Customer Reviews

Vivitar 28-300mm Series One Zoom Lens for Minolta-AF SLRs

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Run- don't walk to buy this lens if you are considering it. I found to work excellently and take razor sharp pictures. No offense to the reviewer above, but I found it to be a surprisingly light lense. Don't let weight keep you from buying it. 28-300 is worth a TON on convience. It sometimes is slow taking the picture working with AF with my Minolta 7xi, but that could just be my camera. Also I have a tad of trouble getting the lens cap on all the way (with a UV filter on). But these are minor and I HIGHLY recommend this lens.

Nice to only have to carry around one lens, but it is a rather heavy lens. Works great, though. To zoom with the lens, it just slides in and out, you don't rotate it like you normally would operate an SLR lens (at least any I've seen). Kind of weird to get used to sliding the whole lens instead of turning it. I much prefer the turning method for zooming.

I decided to give the 28mm - 300mm Series 1 Zoom a try since I also own a 25 year old Vivitar Series 1 90mm Macro lens for my old Minolta SRT-101. I have owned mostly Minolta branded (Rokkor) lenses so for me to purchase a non-Minolta lens, it had to be outstanding. You won't be disappointed. It is a sharp, well-built lens and gives me an all-around lens for virtually all situations. I agree with the other reviewer that this is not a heavy lens. Maybe I am old-fashioned but the push-pull zooming works just fine. I will still hang on to my Minolta 28mm-80mm Zoom that I got with the STsi but more as a back up. Vivitar does warn the user to not attach the included lens shade if you are using the camera's built-in flash in the wider angles as the lens shade may cast a shadow on your picture. I have used my built-in flash with this lens many times mostly for fill-in lighting with no problems. You have to remember to unlock the lens lock button when you turn your camera on but it really has not been a nuisance for me at all.

I have used this lens on a Canon EOS film camera before using it on a 20D Canon system. It is a weighty lens but with a battery grip it turns out to be well balanced. The push/pull zoom is useful, easy and fast while minimal care has to be exercised in maintaining the zoom on an object. However, the lens creeps too easily when carrying it around with the lens pointing down. One must get used to this or carry the camera lens up. It often has to search in low light when autofocusing-requiring a contrasty image to lock in on to focus. Re the hood; a collapsible, adjustable hood works for me to accommodate the wide, 28mm as well as the 300mm extended range without vingnetting. The Series 1 lives up to its well-established optical reputation for sharpness. I own a 70-200 f4L Canon Series and the Vivitar falls short but then again is half the price. It is a bit soft at 300 but acceptable for most images. Front lens rotates while focusing making a CPL a bit difficult to work with.

Conclusion: A fine piece of equipment for the price. Hard to find!