The One that Got Away

Windows -- NEX-5N & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9

Last time I wrote about my favourite wide angle primes, I didn't list the Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9.  See, this is the problem of having too many lenses.  In fact, The 28mm f1.9 is one of my favourites.  I believe that when this lens was introduced, it was one of the fastest 28mm lenses on the market.  Almost everyone else has the 28mm f2 or f2.8.  Many consider this lens as one of the Vivitar Cult Classics, for a very good reason.

Fire Hydrant -- NEX-5N & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9

Apart from its very fast maximum aperture of f1.9, its optical quality is also excellent.  It's quite sharp in the center at wide open, and it has the strange and unique exploding bokeh, like this, and this.  The build quality is also superb.  Very heavy for a 28mm lens.  A fantastic lens for full frame as a general use fast wide angle lens.
Very enjoyable lens to use, and worthy of a space in your camera bag (or lens shelf).

Exploding Bokeh #2

Roses -- NEX-5N & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9 OM Mount at f1.9. Click for larger.

The Vivitar 28mm f1.9 Series-1 has one of the most interesting bokeh of all the lenses I own.  Not saying it's good, but very different.  Just out of curiosity, I checked eBay and this lens is still selling for $170-$200.  I just sold the MD mount version at my yard sale for almost half that.  Old manual focus lens prices have skyrocketed.  But then again, the Canon EF 28mm f1.8 is some $690CAD.

The 28mm f1.9 is actually quite sharp at f1.9.  Very nice for low light shoots.

The Exploding Bokeh

As I said before, a lens' bokeh is most interesting when shot wide open.  It usually shows the weirdness or interesting aspects of the lens bokeh.  Just noticed that the Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9 lens bokeh has an exploding effect when shot at f1.9, as below:

Exploding bokeh -- NEX-5N & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9 OM. Click for larger.

It looks almost like the zooming effect you get when you take a picture while zooming the lens.  Even though I have had three copies of this lens before (still have two), I have never noticed it before.  Just thought it's kind of unique. This only happens at f1.9 though.  By f2.8, the effect is mostly gone.

Image Quality from the Sony 24MP Sensor

I am excited about the NEX-7, but unfortunately it's pricey and the image quality may disappoint.  I haven't found any sample pictures from the NEX-7, but I looked some from at the A77, which shares the same 24MP sensor as the NEX-7 and probably the image processing engine as well.  What I can see is that Sony is still one of the worst when it comes to jpeg image quality.  The A77 samples don't look very good.  Shadow noise is excessive at ISO 200. Why don't manufacturers understand that most of us want quality, not quantity pixels.  ISO 1600 looks ok, but lacks details.  I hope it's due to the jpeg engine and that RAW files will perform much better.  If not, I guess my NEX-5 will be with me, and I will end up with a 5D II instead.

New Building -- NEX-5 & Vivitar Series-1 28mm f1.9.

Marigold Gardens in Fall

Marigold Gardens - G1 & Vivitar 28mm f1.9 MD Mount.

I have been living in Marigold Gardens for almost eight years, and I don't remember taking a picture of it in the autumn.   It is actually quite nice in spring and fall.