AC016
Senior Member
I spent a $100 and got myself a 400mm lens. It's a Vivitar 400mm AI 5.6 fixed focal length, telephoto lens. Judging from the serial number, it is either from 1977 or 1987 - is has prongs, so i doubt it from any later. It is all metal and looks like it jsut came off the production line! No scratches, no wear, no nothing. It has a built in sun shade or hood and has a 77mm front... it's a lot of glass to look at. Everything is manual on this lens and the aperture goes from 5.6 up to 32. Mounts and works just fine on my D80 and D5100. Tripod ring mount is all metal, no plastic! I have been having fun with this and got the first real oppurtunity to use it over the weekend. I was able to shoot some squirrels - not the way i would usually shoot them - and the results were pretty good. First few were a bit dark (low light outside) so i had to adjust shutter speed and ISO - i always keep this at F5.6. Of course, not all came out focused, so i have to work on that a bit more and probably get myself a cable-release. Though, after some tries, i did manage to get some decent shots, but i still have to work on the focusing. All in all, it is a damn fine lens and there is nothing out there that can beat for $100. Aside from being fun to use, it will also teach me more about camera settings, since i can only use this in M mode. Another bonus 