Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro review

For the opportunity lens review Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro many thanks to Vladislav D., who sent I have a lens from another area.

Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro review

Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro review

The Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro is much better known as the Tokina AT-X Macro 90mm 1: 2.5 or as the Bokina 2.5 / 90. Optically, this is the same lens just under different names. You will not see the inscription of Bokin on the lens, this is the popular name of the lens in honor of its good bokeh design (Bokin). In fact, this is an excellent lens, it is often called a macro portraiture, which is true, it is very easy for them to shoot macro and a little more difficult to shoot a portrait.

Lens trunk Vivitar 2.5 / 90

Vivitar 2.5 / 90 lens trunk with optional focus distance scale when using a macro extender (macro attachment)

Vivitar's 'Series 1' lens series is considered high-class ruler, which is basically true. This Vivitar 2.5 / 90 lens can shoot macro when used on a full-size camera with a 1: 2 magnification, to get a 1: 1 magnification you need to use the Macro Extender (a macro attachment), which usually should come with the lens, but if there is no such extender then ordinary macro rings will do. My copy of the lens is converted to a Nikon F mount with the ability to focus on infinity, it turns out to be some kind of ordinary Non AI Nikon lens with fully manual iris control. You will find how to use old manual focus lenses on any modern Nikon CZK here и here.

Vivitar 2.5 / 90 lens enlightenment

Vivitar 2.5 / 90 lens enlightenment

The focusing of the lens is manual only. The focusing ring is rubberized and rotates almost 360 degrees. From 2 meters to infinity, the focus ring rotates approximately 120 degrees. Focusing is smooth, when focusing, the front lens does not rotate, and the lens trunk is noticeably lengthened. MDF is 40 centimeters. If you use a macro extender, then the MDF will be 35.3 cm, while macro shooting with an increase of 1 to 1 will be available. When focusing the rear lens of the lens remains stationary. On the part of the trunk of the lens, which leaves when focusing, is indicated second optional focus distance scale and the magnification factor when using a native macro extender. The aperture of the lens is matte black with 8 petals. Aperture closes to F / 32.

Vivitar F2.5 90mm CZK lens

Vivitar F2.5 90mm CZK lens

The lens has a very good massively solid assembly, weighs a little over 500 g, feels like a very high-quality thing in the hands. Front filter diameter 58mm. On the case you can find the inscription Patents Applied For (for what?) And Lens Made in Japan

Lens drawing

Lens drawing

Sample Photos

The lens produces very sharp photos, even at f / 2.5. Suffers slightly HA and is afraid of flare, has excellent color reproduction and image contrast. The bokeh is great. Photos without processing.

Personal impressions

Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro is a very high quality lens with very high quality images. The sharpness and pleasant bokeh pattern are striking. If you find such a lens, I recommend it. Macro will appear even stronger on Nikon DX cameras. If anyone knows that the Tokina AT-X Macro 90mm 1: 2.5 is better or worse than the Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro, please share with us in the comments.

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Conclusions

Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro - very high quality and very interesting lens. Excellent sharpness, bokeh, macro. I recommend as a macro portrait for little money.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

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Comments: 56, on the topic: Overview of Vivitar Series 1 90mm 1: 2.5 VMC Macro

  • Basil

    dear Arkady.
    I read your reviews with great interest, I will not deny that there are a lot of informative and interesting articles on your blog, but lately, in the "lens review" section, you are testing mostly old, sometimes even rare glasses, which may be of interest mainly to collectors , but not modern amateur photographers, who shoot mostly with modern optics.
    ARKADY WHERE ARE REVIEWS OF MODERN LENSES ... (example nikor 105 afs vr, nikor 85-1.8 w, samyang85-1.4, etc.)
    Yes, you have repeatedly written that you are testing the lenses that provide you.
    I understand you well, but there are certainly photo shops and photo rental companies that can provide you with the necessary equipment as an advertisement (for example, the PAPARAZZI store, etc.)
    I do not want to offend you, but frankly speaking, it hurts ...
    THANKS for the work you have done.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      I answer: everything is very simple, send me a caviar 105 afs BP, Nikor 85-1.8, Samyang85-1.4 and I will write a review. But, unfortunately, no one wants to help the project. Everyone absolutely does not care, the stores that were provided to me do not have much benefit from this, it’s easier for them to buy a couple of hryvnias of advertising and not to worry about their branding. By the way, quite a lot of not only reviews are published in Radozhiva, but also articles are published, 7 pieces in the past month :)

      • Oleg Muravitsky

        Arkady, do you remember - when I gave you 70-210 for the test, my colleague offered you a 70-300 screwdriver, didn't you test it? I can't find it on the site. It is still being produced and sold, a current model, although not very good.

    • pilotkins

      And here it is not !!!
      Shooting with modern glasses is becoming increasingly boring. All these stub-figs veer-shmeer kill the whole process :) Arkady does a very useful job :)
      And about nikor 105 here is my review - you need to take nishtyak :)

      • Anton Ilyich

        How many years have I been shooting with modern glasses, I never thought that they were boring ... But I still hear and hear a grumpy theme like: “Here before ... not like now ... and the trees are higher and the grass is greener and the film is better than numbers and there is no more soul ...” Hey comrade, more life ...; ))

        • Oleg

          modern ones are too expensive with similar optical quality (or even worse). I will not say anything about mechanical quality.

    • Denis

      Vasily, hello!

      1) For example, alas, I don’t have statistics on how many amateur photographers shoot with modern glasses. And you?
      2) The so-called old glasses are no worse than new ones. If only because they were produced at a time when Japan had just begun to take the palm from Germany and the United States.
      3) Photographers still shoot, not lenses.
      4) Instead of “painful”, write your article about the optics you are interested in in the comments.

      Sincerely.

      To the authors of the site - many thanks for their work.

  • Oleg

    Good day. Who doesn’t like reading reviews here, why don’t you go to the above stores yourself and not test the lenses yourself. Freebies wanted ?! A man tries, like a bee, and some harmful old people always spoil a barrel of honey with their bile, sorry, detec

  • gray

    Arkady, you are just doing fine, doing the right thing, you couldn’t find a website of this kind before your life, and now there is Radozhiva and this is wonderful. Keep it up.

  • Yura

    Just WOW !!! Shos in karting about * activ bewitching. It seems like just sheets, sheets ... but I want to wonder at them and wonder. Miraculous sklo.

    • Yuriy75

      Miraculous photo org and garne sklo!

  • Yuriy75

    Many thanks to Arkady and serious work for the sake of beginners, thanks to his articles and reviews of junk (I respect any junk), I refrained from buying a new Canon EF 40mm f / 2.8 STM, and bought the MIR-24N 35mm / 2.0 (M42) and for delivery Jupiter - 37A 135mm / 3.5. There is no limit to joy, I saw the world with different eyes. He began to live and shoot in the style of Radozhiv (to see and rejoice that everyone stopped noticing, counting their colored pieces of paper). Once again I thank you, Arkady, for your work.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Well, for reviews I’m shooting quite simple sketches, you can say, resting from weddings and other exhausting filming.

  • Sergei

    Arkady, the review indicates that the lens has a Nikon F mount, and as an example, you use a Canon camera. Why not show this copy on the Nikon D700? After all, as I remember, the "Radozhiva" project began under Nikon, only then Canon began to appear. Even judging by the comments, most of the public on your blog is Nikon camera owners.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Examples of photos on Nikon, I just shoot the lens with this very Nikon d700, since I have a macro lens specifically for Nikon :). In general, I write about what I use, and what comes across lately there are a lot of reviews on canon, therefore it cannot be said that Radozhiva is nikonist or kenonist. I advocate that people pay attention to the photo, the idea of ​​the review, and not become attached to the ideology of Nikon / Kenon.

      • Sergei

        No questions. Thanks for the reviews, Arkady.

  • Andrei

    Hello. Arkady, please tell me Vivitar Series1 70-210 will work on the D3100 in terms of metering?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Will not. The article contains a link on how to use the D3100, and which cameras support exposure metering.

      • Andrei

        yes thanks, read it means you should not focus on it with such a camera.

  • Vladislav D.

    Thank you very much, Arkady - for the technically competent and stylistically also, accessible for all amateur photographers, reviews and articles on photographic equipment! I take off my virtual hat)
    Further success to you!

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Thanks. I try to write quite simply, because Radozhiva is primarily a blog (narration on my behalf), and not an abstruse encyclopedia. Although I often have to correct a bunch of different kinds of errors in articles on Radozhiva :)

  • Madness Scif

    Arkady, you are very RESPECT Pts !!! testing optics, carcasses - it takes time ... many fellow site residents do not appreciate this for them 28-70mm 2.8 g podvay with N marking. You (not Arkady) will break another review of AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f / 5.6E FL ED VR which they themselves did not see in nature and did not hold in their hands ... COMRADES THIS PERSON PULLS THE SITE FOR HIS AND OUR PLEASURE AND THIS SHOULD (REQUIRED) RESPECT !!! SO WE WILL BE SATISFIED. AGAIN BIG LIKE AND RESPECT TO ARKADIA !!!

  • Vladimir

    Arkady, I have bad news for you: for Nikon DX cameras without an extender, the scale will be 1: 2, not 1: 1, as you wrote.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Updated.

  • Ilya

    hi Arkady. thanks for the reviews) I want to ask one thing, where do you get so much time and energy from? For example, my wife already ate a bunch of post from Soviet optics

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Well, optics are not mine, and my Nata is loyal to this.

      • Andrei

        Klasnenko. My wife is also loyal to my hobby, especially since the result is visible. But my heart feels that even 2-3 lenses will appear in the sideboard and loyalty will quickly disappear :( Despite the fact that I use only Soviet optics. Just long-focusers like :)

        • Arkady Shapoval

          Well, bigger doesn't mean better.

          • Maksim

            Hello
            Please advise with a kind word :)
            I am Noob - a photographer. I photographed only on the phone) now I am interested in macro photography and nature photography, I really like it) before I tried to take pictures only on the phone.
            I went online and the first thing I bought was NOT a camera :))))) but a lens) the budget price turned out on Vivitar telephoto macro 90 mm f 2/8 1: 1

            But now I don’t understand which camera he can fit (

            Please tell me which camera is better to choose. The Nikon D7200 hits the budget a bit.
            Thank you

            • B. R. P.

              To understand which camera it can fit on, you need to understand which mount (mount) is on your lens.

  • Andrei

    Mdaaaaa ... .. Very pretty lens!
    I already want it for myself! Thanks for the review!
    And if it's not a secret ...
    And what is your “park” of objekivs?
    What other lenses would you like to have / see in your “park”?

  • Ivan

    It seems to me that even my beloved Zenitar fifty-ruble 1.7 does not boast of such sharpness ...

  • Vladislav D.

    I think a cut of Zenith ..

    ”In the mid-70s there was
    released and famous
    Vivitar macro lens
    Series 1 90 2.5 which
    along with the legendary Leitz
    Dual Range Summicron has become
    lens with
    high resolution
    ability for 35mm.
    cameras according to
    authoritative magazine
    "Modern Photography". "

    Dug up on the lens club)

  • Nicholas

    Thanks for the reviews.
    I have a question for you: I have 2 lens Helios-44 M, and in both the diaphragm forms an asymmetric ring. How does this affect the quality of the photo.
    Thank you.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Gives unnatural "circles" in the out of focus area. Bokeh suffers from this. Usually the petals should form a regular polygon, ideally a circle.

      • Arthur

        Good day, what can you say about the vivitar 50mm F 1.7 lens, I did not find this review (for the nikon D3100 carcass)
        here is the link to the photo

        https://ibb.co/hCoHjH

        • B. R. P.

          Perhaps there is a Pentax bayonet mount or carving, but certainly not Nikon. So, compatibility is limited.

          • Arthur

            It is a pity that there is no review on this lens of course, I would like to know how sharpness, picture, etc.

      • Arthur

        Good day, tell me if you (or anyone) met vivitar 50mm 1: 1.7, you can somehow characterize it and is it worth it to buy it for Nikon d3100

        Here it is: https://ibb.co/dR76wx

    • Oleg Muravitsky

      My 44-M also had an asymmetric hole, but I can’t say that it spoils the picture.

  • Nicholas

    Thanks for the response and reviews.

  • Arnet

    Thanks for all the reviews. only I don’t understand which mount was the original and which rear slave. line segment.

  • Vladislav D.

    Bokina was produced under almost all mirror systems. This instance was redone from the Olympus Ohm system. Now the back section of Nikon.

  • Alexander R

    Arkady, thanks for the reviews! With pleasure he screwed his Helios 44-2 to Canon and got a pleasant result. Now I bought no name 135 f2.8 (a certain pro automatic made in japan) and I am happy with the result again! I noticed, after reviewing the next lens, the link to your site is indicated in the ads and it increases sharply in price :)) Good luck!

  • Oleg Muravitsky

    Eh ... looked at the pictures and again regretted that he had taken the D90, not the D300. Without a working exposure metering, manuals do not really take pictures, and dandelions are not cheap.

  • Nicholas

    Tell me, who knows how to remake the lens for Nikon F mount with the ability to focus on infinity? thanks

  • Alexander

    Nikolay, if you are in Moscow, I can tell you a very good master, KNA, is searched among users on foto.ru. Will remake anything

  • Ivan

    Found a comparison of Tokina and Vivitar. I hope it can be interesting.
    http://travelworld.livejournal.com/58597.html

  • Vitaliy U

    I own this lens for a year now. I can express my feelings from the use. The lens is really sharp and straight from 2,5. Micro contrast and color rendition are perfect. Backlit weak ... and using deep blend doesn't help much. For a woman's portrait, it seemed a bit harsh to me. It is not very convenient to focus at the portrait distance - the short stroke of the ring, touched it a little and flew out of the DOF. In connection with the above described disadvantages, I do not use it often, but I do not intend to sell, such macro glass, for the money that I gave ($ 150) I cannot buy. I recommend to lovers of macro and objects.

    • Denis

      Now it costs 15000 worth taking?

      • Azat

        This is the real price today!
        And if it is in excellent condition, the windows are clean and in addition there is a Converter - and this amount is even underestimated!
        And I have options, write!

      • Azat

        Converter = EXTENDER :)

    • spitzer

      I have panagor 90 2.8 1: 1, your review seems to have been licked off of it .. in the back it is just a nightmare, the hood does not save, it is problematic to use it not for macro, but very good for macro

  • Igor

    Objective Mir 24 n 35mm 2.0 just a fairy tale picture color tone halftone even on nikon d-80
    no worse than sigma 35mm 1.4 and tamron 35 1.4 or tamron 35 1.8 the difference is only in speed
    focusing. which means the difference is only in the price of 50 times convenience for pakimons of all ages, lazy, armless

    • Rodion

      "I do not believe!"

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English-version of this article https://radojuva.com/en/2013/07/obzor-vivitar-series-1-90mm-12-5-vmc-macro/

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