The Vivitar Series 1 105mm 1:2.5 

The Vivitar is the hero of the day. It’s a manual lens beloved by fans of classic optics and macro photography.

While my blog usually covers Nikon products, this is the second time I’m sharing a review of a third-party lens compatible with Nikon bodies. Even so, this lens quickly earned a spot among my favorites.

It allows true 1:1 macro shots, making it perfect for capturing flowers and insects. The fully manual lens features a smooth focusing ring that provides precise control for macro work.

The lens leaves a very positive impression. It weighs 650 grams which gives it a solid and well built feel without being too heavy. 

Its length is about 10 centimeters, making it compact enough to handle comfortably during shoots.

The optical construction consists of 6 elements arranged in 6 groups with multicoating applied to reduce flare and improve contrast.

Here is a quick comparison on full frame and APS-C Nikon cameras:

	Nikon 35mm full frame	Nikon D APS-C [1.53x] cameras
Focal length:	105mm	160.7mm (in terms of field of view)
Speed:	F/2.5	F/3.8 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:	23.3°	15.3°

The lens is equipped with an automatic diaphragm mechanism and the aperture is controlled by a dedicated ring on the lens barrel. The aperture consists of 8 blades. The minimum focusing distance is 35.1 centimeters, which allows for true macro photography.

As you rotate the focusing ring for macro shots, the lens physically extends.

Additionally, you can extend the built-in lens hood which makes the lens several centimeters longer.

You can also use it for portraits or landscapes. Focusing is not as challenging as it might seem since most of the focusing ring’s rotation is dedicated to macro distances. Focusing from 1 meter to infinity requires about 90 degrees of rotation, which some may find limited but I find just right.

The lens is not without flaws. At its maximum aperture it can show a bluish tint and chromatic aberrations and it’s prone to flare. Stopping down to f/2.8 significantly improves image quality, and by f/4.0 it is quite good. Keep in mind this lens was primarily designed for macro photography and works best stopped down to f/8 to f/16.The depth of field at macro scale is incredibly thin, almost as thin as a sheet of paper. It takes some practice to get used to this, but that applies to all macro lenses.

My lens’s serial number starts with 22, which according to sources means it was made by the Japanese company Kino Precision Industries. In the era of manual lenses this manufacturer was regarded as one of the best independent optical makers. 

The build quality is outstanding. The focusing ring operates smoothly and with nice damping. Sometimes I take this lens simply for the joy of shooting. When I first bought it, the lens element was fogged, resulting in a white haze in my photos. Still, I enjoyed using it so much that I accepted the imperfection. A few days ago, I found a Chinese blogger who described how to disassemble and reassemble the lens. Thanks to his guide, I was able to clean the glass and put the lens back together correctly, which made using it even more enjoyable.

Below are a few photos I took handheld using this lens. Since I did not use a tripod the images are definitely not perfect and may show some camera shake. Still I wanted to share them to demonstrate the potential of this lens even for an amateur photographer like me.

D610 Vivitar 105mm 1:2.5 - 1/1000s 1:11

This shows a close-up crop taken from the first image.

D610 Vivitar 105mm 1:2.5 - 1/60s 1:11. I used the built-in flash.

Here is a close-up crop of this photo.

D610 Vivitar 105mm 1:2.5 - 1/320s 1:16.

Here is a close-up crop of this photo.

Below is a list of manufacturer codes for Vivitar lenses, which helps identify the actual maker based on the first two digits of the serial number. Used mainly for lenses from the 1970s–1990s:

Code	Manufacturer
6	Olympus
9	Cosina
13	Schneider Optik
22	Kino Precision Industries (Kiron)
25	Ozone Optical
28	Komine Kōgaku Seisakusho
32	Makinon - Makina Optical Co., Ltd.
33	Asanuma Shōkai (re-branding Tokina???)
37	Tokina Co., Ltd.
42	Bauer
44	Perkin Elmer (USA)
47	チノン – Chinon Industries Inc.
51	東京貿易 - Tokyo Bōeki (Tokyo Trading)
56	共栄商事 – Kyoe Shoji
75	Hoya Optical
77	Kobori
81	Polar