This lens is often described as a gem because people dont know about it & pass it up. Mine is the first version, made by Kiron optics, which spanned from the 70s to 80s in production. Judging by the serial number, it's likely from the mid 80s. It's a manual focus lens. Call it vintage or a classic, whatever. Build: Solid, longish, 67mm thread, not as wide or heavy as a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8, yrt still weighty and big. It has kind of a classic pro-hobbyist telephoto look iconic of 80s outdoor photographers. Metal build, with a metal tab on the aperture ring. The focus ring itself is fairly smooth to adjust but the push pull zoom is rather tough to move. Takes a little bit of effort but at least it doesn't suffer from lens creep. Optics: Superb glass. Takes high quality, contrasty, well saturated photos. Little bit of CA. At f/3.5 it's sharp enough, def not soft. Shot at f/8 and f/11 with super nice clarity. Bokeh was good. Shallow DOF was fairly smooth bc of the long focal length. Function: In real world terms, this lens is mighty difficult to use for sports, kids, etc. It's a push pull zoom, and my copy doesn't move that smoothly. If I were to shoot video, I'd be doomed by shakiness and jerks if I tried zooming. You have to look at the aperture ring to see what f-stop you're at, since the camera has no way of knowing and won't say in the display or exif data. That being said, if one were to casually take photos of nature, macro, street photos, portraits, it serves fine. The only weird thing is switching to macro mode feels like playing eith transformers. You have to turn the focus ring to match up the words "macro," click a button near the aperture ring, turn it til it clicks, then you dont have the ability to "focus" per say but use the push/pull zoom function to focus on objects by distance. Interesting and fun in its own way. Very unique character that would surely be annoying in real world situations. As a casual hobbyist I would recommend this lens. Purely out of the excitement of exploring it. Very capable and great results. Not for a soccer mom who needs quick shota of kids at an event. There are better choices out there!

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I just burned a roll of Portra 400 with this lens yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised with its performance.It's quite sharp.APO glass. Speed.

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For the price, you can't beat it.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 AF APO

Sharp... cheap ..... Light (relatively)

Occasionally give me Err 99 on my Canon 10D, but at this price, hey, 1 Err 99 on average about every 30 shots is worth it.

I should say this is one of the better lens I have. Tried from F2.8 - F22 and it is sharp even at the widest aperture possible.

Customer Service

Never used it .... yet .... don't intend to either .... ;)

Similar Products Used:

Tamron 70-210 , Sigma 28 - 300

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Yuck!! Hey, I was jammed up and need a fast lens... but the F2.8 at 70 isn't worth the terrible overall performance. I'm talking anything wider than F5 is brutally soft - unless you're looking for that. The autofocus is crap even in good light, push-pull saves your wrist but the d***able thing is so slow to lock focus you need to shoot at F5 just to make sure your subject is in the zone. cheap, very cheap, plastic construction - if you're out in the rain it's toast. Hey! If you get one for free, take it.

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 80-200 2.8L

apo glass.. very good color and contrast. Better than the 80-210 nikor. An extra f-stop when you have to have it. rotary zoom. has about the best picture quality of any lens at 80-180. This is a great lens for portaiture. AF is good for a lens in this price range

tends to seek at low light levels at the 70 and the 210 extremes. at 210 the edges are soft but accepable (there is a focus limiting switch that helps)

For the price this lens cant be beat.. Im referring to the 70-210 apo series 1 af 62mm (there is an older 67mm lens) Let me first say it isnt the fastest af lens out there.. remember the price.. it does tend to seek at low light levels and at both ends of the 70-210 however between 80-180 its great. I prefer this lens in everyway over my 80-210 nikor. the lens is rotary.. not push pull. which makes it easy to set-up downward shots. The glass is apo and you can definitely tell the difference in color and contrast. the vivitar is soft on the edges at 210 but acceptable. (the nikor is a bit better here) however the tradeoff in the overall picture is still a + for the series 1 lens. The build of this lens is equal to the nikor.. this lens is a bit heavy and using it on an n90s the grip is definitely a welcome addition to the camera body. The f2.8 is sort of misleading because the picture quality is just acceptable. it needs to be at f4 for good clarity. howenve if you are in a situation where you have to take a handheld shot this extra f-stop may be your ticket. all things considered this lense is equal to the nikor.. I am also testing a 70-210 sigma apo at the moment. I will give this a 5 just because there just isnt a better lens at 80-180.. My 80-210 cost 3x as much and isn't quite as vibrant and contrasty.

Customer Service

No personal knowledge .. Ive heard it was only fair.. Nikon has terrible CS for there lenses.

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many... some have gone to a better place.. some I have sent to a better place. and even some that were taken to a better place by whomever broke into the trunk of my car ..