William T. Rankin wrote:
>
> Hey OM'ers,
>
> I have been looking around at some telephoto zooms up to about
> 200mm and was looking for some recommendations and warnings about
> what to look for and what to avoid.
>
> I saw one zuiko 65-200f4 for around $225. It was pretty
> clean.
>
> I looked at a zuiko 75-150 but it would not focus all the way out
> to inf (pretty short, actually) so I shied away from it.
>
> The shop owner I was talking to recommended a Vivitar 75-205f3.8
> that had a "matched" 2x converter. The focus/zoom ring was a
> little loose (slight slippage when pointed directly down).
> He wanted $175. The glass appeared real clean.
>
> Does anyone have good/bad opinions on the Vivtar? Any thoughts
> on any other lenses?
>
> Thanks,
>
> -bill
--
Bill;
Just my personal experience/opinion here. I owned a Vivitar zoom.
Can't remember the exact range but 75-205 sounds right. Bought it new.
Never abused it. It literally fell apart in my hand one day when it was
about 3 years old. I replaced it with the Zuiko 65-200 which I've had
for close to 20 years and it's solid as a rock and is a good sharp zoom.
Adding a doubler to it may be a bit of a problem. I tried a Tokina 7
element but the combo wasn't sharp. Never did try the Zuiko 2X, though
I could cause I now have one. But the Zuiko 2x claims to be matched to
the 100-200/5 Zuiko, not the 65-200. The 100-200 is harder to find and
cheaper but, as others have known and I recently found out, it's
one-touch ring has a tendency to loosen to the point it will zoom by
itself when tilted up or down. (My 65-200 is still good and tight) I
had the one I have tightened by a local repairman but it still slips
from about 180-200 mm. Ken Norton has a good idea to make it more
useable by fitting a slice of a bicycle inner tube over the ring. If
you're willing to live with that, there's one on ebay right now and high
bid is $105.
Hope this helps.
george :>)
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