wonderful lens and wonderful pics....

Thank you for turning me on to it :)
 
  • #15
Seriously nice shots, Crisstyal -- and I recall going on a tour of the Biltmore in the late 1990s, before they used it in Hannibal . . .
 
  • #16
You are welcome Av and thank you! Not bad for a third party "Kmart" lens eh?

Thank you BigBella! I managed to take them all handheld.

You know, I didn't realize the Biltmore was used in Hannibal until you mentioned it. I've never toured it; maybe one day. I admire it from afar.....it's cheaper that way ;).

Anyone else have any cult lenses to contribute pictures? I know some of you have to have some sitting in a closet somewhere ;).

Crystal
 
  • #17
Nice pics!

Thanks NAN, I actually have a henry's locally and that is where I get all my camera stuff. Much better than the big box stores. I will have to call them up and see if they have anything.
 
  • #18
A gen3 sold on ebay last night for 51USD.... looked to be in good shape

That is less than half what I gave for mine, but no regrets..... that was a very unusual price :)
 
  • #19
My foray into cult lens territory:

Vivitar 2x Macro Focusing Teleconverter. Besides having superb optics this teleconverter has a helicoid which works as an extension tube and allows close focusing for macro photography. With some lenses this allows 1:1 magnification. The drawback being slight loss of image quality and 2 f-stops of speed. Prices range from $8-$120 depending on condition and lens mount. For the Pentax KA mount I got one for around $50. Try B&H Photo, their prices are cheaper than what they go for typically on eBay.

As a teleconverter (manual focus only) it allows me to take shots I couldn't otherwise get with my 18-55mm kit lens:
IMGP1789.jpg

IMGP1703copy.jpg


And in the macro mode I can get 1x or better magnification instead of about 1/3x. Wide open performance on the kit lens isn't very good and the teleconverter makes this very obvious. Solution, don't shoot wide open whenever possible:
IMGP1304.jpg

admirabilis.jpg

dmeristocaulis.jpg


While not really a cult lens, the Super-Multi-Coated MACRO-TAKUMAR 1:4/50 again has superb optics. Any of the 100mm Pentax macro lenses are more "cultish" and they're prices run about twice what the 50mm go for. With a screw mount adapter these can be used with most DSLRs. The drawback is you have to use stop-down manual metering. With the lens stopped down the viewfinder can get very dim making focusing difficult or even impossible. Anybody who used pre-auto aperture SLRs from the 60s is familiar with the process. Other drawbacks is most of the macro lenses from this era only do 1x magnification with an extension tube and were slow with max f-stops 3.5-4.
IMGP1977copy.jpg

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The crown jewel of my cult lenses is the much coveted Kiron 105mm f2.8 Macro lens. Legendary for it's optical quality and build this is considered one of the best macro lenses ever manufactured. Revolutionary in its time for its fast (f2.8) speed, optical performance and 1x magnification without need of an extension tube or lens. Being able to focus to infinity this makes a good telephoto lens. It is also outstanding as a portrait lens. I got lucky and picked up the dental version (Lester A. Dine branded) with macro ring-light in the PKA mount for just under $200. This is usable with all metering modes on my Pentax DSLR. The cult status of this lens has pushed the average price of the lens alone to the $350-450 range. Unless you're a lens collector at those prices you're better off getting a modern lens for your DSLR. While the optics are superb they aren't much better than modern lenses plus depending on your camera you won't get auto aperture and image stabilization/shake reduction.

Many of these are just test shots, checking different lighting sources. Some are handheld, others on a tripod.
IMGP2476.jpg

IMGP2477.jpg

IMGP2706.jpg

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IMGP3035.jpg

IMGP2905.jpg


With the 2x teleconverter I can get 2x magnification. The helicoid is not very sturdy and the lens (all metal and glass) is too heavy to use the macro extension mode.
IMGP2520.jpg

IMGP2522.jpg


The last "cult" toy is the Minolta Auto-Bellows III. With a glassless adapter I can now use this with the Pentax body. With adapters I can use enlarger lenses as macro lenses so I have plenty of low cost options. I have posted a few test shots before but haven't taken any further shots. Setting up can be tedious.
 
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  • #20
oh my....

and it came to pass on that 6th day of March that the Warren came down from the mountain top and showed the masses what was possible. Like innocent babes they looked with amazement for what he had shown unto them. The beauty of color, of light, of shadow and of composition.

geeze mate :p
 
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