Prompted by the recent thread on the Vivitar Series 1 35-85/2.8 Variable Focusing Lens, I am passing on some excerpts from a fairly recent review of this lens by Frances E. Schultz (co-author, along with Roger Hicks, of "The Lens Book", as referenced by Robert Monaghan in his outstanding "Third Party Lenses Resource Megasite"). The review appeared in the Classic & Collector column of the August, 1998, issue of Shutterbug magazine.
Fred [begin] Some lenses are legendary: the Voigtlander Apo Lanthar, the Zeiss Biogon, the Leitz Thambar, and so on. Usually, their prices reflect their legendary status. There are others which deserve to be legends and are really appreciated by those who own them, but which can still be found surprisingly inexpensive. The Vivitar Series 1 Auto Variable Focus 35-85mm f/2.8 is one of them. Even by modern standards it is fast; it is still remarkably sharp; and it is the classic "standard zoom" range. On the down side, it is admittedly big and heavy, and it is not "parfocal" - in other words, you have to refocus every time you change the focal length, which is why it is called a varifocus or variable focus lens rather than a zoom. These drawbacks are the price you pay (and the price the designers thought worthwhile) for the speed and performance. Part of the price, that is. The rest of the price came in dollars and cents. In 1976, this lens listed at $499.50, at a time when a new Leica CL with 40mm Summicron lens listed at $540. [Caption for an illustration] Although it isn't in cosmetically perfect shape, my example of this legendary lens performs beautifully. I have the unique fitting dished lens cap and the original clamp-on hood. It was introduced in the mid-1970s, over 20 years ago; in my 1976 Camera Barn Photographic Buying Guide it was described as "new" and had a full page ad to itself. Very few zooms of that period were any good, but the performance of this one is impressive, even by the standards of the late 1990s. Like all the original Series 1 lenses, it was built to state of the art standards of optical and mechanical quality, and pretty much regardless of price. Optical design was American and Japanese; mechanical design was Japanese; and the lens was built, at least according to the original publicity material, using specially made NC lathes from Germany and Switzerland. [Caption for an illustration] If you can only carry one lens when you are traveling, a 35-85 zoom is a good choice. It is fast and easy to use and delivers excellent results at all focal lengths. This was taken using the 35mm end of the zoom range. Even with the straight line near the edge of the picture, distortion is minimal. It is a "one touch" lens, with a single ring that you push-pull to zoom and twist to focus. The closest focusing distance varies considerably with focal length, from 10.2 inches (from the film plane - 4.3 inches from the front element) at 35 mm to around 30 inches (from the film plane) at 85 mm. This corresponds to about 1/4 life-size at 35mm and 1/8 life-size at 85mm. The filter size is a big 72mm, and the lens weighs 27 ounces; overall length at infinity is 3.6 inches, and maximum barrel diameter is 3.2 inches. There are 12 glasses in nine groups, three of them moving independently: the original advertising mentions five concentric sleeves with nested cams. Despite all the glass, and 18 air glass surfaces, flare is surprisingly low for such a complex lens of this age. The other detectable shortcoming is distortion, but unless you have straight lines near the edge of the picture, you will never notice it. I have never noticed it in "real" pictures, only in test chart shots which were designed to point out every defect. Resolution is very high, better than 72 lp/mm centrally on a medium contrast (10:1) target and Ilford Pan F Plus film. Compared to prime lenses, and even to modern zooms, the Varifocal is an idiosyncratic lens. Apart from the size, the weight, and the fact that you have to refocus every time you change focal length, the thing which takes the most getting used to is the way the front glass rotates as you change focal lengths. It only moves through about 30 degrees as you zoom from 35-85mm, but somehow, this is more unexpected than a greater movement. It also moves forward from 35-55mm, then backward again from 55-85mm. The total to-and-fro movement is less than 1/4 inch, but the effect is still odd. The lens cap which comes with the lens is unique, and screws into the filter thread, The lens shade is also unique and fairly vestigial, as it has to be at the 35mm end of the range. It is a very shallow flared hood, held on (not always very securely) by a set screw. It rotates along with the front glass as you zoom the lens. The Vivitar Auto Vario Focus 35-85 f/2.8 is definitely my favorite snapshot lens. There are many occasions when I don't want to carry two bodies and three or four lenses, but I still want the versatility and dependability of my regular cameras, along with excellent quality. The 35-85 on one of my Nikkormat bodies is my first choice. It is also an excellent lens for informal portraiture on location. It is much easier to put yourself and your model at ease if you don't have to keep changing lenses. While I would normally use a medium or large format camera in the studio, the combination of this lens and a camera body I know well allows me to shoot quickly with a minimum of effort on location. For the same reasons, the 35-85 is my favorite reportage lens. I can change focal lengths very quickly, and because I know the lens so well, having to refocus does not cause me a problem. An interesting question is why no other manufacturer ever went down the same road. If you can save weight and improve performance by dropping a parfocal zoom action, and going to variable focus instead, why has no one else ever done it? It would be fascinating to see the same approach, with the same focal lengths and the same constant f/2.8 aperture tried today. Until someone does try it, I shall continue using my original Vivitar Series 1 Auto Variable Focusing 35-85mm 1:2.8, as it proudly describes itself on the lens bezel. [end] - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
