Long history but not convincing: Vivitar 85-205mm 1:3.8 Auto Zoom

Cost: $19.99 (market price around $18.75)

   

The Vivitar 85-205 f:3.8 is an early 2 touch zoom design, the very first zoom lens sold under the Vivitar badge, made in 6 different versions for more than 10 years and with that one of the longest running zoom lenses made by Vivitar. Early versions were swappable t-mount but most version are older with a fixed mount. Later versions also had a macro mode ring.

Version 1

The exterior of the lens was modified multiple times to match the appearance with other lenses of the then Vivitar family, starting with the chrome nose type and later all black versions with metal or rubber focus rings. Most of the variations of the 85-205mm zoom were simply cosmetic changes to the exterior hardware but one of the last versions of the lens included internal changes to allow closer focusing.

All versions of the lens are believed to have been manufactured by Kino Precision and were also sold to many other distributors such as Soligor, Hanimex, Panagor, Albinar, Montgomery Ward, and others.

Due to the high sales, especially the later version, these are very common, therefore this is one of the most available Vivitar lenses on the used market.

This version looks nice and slim and a 2 touch lens is always easy to use, and avoids the lens to sag when pointing down. It's fairly heavy, but with a solid build. So a pleasure to go out with and take pictures. However, I think the actual zoom range is very limiting. Not wide enough for street photography, and not long enough for birding. 

Picture quality is not horrible for a zoom lens of that era, but it's also not great. Not laser sharp, but good enough to capture details, with some color aberration on some pictures. 

Probably a keeper because of the historic value, but no actual value or image quality that makes it stand out. 

More examples on Flikr.

Lens Specification:
Focal Length: 85-205mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.8
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: Nikon FD
Optics: 13 elements, 9 groups
Blades: 6
Focusing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 1.9mm
Filter Size: 58mm
Weight: 843g
Length: 186-208mm
Production: 1966 to late 1970's - 1973 to 1974 for this version
Serial Number: 22408800
Made in: Japan

More information on Vivitar

Samples:

1/500 sec. ISO100 - Handheld

1/160 sec. ISO320 - Handheld

1/500 sec. ISO100 - Handheld

1/160 sec. ISO800 - Handheld

1/160 sec. ISO400 - Handheld

1/160 sec. ISO100 - Handheld

1/1250 sec. ISO100 - Handheld

1/200 sec. ISO100 - Handheld

1/160 sec. ISO100 - Handheld

Sources:

https://www.pentaxforums.com

http://camera-wiki.org