50-135 f3.5 AIS, I love this

J Davis

J Davis

Veteran
So excited because I bought it this morning, I've been seaching for this for months. In good condition these are pretty rare.
Was using a 75-150/3.5 AIS for CU's but this is my new go to lens for around the 50mm, 85mm and 105mm marks
(and if anyone is wondering the adapter I have so I can use it on canon vDSLR's is the one from ebay:fotodiox)

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and check this, someone loved this so much its been chipped for nikon AF confirm
(sorry i was rushing and this pic is a little soft)
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only one word I can describe it with ... gorgeous !
 
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Just a friendly warning- there are two other copies of this lens on the used market right now.
The one at adorama used dept was marked E but when I inspected it I noticed that it is damaged internally
and has a very noticeable click/bump when turning the focus ring past the 15' mark.
The one on ebay has scratches in the coating on the element if u look at pics closely.

If you find a copy I encourage people to go out and try this lens! Be careful when shopping tho!
 
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That's cool, J. I'm slowly building me a Nikon AI AIS prime collection. I'll keep an eye out for this lens. Might get lucky one day.:happy: What's your opinion of the "series E" Nikons. Are they comparable in quality to the AI and AIS lenses?
 
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Oh yeah, I've got a AI Vivitar Series 1 70-210/3.5 Macro back from a re-lube and internal cleaning. We'll see which is the cooler lens :)
 
Some of the lenses in the E series rock. I love and use the 75-150/3.5 series E,
if you go hunting for this one watch out for zoom creep, you can find them around tho

@shao, ok you're on!

:violent5:

vivitar schmivitar

:2vrolijk_08:
 
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Honestly, as much as these lenses rock, push-pull zooming sucks ass. Not to mention trying to put a FF on it.
 
Variable Prime dude, variable prime. There's that word again. I never try and use it as a 'zoom'. I'm not one to try the follow focus thing unless its a cine lens and I have paid camera crew.
On the very very very few occaisions I storyboarded a shot that needed to pull focus I use white tape on a prime lens at f5.6+ and use my thumb & finger, old school. I've gotten pretty adept at it.

So I'm genuinely interested in your lens, think you could post a pic of it so we might take a peek?
 
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I'll try but there's a ton on info on the Viv Macro on the net:

http://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm

I've got the 67mm filter thread version made by Kiron.

So yeah, I totally get the "variable prime" philosophy but operationally, push pull type lenses are just cumbersome. Theres always the chance you'll accidentally zoom while pulling focus. Still not bad enough for me to not use them though.
 
J Davis said:
Just a friendly warning- there are two other copies of this lens on the used market right now.
The one at adorama used dept was marked E but when I inspected it I noticed that it is damaged internally
and has a very noticeable click/bump when turning the focus ring past the 15' mark.
Click to expand...

Can I trouble you to please email me with the SKU number of the model at Adorama, so I can make sure that the rating has been changed to reflect the problems that you found?

Thanks
 
mcgeedigital said:
Nice glass.

I have the 50-300 and love it.

7d.jpg
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oh my lordy the big basterd nikon 6x zoom from the 70's !!!

very cool, and a work out to carry around I bet !!


While we are on this,
here is some more vintage glass porn from my collection last year
(I have since sold off three and kept one)
I present the four classic nifty fifties shot with an AIS 35/1.4 at f2
3828040040_6316663d83_o.jpg
 
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HelenOster said:
I just had a word with the technician, who said that while there was damage that went a little inside the barrel, (which was the cause of the tight focusing), there was no effect to the lens.
I understand that the rating has been reduced to a V.
If anyone picks it up and is unhappy with it, there is a 90-day warranty....
Click to expand...

All good Helen, I just wanted a lens as close to mint as possible, for resale purposes y'know in case I need to shift it and get money back.
As an FYI for other readers, I regularly check adorama used web pages. There are often great deals there. adorama.com

mcgeedigital said:
Holy smack f1.2! [drool]
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not great for actors but great for inanimate objects!
pink razor scooter with my daughters bead bracelet
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edit: hey post a pic from that nikon beastie x6 ais zoom of yours, would love to see the bokeh at 300mm
 
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Oh yeah, ever see this many 1.2s?

12s.jpg


The one in the center is actually pretty rare and one of the sharpest and smallest 50/1.2s of its time. Actually, it might still be the smallest to date.
 
Very nice. I had a Nikon 50mm 1.2 and I loved it, but I dumped it for the Canon 1.4 50mm so i could get AF for stills too. I do miss that 1.2 DOF although it was almost impossible to keep anything moving in focus.


shaocaholica said:
Oh yeah, ever see this many 1.2s?

12s.jpg


The one in the center is actually pretty rare and one of the sharpest and smallest 50/1.2s of its time. Actually, it might still be the smallest to date.
Click to expand...
 
Honestly, a 50/1.2 isn't worth more to me than a 50/1.4. I got all those 50/1.2s I collected were less than $100 each.
 
shaocaholica said:
Honestly, a 50/1.2 isn't worth more to me than a 50/1.4. I got all those 50/1.2s I collected were less than $100 each.
Click to expand...

Mmmm nice little collection there Shao!

I have to agree with you, of the four nifties I had pictured above the only one I kept after testing is the nikkor 1.4
and even then I always shoot stopped down. Out of focus actors is just not cool !

BTW the nikkor 1.2's are fetching a little more these days. I sold mine for $400+
 
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ok ... guess what this one is thats sitting on my kitchen table :)

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more of a clue in this pic ... (anyone can guess, not just Shao because I know he'll get it in about 1 second !!!)

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4437648816_9ab7182f17_o.jpg
 
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