E-PL1 & Vivitar 100mm Macro

These are macro shots from my OM-mount 100mm Vivitar mounted on an E-PL1. It was originally shipped with a matched diopter which gives 1:1. Got it off eBay several years back for $90 for use with my OM-2N. Using it on the E-PL! has been incredible. The magnified view for MF is sooo much easier than the OM-2N viewfinder. It will be even better with an EVF. m43 is such a flexible and affordable system!

I presume that is the same 100/3.5 lens sold variously as Phoenix, Soligor, Vivitar and more, and in my case as Cosina - who actually made them.

I have the Nikon fit one from film days and the conclusion was that it was more useful to me than the rather expensive and heavy Nikon 105/2.8 lens, so sold that and kept the Cosina.

At f/3.5 it is tragic but at the usual f/8/11/22 etc needed for macro it was very close indeed to the Nikon quality. The beauty is that it is a simple front focus lens so does not reduce its focal length as it focuses closer (the Nikon falls from 105mm at infinity to 79mm at 1:1), so the working distance at 1:1 is magnificent and does not annoy nervous insects.

It is small and light so fits in well with the M4/3 theme of keeping it compact. A test here http://www.photozone.de/pentax/368-cosina-af-100mm-f35-macro

Regards........ Guy

Guy Parsons said:

I presume that is the same 100/3.5 lens sold variously as Phoenix, Soligor, Vivitar and more, and in my case as Cosina - who actually made them.

Click to expand...

Guy Parsons said:

At f/3.5 it is tragic but at the usual f/8/11/22 etc needed for macro it was very close indeed to the Nikon quality. The beauty is that it is a simple front focus lens so does not reduce its focal length as it focuses closer (the Nikon falls from 105mm at infinity to 79mm at 1:1), so the working distance at 1:1 is magnificent and does not annoy nervous insects.

Click to expand...

There is nothing tragic about it, there are sharper macro lenses, but this one is very decent even at f3.5, photozone finds the same:

Guy Parsons said:

Guy Parsons said:

The Cosina is able to produce very decent results throughout most of the range. At f/3.5 the resolution is a bit reduced (still good) at the borders but the center is already on a high level. At f/5.6 the borders have already improved to very good quality.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The beauty of it is that it does not have to be a dedicated macro, it's a very decent short tele as well and not a chore to take with you when you go out since it's so light and small. I have better macros, but somehow they are almost never with me.

fermy, that first black & white landscape is gorgeous. Super nice. The closeups are first-class too, but that first image was eye-catching.

fermy wrote:
[tragic at f/3.5... Guy]

fermy said:

There is nothing tragic about it, there are sharper macro lenses, but this one is very decent even at f3.5, photozone finds the same:

Click to expand...

Oh sorry, I guess I should have expanded in that at the time it was tragic at f/3.5 compared to the Nikon 105/2.8 at f/2.8. Using film.

But move away 1/2 a stop or more and it was in practical terms as good as the Nikon. Maybe a little less contrast but so close that it really did not matter, so I sold the big, heavy, awkward Nikon (for Oz$900 at the time) and kept the much cheaper Cosina. Yet to seriously use it on the E-PL1 as yet, so far only fiddled a bit.

Some may be put off by the cheap feel but it works, and that is all that matters.

Regards........ Guy

Thanks, Greg!

I am happy to see someone on these forums achieving such a classic photograph as your canal picture. Certainly it is one right now and is capable of becoming more so, if you allow others to see it. Please do. It's unforgettable!! It evokes so much rememberence of a wonderfull Earth.
The snow photo is not too shabby either!
-Peter

fermy said:

Guy Parsons said:

I presume that is the same 100/3.5 lens sold variously as Phoenix, Soligor, Vivitar and more, and in my case as Cosina - who actually made them.

Click to expand...

fermy said:

At f/3.5 it is tragic but at the usual f/8/11/22 etc needed for macro it was very close indeed to the Nikon quality. The beauty is that it is a simple front focus lens so does not reduce its focal length as it focuses closer (the Nikon falls from 105mm at infinity to 79mm at 1:1), so the working distance at 1:1 is magnificent and does not annoy nervous insects.

Click to expand...

There is nothing tragic about it, there are sharper macro lenses, but this one is very decent even at f3.5, photozone finds the same:

fermy said:

fermy said:

The Cosina is able to produce very decent results throughout most of the range. At f/3.5 the resolution is a bit reduced (still good) at the borders but the center is already on a high level. At f/5.6 the borders have already improved to very good quality.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The beauty of it is that it does not have to be a dedicated macro, it's a very decent short tele as well and not a chore to take with you when you go out since it's so light and small. I have better macros, but somehow they are almost never with me.

Click to expand...

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Life as an artist has had some unusual times to say the least.
visit my web site http://www.flickr.com/photos/artist_eyes/
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Artist Eyes

mabris - Nice stuff. Thanks for posting! I'll have to watch for that lens.

Peter Nelson said:

I am happy to see someone on these forums achieving such a classic photograph as your canal picture. Certainly it is one right now and is capable of becoming more so, if you allow others to see it. Please do. It's unforgettable!! It evokes so much rememberence of a wonderfull Earth.
The snow photo is not too shabby either!
-Peter

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for such kind words. I like this photo too. However, I don't think most people share our enthusiasm about it. In almost a year that I have it in my gallery only 16 people viewed it, whereas 136 people viewed this one:





People are strange.

mabris said:

These are macro shots from my OM-mount 100mm Vivitar mounted on an E-PL1. It was originally shipped with a matched diopter which gives 1:1. Got it off eBay several years back for $90 for use with my OM-2N. Using it on the E-PL! has been incredible. The magnified view for MF is sooo much easier than the OM-2N viewfinder. It will be even better with an EVF. m43 is such a flexible and affordable system!

Click to expand...

Your thread prompted me to drag out the lens and fiddle again. Drab rainy day here so a good chance to experiment with manual focus again with my E-PL1 on near and distant scenery under poor light.

Using the E-PL1 LCD is rather hit and miss, as default it's hard to judge the focus point, at 7x magnification it's easier but the user wobbles make for headaches.

Plonk the VF-2 on and suddenly it all does make sense, it's way easier to judge focus at default size with its 800x600 pixel display, no need to go to the sea-sick inducing 7x magnification.

At f/3.5 the focus point is quite critical even at about 50 feet, f/8 (its best aperture) is a bit easier.

This time with the E-PL1 I'm not seeing such a difference between F/3.5 and F/8, quite unlike using film where the difference was obvious.

The good thing is the VF-2 display stays the same effective brightness whether the aperture ring is at f/3.5 or f/22 (and Live View Boost is off).

That is quite unlike an optical viewfinder where at f/22 you can't see to focus. Maybe that's why I didn't use the 100mm Cosina because I used to try and use it on my E-300 and its tragic viewfinder made life very difficult indeed.

So thanks indeed for getting me to explore my old film lenses again, I might soon become a true Peter Nelson disciple.... or even a Tedolph disciple for that matter :-(

And a final thought, the E-M5 with viewfinder and ability to stabilise at half-press will make life so much easier for non M4/3 lens users, it should cause another surge in use of those old film lenses, buy up before they all disappear.

Regards....... Guy

My biggest problem when focusing with the LCD is when light levels get low enough that gain noise overtakes the image. Is that improved at all with the EVF?

mabris said:

My biggest problem when focusing with the LCD is when light levels get low enough that gain noise overtakes the image. Is that improved at all with the EVF?

Click to expand...

Just now tried my E-PL1 in the dim pre dawn light here in Sydney.

Yes the VF-2 is a bit easier as the better resolution compared to the rather coarse resolution E-PL1 LCD does make finding focus easier. I use the highlight/shadow warnings and that must be toggled off via the Info button as it is too distracting when the whole scene is dim.

Currently playing with a Nikon 85/1.8 and at f/1.8 all is great , even still easy at f/4.0. But stop down to say f/16 and yikes, it's all mud.

If that dim and using that small an aperture then obviously a tripod would be involved, so then it's easier to frame and focus at max aperture, then set to working aperture and shoot. The tripod keeps the frame fixed.

I would say the VF-2 (maybe VF-3, never tired it) or the E-M5 viewfinder is a must for manual focus. Good for low light and even more necessary in bright light due to washout of the LCD. Dammit, just when I had become so used to LCDs and definitely prefer them....

Regards....... Guy