NX1 Photoshoot with a Vivitar 75-205mm f3.8 Zoom Lens

This vintage lens is a beauty that I picked up at a thrift store for $10.  It's a Vivitar 75-205mm MC f3.8 Macro Focusing Zoom  (SN22000588).  The first two digits of the serial number 22, mean that the lens was manufactured by KINO PRECISION in Japan.  The exact date of manufacture is not exactly known, but probably late 70's early 80's.  The zoom is a push-pull and maintains a constant F3.8 across the focal length settings.

For a test of the lens, I took it out to a women's Rugby match at Monterrey Park in Phoenix, Arizona.

Due to the fact that the lens is a manual lens, it's really not the lens to use for action sports since a fast auto focus lens would be the correct choice.  What I ended up doing is either setting the lens focus to infinity and using the maximum zoom focal length to capture action of the match standing a distance away.  Or, focusing for a specific 'zone' in the field and only capturing the action in that zone.  

The photos were captured using the Samsung NX1 at 3:2 aspect ratio which allows the full sensor area to capture the image at 28MP. The images shown here are straight JPEG's from the camera with no processing or effects added.  Additionally, no profiles, filters or effects were enabled in-camera.  The only manipulation of the photo in post was cropping.

Note: Most photographs were taken at F4-F11 and between 1/500s - 1/800s shutter speed a ISO100.

The F-Stops had to be high enough to capture a greater depth of field in focus, but higher than F11 resulted in an underexposed image.  I could have upped the EV or ISO, but i chose to stay in this 'exposure range'.

Also, a 205mm focal length has the 35mm equivalent of 307.5mm on the NX1's crop sensor.

The photographs below were selected that best captured the action and where discussed, reveal the character of the lens.

The first photograph below is a tight shot of the player with the ball approaching the "Try Line"  [In rugby, the “goal line” is officially called the try line.]

Below:  Following a scrum, the blue team has the ball.  What I like about this photo is that the eye has to scan the line of players, then you notice the woman on the left has the ball.  

NOTE: Notice how by the  use of cropping, most of these 'zoom' photos appear to be wide angle photos.

The next photograph captures the ball seemingly floating in mid-air.  Since the photo is a static representation of the play, the image invites the viewer to speculate on who will play this ball.

Rugby is a contact sport where the player's faces brace for impact.

Below is my favorite photograph of the day. A crisp clean action shot.

The photograph below I call 'The Circle" because the player in the middle is circled for the most part by the opposing team.  Regarding the lens here. I really like the look of the background,

Nice action with the crowd along the sidelines.

Blue team action nicely composed.

Rough and tumble of the sport in the photograph below..

Player on left acutely aware she's next to contact the runner.  Good facial expression.

Nice action.

Notice in the below photograph, that all three players are floating in the  air. No feet are contacting the ground.

For the composition of this photograph, I wanted to capture both the kicker of the 'Conversion' in the broader perspective of the crowd, field and vicinity.

Lens conclusion:  I was really impressed with the sharpness and character of this Vivitar lens.  The photos look authentic to real life and the backgrounds are softer, yet maintain sufficient detail while creating a separation between the foreground and background.

The sun was very bright the day of shooting, yet the lens along with the camera sensor (dynamic range) did a very good job of keeping an exposure balance between highlights and shadows.

The lens is all metal with a rubberized focus ring grip.

Online lens description:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/vivitar-75-205mm-f3-8-macro-focusing.html

The Vivitar Macro Focusing 75-205 mm f/3.8 is a vintage manual-focus telephoto zoom produced in the late 1970s to early 1980s, often attributed to Kino Precision (Kiron). It was available in multiple mounts including Pentax K, M42, Nikon F, and others, and came in both two-ring and one-touch push-pull versions. Despite its modest branding, it’s widely regarded as a hidden gem among vintage zooms.

It features a 15-element - 10-group optical design, multi-coating, and a 6-blade automatic diaphragm. The lens maintains a constant f/3.8 aperture throughout the zoom range, stops down to f/22, and includes a macro mode at 75 mm that allows focusing down to 37.5 cm, delivering 0.26× magnification. It uses either a 58 mm or 62 mm filter thread depending on the version, weighs around 830 g, and measures approximately 67 × 152 mm. It includes a built-in sliding hood, macro shift ring, and engraved distance and magnification scales.

User reviews are glowing. It’s praised for its sharpness even wide open, smooth bokeh, and solid metal construction. The macro mode is especially appreciated for its close-focus versatility, though it’s not true 1:1. Handling is smooth and well-damped, though the lens is heavy and can suffer from zoom creep when pointed downward. Flare resistance is limited, so a hood is recommended.

In short, the Vivitar 75-205mm F3.8 Macro Focusing is a surprisingly capable vintage zoom—offering constant aperture, macro versatility, and cinematic rendering in a rugged, all-metal package. A cult favorite for those who enjoy character-rich optics on a budget

ABOUT THE LENS MANUFACTURER:

Kino Precision Optical Company founded in 1959 by Tatsuo Kataoka in Japan, better known to photographers as the maker of Kiron lenses, was a highly respected Japanese optical manufacturer active from 1959 through the late 1980s. During the 1970s, Kino Precision became one of the most important behind‑the‑scenes lens makers in Japan.  Their reputation for excellent mechanical construction and optical innovation Vivitar Series 1 lenses they designed and built are still considered some of the best third‑party optics ever made.

Collectors and photographers still seek out Kino/Kiron lenses for their build quality, sharpness, and distinctive rendering.

Initial Test Photographs with a Vivitar 28mm f2.8 Vintage Lens

I picked up nice vintage Vivitar 28mm f2.8 Vintage Lens (SN28933252) at a thrift store for $8.  Manufactured by Komine in Japan (based on the first two numbers in the serial number: 28), sometime between the late 1970s and mid‑1980s.

I adapted the lens to my Samsung NX1 camera, utilizing a Minolta-to-NX mount adapter (see photo of camera and lens below).  

The NX1 camera uses an APS-C sized sensor, so the crop factor is 1.5. Thus, the 35mm camera equivalent of this 28mm full-frame on the Samsung NX1 camera equivalent to a 42mm focal length. 

The following photos were taken mostly at f5.6 or f8, except where noted.  All image are presented 'as-photographed' and no in-camera filters or effects were employed. 

The photo below was taken at f2.8 to get an idea of the background bokeh.  To me the background at this open aperture looks a little too sharp; thus somewhat distracting from the overall image.    

Overall first impressions:  The focus ring of the lens felt somewhat loose, rather than a firm dampened rotation, but held focus without issue.  The lens is compact and solidly built metal components.

The images shown here to me were sufficiently sharp with the color representation quite natural reflecting realism, rather than a 'cinematic' look.

The 42mm equivalent focal length makes it a good street photography lens, and I was pleased with the result.

I would like to try some sunset, blue-light, night shots and black and white to round out the evaluation of this lens.

Notes: Vivitar is a brand name under the American camera, lens and photographic accessory distribution company known as Ponder and Best. 

Komine was part of a group of Japanese firms (including Tokina, Kiron, Cosina, Tomioka) that quietly built lenses for Western brands.  Komine was known for its quality optical and mechanical manufacturing.

But unlike some competitors:

• Komine never built a strong brand identity,

• never sold lenses under their own name,

• and left very little corporate documentation and was out of business around 1993  

Vintage Vivitar 75-205mm F3.8 Test Photographs

I was very impressed with the first street photographs taken with the (vintage) Vivitar 75-205mm F3.8 MC Macro-Focusing zoom lens (SN:22000588). In my opinion, the photographs taken with this lens are  bold and lively.  Sharpness of the lens, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Sharpness tended to vary, but strangely, the image sharpness and softness seemed to work with the images produced here.  

The first two digits of the serial number '22' designate that the lens was made by Kino Precision Optics in Japan. The mount on the lens was 'Olympus' and was easily adapted to the Samsung NX1's NX mount with a OM-to-NX mount adapter.

This Vivitar 75-205mm on a crop sensor camera like the NX1 is equivalent to approximately a 112-303mm lens on a full-frame 35mm camera. The lens is an all-metal build that provides a sturdy, premium feel.

At f3.8 wide-open, it is not a fast lens, but the ISO can be bumped-up in today's modern digital cameras to compensate for less light transmission through the lens, without any or minimal added noise to the image, depending on how dark the scene.  

It's large outer focusing barrel ring was smooth.  I found the push-pull of the outer zoom focusing barrel that adjusts the focal length to be a little sticky, but not unexpected for the lens's 45-50 year age. Focus breathing was evident when watching the 'focus-assist' vary on the LCD screen once the focus was set.

The images shown below were taken a various focal lengths, handheld, but mostly 205mm and in the aperture range of 5.6 to 8.  

The image here are presented 'as-photographed with no filters and the camera's picture profile options disabled..  I have not yet tested to MACRO feature of the lens.

TOYO Optics Lens Test

Found this Auto TOYO Optics 28mm f2.8-f22 at a thrift store. Never heard of the name.  The lens is all metal and has a solid build feel.  Its has a MC (multi-coated) designation on the lens and designated with SN790080.

More on what I found about TOYO Optics of Japan at the bottom of this post. 

The mount is Olympus, but the lens and adapter together is somewhat loose.  Although it functionally works, the looseness was annoying when photographing - may try another adapter.

The 28mm on the crop-sensor NX1 is the 35mm equivalent of 42mm.  That's a nice sweet spot for general street photography.  The focus ring has a rubberized grip that was nicely dampened. 

The photographs shown here were as-shot.  Missing are some black & white images, and full open (f2.8mm) bokeh images.  

Overall the images are clean and clinical, but the 'resolving optics' on digital camera is suspect since at full zoom-in on a photo editor, the image seems pixelated.  

An internet search found the following history for this lens:

TOYO Optics from Japan was active during the 1970s and 1980s, producing a range of third-party lenses often sold under names like TOU/Five Star and Toyo Optics. These lenses were typically marketed as affordable alternatives to OEM glass and were distributed through department stores.

Here’s what’s known about the company and its legacy:  The company behind TOYO Optics appears to be Toyo Kogaku Kogyo, which later became part of TOYOTEC Co., Ltd., a broader optical manufacturing group in Japan. TOYOTEC’s roots trace back to 1944, with various reorganizations and mergers through the decades. By the 1980s, they were producing optical components and lenses for consumer cameras. TOYO lenses were often manual focus zooms and primes, such as 28mm f/2.8 and 70–210mm f/4–5.6.  Build quality varied—some users found them solid and reliable, while others noted issues like zoom creep or softness wide open.  Many of these lenses were rebadged or OEM versions made by other Japanese manufacturers like Cima Kogaku, known for producing lenses under brands like Cimko, Paragon, and Ensinor.

Test Photos with the Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 50mm f1:1.9 Lens

The Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.9 lens is a fast, manual (35mm) full-frame standard prime lens, made of all metal components, that was produced by Yashica, a Japanese company known for its high-quality cameras and lenses. [The actual manufacturer of these lenses was Tomioka Optical Works, one of the largest and most reputable lens manufacturers in Japan. The relationship between Tomioka and Yashica began already in 1953, and in August 1968 the company was acquired by Yashica.] (Source: Yashica M42 system | LENS-DB.COM)

The designation "Yashinon" was used by Yashica Co., Ltd. to signify a higher-quality line of lenses. This design was known for producing sharp images with good contrast with minimal chromatic aberration.

This lens features an M42 screw mount, which dates this lens prior to 1975 when the Yashica/Contax partnership created a technical alliance with the Carl Zeiss optical company and established the c/y bayonet mount.  This mount was designed for use with both Contax and Yashica cameras at that time and as with all camera's today, makes changing lenses simple and quick.  Thus the M42 mount for this lens suggests its manufacture to either the late 1960's or early 1970's.  

The closest focusing distance for this lens is 0.50m. Filter size id 52mm. It has 6-aperture blades. This Yashinon (DS) lens series is single coated. It has 6-aperture blades.

The Auto Yashinon-DS 50mm f/1.9 lens has 6-elements in 5-groups known as the 'Double Gauss Derivative". The classic double Gauss lens, patented by Alvan Graham Clark in 1888, consists of two symmetrical achromatic doublets with a positive meniscus lens on the object side and a negative meniscus lens on the image side. Derivatives of this design incorporate one or more additional elements and are the basis for many (ultra) fast standard lenses and standard macro lenses produced in the 20th century (Source: Yashica Yashinon-DS Auto 50mm F/1.9 | LENS-DB.COM)

 

This lens was adapted to my Samsung NX1 digital camera by utilizing a M42 -to-NX mount adapter.

All photos below are 'as-photographed' with the exception of a couple of images that were slightly cropped.  No in-camera effects or filters were employed for these photographs.

My first impression of this lens is that it's very sharp, when compared to other vintage lenses of the period. 

Above: Landscape details stand-out with this optic.  

As I looked at these first images, the 'character of the lens emerged as 'realistic'.  Realistic being that the resultant image appears true-to-life.  Good for photography; but from a filmmaking standpoint, the lens may seem to produce images that are too 'clinical', meaning not providing a style or a cinematic texture.

Above: I opened up the aperture to reveal the lens' background 'bokeh", which is uninspiring, when compared to other lenses manufactured in this period.  However, in the case of the above photo the bokeh is very pleasing, with the background separation looking 'painterly' and directional natural light adding to the composition.  

Above: Nice light adding to this scenic capture.

Below: 200%-crop zoom  

Overall, first impression is one of 'sense of quality' for this 50-year old lens.  Operationally, due to a longer focus throw, there is an ease to precisely set manual focus, using 'focus peaking' on a modern digital camera.

I would take this lens out for street photography, but for filmmaking, I think I have other lens options that better lend themselves to producing a visual texture that appeals to me from a filmic point of view.  

Switching perspectives, let's look at this same lens with cityscape photographs taken in monochrome with the Samsung NX1.

I just took a late afternoon walk to and looked for opportunities downtown Phoenix, Arizona.  I wanted to get a sense of the lens's 

imaging with bright light and dark shadows with the sun only about 30-degrees above the horizon.  

I like the sharpness and deep contrast of this lens.