Vivitar 28mm f/1.9 (Series 1)
I, uh… bought this lens in the middle of the night and then promptly forgot I bought this lens. Thanks, medication-induced insomnia! 😅 Good thing it's a cool one and I got a good price!
I think this is the fastest lens I own at the moment.
Wide open, it's glowy, but not in a bad way — more like a soft focus / beauty lens. Considering I've actually thought about shelling out for a soft focus lens, this is a bonus.
The bokeh is strange. That's why I grabbed it (as I hazily recall).
Stopped down it gets sharper and more "normal" although still with interesting bokeh. Very sharp and detailed, peep the (in-focus) flower petals in the first set.
Haven't tried any apertures smaller than f/4, but I'll update when I do.
f/1.9
f/4
(missed focus due to not wanting to kneel on the desert floor… alas)
f/1.9
f/4
This bad boy is a Tokina make, with the serial # beginning 37xxxx. It focuses quite close, not exactly a macro but close!
It's huge and beautiful. I'm not one to go on and on about lens build quality — and I definitely don't think "heavier=better" — but this one feels so nice. It's sort of the opposite of the usual "lens build quality" icons, too… like, old Nikon lenses are built like tanks, and they feel like tanks, but this feels more like a luxury item, it's so smooth and sleek.
1.9 is very bright in the K10D's viewfinder. I really need to get a focusing prism though, it's tough to nail it especially at 1.9.
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Quote from ahoyhere on August 3, 2022, 11:02 pmI, uh… bought this lens in the middle of the night and then promptly forgot I bought this lens. Thanks, medication-induced insomnia!
Good thing it's a cool one and I got a good price!
I think this is the fastest lens I own at the moment.
Wide open, it's glowy, but not in a bad way — more like a soft focus / beauty lens. Considering I've actually thought about shelling out for a soft focus lens, this is a bonus.
The bokeh is strange. That's why I grabbed it (as I hazily recall).
Stopped down it gets sharper and more "normal" although still with interesting bokeh. Very sharp and detailed, peep the (in-focus) flower petals in the first set.
Haven't tried any apertures smaller than f/4, but I'll update when I do.
f/1.9
f/4
(missed focus due to not wanting to kneel on the desert floor… alas)
f/1.9
f/4
This bad boy is a Tokina make, with the serial # beginning 37xxxx. It focuses quite close, not exactly a macro but close!
It's huge and beautiful. I'm not one to go on and on about lens build quality — and I definitely don't think "heavier=better" — but this one feels so nice. It's sort of the opposite of the usual "lens build quality" icons, too… like, old Nikon lenses are built like tanks, and they feel like tanks, but this feels more like a luxury item, it's so smooth and sleek.
1.9 is very bright in the K10D's viewfinder. I really need to get a focusing prism though, it's tough to nail it especially at 1.9.
Ooohh very cool Bokeh! I feel like you could do a focus stack of the catcus wide open at 1.9 and get a really cool composite shot!
Quote from ahoyhere on August 3, 2022, 11:02 pmI, uh… bought this lens in the middle of the night and then promptly forgot I bought this lens. Thanks, medication-induced insomnia!
I think this is the fastest lens I own at the moment.
Wide open, it's glowy, but not in a bad way — more like a soft focus / beauty lens. Considering I've actually thought about shelling out for a soft focus lens, this is a bonus.
The bokeh is strange. That's why I grabbed it (as I hazily recall).
Stopped down it gets sharper and more "normal" although still with interesting bokeh. Very sharp and detailed, peep the (in-focus) flower petals in the first set.
Haven't tried any apertures smaller than f/4, but I'll update when I do.
f/1.9
f/4
(missed focus due to not wanting to kneel on the desert floor… alas)
f/1.9
f/4
This bad boy is a Tokina make, with the serial # beginning 37xxxx. It focuses quite close, not exactly a macro but close!
It's huge and beautiful. I'm not one to go on and on about lens build quality — and I definitely don't think "heavier=better" — but this one feels so nice. It's sort of the opposite of the usual "lens build quality" icons, too… like, old Nikon lenses are built like tanks, and they feel like tanks, but this feels more like a luxury item, it's so smooth and sleek.
1.9 is very bright in the K10D's viewfinder. I really need to get a focusing prism though, it's tough to nail it especially at 1.9.
Haha, I bought my Nikon D80 at about 3am while at the hospital waiting for my wife to deliver our second child. I couldn't sleep on the little chair they gave fathers, and she was fast asleep. Same thing, in the excitement of having the kid I forgot I bought it until it showed up a few days later.
The bokeh is really interesting. Instead of being swirly, it almost looks like you did a zoom effect with your lens and zoomed out on a long exposure. The edges look more pulled out than the center out of focus areas. It's cool.
I have a vivitar 28mm f2.8 in M42 mount that I've used on my Olympus E-300 and Sigma SD14 with good success. Yay for cheap vintage lenses!
Quote from James Warner on August 4, 2022, 12:41 am
Haha, I bought my Nikon D80 at about 3am while at the hospital waiting for my wife to deliver our second child. I couldn't sleep on the little chair they gave fathers, and she was fast asleep. Same thing, in the excitement of having the kid I forgot I bought it until it showed up a few days later.
Awww. This is like the camera nerd equivalent of planting a tree in the backyard!
The bokeh is really interesting. Instead of being swirly, it almost looks like you did a zoom effect with your lens and zoomed out on a long exposure. The edges look more pulled out than the center out of focus areas. It's cool.
I have a vivitar 28mm f2.8 in M42 mount that I've used on my Olympus E-300 and Sigma SD14 with good success. Yay for cheap vintage lenses!
Yeah, the bokeh looks like paintbrush strokes almost… very directional, as you say.
I've also got a Vivitar 28mm 2.8 close focus! It's such a solid performer, with just enough vintage flavor, and so cheap!
Funny how Vivitar is synonymous with the literal worst in photography and also some of the best.
Quote from SpruceBruce on August 3, 2022, 11:19 pmOoohh very cool Bokeh! I feel like you could do a focus stack of the catcus wide open at 1.9 and get a really cool composite shot!
Great idea - I'll have to try that! I wonder if the bokeh being wild would make it harder to stack? I've only tried focus stacking a few times and I'm not any good at it yet.
