Perhaps the cheapest of 100-400mm focal length
Written: Jan 08 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Sharp at 135 to 300, Cheap, Light weight
Cons: Low build quality, very soft at 400 at any aperture, pump zoom too loose
The Bottom Line: $200 is too expensive for the quality. A good buy for 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 lens at $150 (new) or $75 (used). Stay away if you want a real 400mm.
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| chankit's Full Review: Vivitar 100-400mm f/4.5-6.7 Series 1 for Canon EOS |
Vivitar, Cosina, and Phoenix are all actually the same.
It is the cheapest zoom of 100-400mm focal length I can find in the market. Especially since I got a mint used one at $80. Summarily the quality is below par, but at this price, I would say it's a good deal.
It is a push-pull type of zoom, sometimes called a pump-zoom.
SHARPNESS:
Not too bad at 100mm stopped down, surprisingly sharp from 135mm to about 300mm (especially at f/8 to f/16). From 300mm to 400mm it gets soft very quicken and very soft at 400 end at any aperture. I would say it's about as sharp as Canon EF 100-300 5.6L (not the 4.0-5.6L) from 135 to 300.
CONTRAST:
Not very good. I almost always have to boost the contrast in Photoshop. Lots of light will help.
FLARE:
Terrible. One of the worst that I have used. A good hood may help but I haven't tried.
BUILD QUALITY:
Not very good. At the maximum zoom, the front element seems to be shaking a little bit, results in very soft image at 400mm even on a good tripod. It seems that winds or flipping mirror on the camera while taking the shot will cause the front element to vibrate a bit.
The zoom is also too loose, it means that the zoom will move when you tilt the lens up or down, even in a small angle.
Manual focusing is not full-time, you will have to manually switch from AF to MF.
Autofocus is acceptably quick. I would say it's about par with Canon EF 75-300 USM. From minimum distance to infinity, it takes about 2 seconds.
VALUE FOR MONEY:
Certainly not a good value for money at $200. Only buy it if you can find a used one in good condition at less than $90.
BOTTOMLINE:
A decent 100-300 F4.5-5.6 Lens, 400 is barely usable unless you print only at 4x6 or 5x7 at most.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
chankit
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 1 member
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