Peter,
I use that same exact lens on a daily basis on my OM-4. Mine is very
sharp. In my book it is a keeper. It does have a few problems, you have
found one of them.
The first problem is: There is a ring inside the lens that comes loose
and
causes the zoom to balk and stick. It is easily fixed with little effort
when you know what you are doing.
The second problem is: The iris assembly is housed in a cylinder that is
adjustable. This adjustment slips and the lens can give wrong meter
readings. This is easily repairable as well.
You can fill the screw holes with hard jewelers wax. I have not done
this
as the mount switch on my OM-4 is rounded and not prone to "Shear" off.
Look at your camera and note the shape of the switch. It is the little
plastic pin sticking out of the lens mount at about the nine O'clock
position. If in doubt then just fill the screw holes with hard wax. Some
hard sealing waxes will do. You might try to find some at a Stationery
store. It is easy, and works very well. Do not use candle wax as it is way
too soft. DO NOT use glues to fill the holes. Quite frankly, I really do
not see how this pin could shear off unless it was stuck in the up
position.
Regards,
Bryant
BTW: I would point out the shortcomings of the lens and see if you could
get it for less. I got mine in about the same condition for $20.00. But I
am a mean and nasty person. :-)
Regards,
Bryant
----------
From: Dr Peter Gilbert <peterg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [OM] Vivitar35-85 F2.8 Zoom Lens Opinions?
Date: Friday, March 13, 1998 9:24 PM
Hi all
was perusing the typically bare pickings here in Australia for used OM gear
at our local camera store last night and saw something which looked
promising. It was a Vivitar Series 1 short zoom lens 35-85mm constant F2.8,
1-touch design, Filter size 72mm. Nice and heavy, metal and glass not
cheap, nasty plastic. Even comes with a 72mm Hoya skylight filter.
Now Vivitar has never really been as popular in Australia as say Tokina,
Tamron and Sigma, but the asking price is A$160 (approx US$120). To set
the scene, the Zuiko 35-80 F2.8 retails here in Oz for around A$2200 new
and I saw a secondhand Zuiko 35-70mm F3.6 last month (very average
condition) for just under A$500 at a major city dealer.
By now I was getting pretty excited (but trying not to show it to the sales
guy).....
Now the bad news.
When I tried to pull the zoom control towards me (ie towards telephoto), it
doesn't appear to zoom past about the 65 or70mm setting. Is this something
that might be fixed easily by a camera technician? Even if it cost $100 to
fix, it still seems good value if it is a nice lens.
But, on further examination of the lens mount, my heart sank when I saw it
had 4 screwheads - I'm sure the combination of more than 4 screws and
OM-4Ti bodies is a no-go. I'm sure there was a post about this subject some
months back and I recall it was due to the small plastic nipple that resets
spot meter readings when a lens is removed being damaged by the extra screw
head. Is this right? I have 2 OM4-Ti that I use now, my OM-1n has been
retired to stud (couldn't bare to part with it after nearly 15 years
service) so the lens would mainly be used on my OM-4Ti's.
Does anyone on the list have any thoughts/experience on this Vivitar lens?
Is it a "classic", a "dog" or just a so-so average lens?
Any comments on how hard/expensive the repair might be to restore the full
zoom range?
Is the 4 screwhead setup definitely a no-go with OM3/4?
Has anyone ever tried to fill the offending screwhead hole on a 4-screw
lens mount with something (small blob of nail polish?) to make it smooth
enough to use safely with an OM-3/4?
thanx for any advice
peter
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