--- Don Sanderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As I have no friends who are into photography I just > had to brag about this > to somebody! ;-) > About 9 months ago I bought a Vivitar Series 1 > 24-48mm F:3.8 VMC on eBay in > "needs repair" condition. <snip> > Let's see, about 20 hours work at oh, $35 per > hour.......... wow, only about > $700.00! > > Think it's worth it? (It is a cool FL range!) >
Hey, Don, I have that very lens: http://optiopics.homestead.com/gfm2004/tIMGP3331.JPG It's by far my most favouritest zoom. Okay, it's big, bulky and heavy, but it's sharp as hell, and way linear for a wide zoom. Very little distortion at 24mm (measurable, but IMHO not noticeable). It's a great lens! It's my all-purpose carry around lens. I've even taken it out on street photography missions when I'm feeling that I want to be something other than stealthy: http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2340498&size=lg Now, Maggie's not so sharp, because I was focusing on the dog, Tinkerbell, who's pretty sharp. But, look at the straight lines on the wall at the left. Not much distortion there, and that's at 24mm on a full-frame print. I know I opened her up to get the backgound OOF (and since the dog's in focus and Maggie, a foot behind her ain't, it worked <g>), so I think that was maybe even shot at f3.8... Was all your work worth it? I think these things (when you can find them) sell for almost $300US at KEH - the last one I saw there was a Canon mount, and I've never seen a K-mount one there. They seem to regularly go for over $200 on eBay, usually higher. Again, they don't come up much. Mine, sadly, is in the repair shop now, fixed, but unobtainable due to my current state of finacial woe caused by unemployment. It's been into the shop a few times, mostly due to the effects of gravity. But, it's a great lens, and I congratulate you on fixing it up on your own. I'd never try that myself. I think you'll be most pleased with the fruits of your labours!! cheers, frank PS: credit where credit's due: the bunny-eared LX mit 24-48 is from Cesar's GFM site (here it is in context): http://optiopics.homestead.com/npwgfm2004.html ===== "The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer ______________________________________________________________________ Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca
