Another weak point in the lens is the aperture ring, some half-stops don’t do much at all, and often you’ll ‘misclick and hit a half instead of a full stop.

Despite having a macro capacity having that 1.95-metre minimum focal length, the macro capabilities are limited. It also takes several turns to focus from back to front. The zoom slider also acts as your focus, and it is enormous! Sadly the focusing itself is slow and hard to nail down as it doesn’t do well with fine focusing and prefers gross movements. You also have to contend with lens creep when the lens is pointed down. Although it also makes it difficult to set your focal length accurately. I find this counter-intuitive, although I can see why it moves the weight towards the camera when zoomed to 210mm. Pulling the zoom towards you zooms in a while pushing it away will zoom out. First off, the lens features a push/pull zoom function (which can lead to bad jokes). And given how the lens functions, I had difficulty hand-holding the lens with the OM-1n attached. You will want to keep that shutter speed to 1/250″ when working with the lens at the whole 210mm focal point. Even if I attached a motor drive, it would not be enough to get that centre of balance back. And even more so, with an OM-System camera, which shows off their prowess as a fully-featured compact SLR system, the Series 1 is a mean match for the camera. It is big, heavy and will throw any camera off balance. Structure: 15 Elements in 10 Groups When it comes to the Series 1, there is little in the way of distortion, only a touch at the 210mm mark. Model: Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm 1:3.5 Macro Focusing Auto Zoom

The biggest is the size and function the Series 1 is a beast and a lens that surprised me that they even released the lens in an OM-Mount. Although that Vivitar is different from today, the Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 in many ways. My favourite lenses are from my first SLR system, the Minolta SR-T 102, a Kiron 70-150mm f/4 lens and a Vivitar 75-210mm f/3.5. But I have a long history with third-party lenses and often with good results. Throughout these reviews, I have shied away from third-party lens makers.

Vivitar series 1 lens serial numbers