Well, I've never heard of different versions.
As to whether it a sharper lens than a Vivitar S1 70-210, the answer is
an unequivocal yes.
As to how much sharper, that depends first on which version of the
Vivitar you have. There are 3 versions, detailed here
<http://medfmt.8k.com/third/cult.html#vivitar>. The third, and
supposedly best of them is also tested on Gary's lens test site site
<http://members.aol.com/olympusom/lenstests/default.htm>, where you can
compare it to the Tamron and see that is is a significantly better
performer.
How much sharper depends second on the individual lens you have. If it
is obviously not sharp in ordinary shots, you likely have either a
damaged/out of adjustment lens or there is something wrong with your
camera, mirror out of adjustment, focusing screen out of place, dioptric
adjustment off, etc. I used to use the first version on a Nik*n way back
and it was certainly a reasonably sharp lens. Do you get sharp results
with other lenses on the same camera? Herb Kepler did a comparison of
the Vivitar to a current 70-210 lens a few months ago in Pop Photo which
is/was on the web somewhere too, and again, it is a conmpetive lens.
How much sharper depends third on technique. If you are mostly having
trouble at longer focal lengths, consider that you are possibly not
using adequate shutter speeds and/or camera support. If you are using a
tripod, consider the many comparisons in Gary's tests between
alternatives of camera/lens support, mirror lockup, mirror and aperture
prefire, etc. These turn out to be very significant factors with some
camera/lens combos. Also consider Olympus' advice on shooting telephoto
shots on their cameras: "When using a tripod, hold the camera steady
with both hands and press the shutter release with the ball of finger,
not with the cable release." This effectively uses the highly complex
wetware of the human body as a multiple mode vibration damping device.
In summary, the Tamron 80-200/2.8 is a significantly better lens than
the Vivitar S1 70-210 (as are some other newer lenses, including the
Tokina 80-200/2.8), but you should be easily able to make images that
are sharp beyond 8x10 with a properly operating Vivitar and proper
technique.
Moose
Bob Fenstermacher wrote:
Give a relative newbie a break, are there two versions of this thing or am I
mistaken?
I've been using a Vivitar S1 70-210 and wondering why my shots are soft for all
this time, so any improvement will be an improvement.
Now that I look kind of stupid, does anyone want to part with this obviously
heavy, large, ungainly, unsharp lens...??
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