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Cosina AF 100mm F/3.5 MC Macro (Phoenix, Promaster, Soligor, Tokina, Vivitar, Voigtlander Macro-DYNAR)

Macro lens • Film era • Discontinued

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Sample photos

F/7.1
F/7.1
F/5.6
F/4.5
F/4
F/6.3

Abbreviations

MC Multi-layer anti-reflection coating is applied to the surfaces of lens elements. This anti-reflection coating boosts light transmission, ensures sharp and high contrast images, minimizes ghosting and flares.
MACRO Macro lens. Designed specially for shooting close-ups of small subjects but can be also used in other genres of photography, not necessarily requiring focusing at close distances. Learn more

Features highlight

•
Macro 1:2
•
8 blades
•
Lightweight
•
⌀49
filters

Specification

■ Production details
Announced:<No data>
Production status:● Discontinued
Original name:COSINA 100MM 1:3.5 MC MACRO
System:-
■ Optical design
Focal length:100mm
Speed:F/3.5
Maximum format:35mm full frame
Mount and Flange focal distance:Canon EF [44mm]
Minolta/Sony A [44.5mm]
Nikon F [46.5mm]
Pentax K [45.5mm]
Diagonal angle of view:24.4°
Lens construction:5 elements in 4 groups
■ Diaphragm mechanism
Diaphragm type:Automatic
Aperture control:None; the aperture is controlled from the camera (Canon EF, Minolta/Sony A)
Aperture ring (Manual settings + Auto Exposure setting) (Nikon F, Pentax K)
Number of blades:8 (eight)
■ On Canon EOS APS-C [1.59x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length:159mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed:F/5.6 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:15.5°
■ On Sony DSLR-A/SLT-A APS-C [1.53x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length:153mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed:F/5.4 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:16.1°
■ On Nikon D APS-C [1.53x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length:153mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed:F/5.4 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:16.1°
■ On Pentax K APS-C [1.53x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length:153mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed:F/5.4 (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:16.1°
■ Focusing
Closest focusing distance:0.43m
Closest working distance:0.263m
Maximum magnification:1:2 at the closest focusing distance
Focusing modes:Autofocus, manual focus
Autofocus motor:Micromotor (Canon EF)
In-camera motor (Nikon F, Minolta/Sony A, Pentax K)
Manual focus control:Focusing ring
Focus mode selector:AF - M (Canon EF)
None; focusing mode is set from the camera (Nikon F, Minolta/Sony A, Pentax K)
Manual focus override in autofocus mode:-
■ Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS)
Built-in OIS:-
■ Physical characteristics
Weight:205g (mount not specified)
Maximum diameter x Length:⌀68×75mm (mount not specified)
Weather sealing:-
Fluorine coating:-
■ Accessories
Filters:Screw-type 49mm
Lens hood:Not required
Teleconverters:<No data>
■ Source of data
Manufacturer's technical data.

Compatibility

  • The autofocus will not be available with Nikon D40, D40X, D60, D3000-D3500, D5000-D5600 digital SLR cameras.

Manufacturer description #1

With an aperture range of f/3.5-22, a macro ratio of 1:2, this lens is designed for high detail macro photography. It’s also flexible enough to be good for portrait photography and is available in all popular SLR camera mounts. Superior optical performance is ensured with 5 elements in 4 groups, and with multi- coated optics to reduce flare and increase light transmission. Filter size is 49mm.

Manufacturer description #2

Macro focusing as close as 1:1 (with supplied adapter). Compact and lightweight, measuring only 2.8 inches and weighing 9.98 ounces. Superior optical performance with 5 elements in 4 groups. Multi-coated optics to reduce flare and increase light transmission.

Manufacturer description #3

Whether you are an oral surgeon or just love to take close-ups of flowers, this lens features 1:2 macro without the included adapter and 1:1 with the adapter. It focuses down to an incredible 2.6" from the front of the lens.

From the Popular Photography magazine (July 1996)

The manual and AF 100mm f/3.5 Macro Vivitars have slightly different rubberized focusing rings, but it becomes immediately obvious upon examining them that optically the lenses are the same - and are they ever small and light! Each is 65.5 mm long and weighs but 270 g. Next to them my 105mm f/2.5 Vivitar Series 1 Macro (like most 100/105mm macros) is monstrous. It is 100 mm long and weighs 650 g.

But hold on. That's not the whole story. The Series 1 is a grand old all-metal design focusing to 1:1 continuously. The 100mm f/3.5 Vivitar Macro is plastic-barreled and focuses only to 1:2. However, the lens comes with a two-element 49mm-thread achromatic closeup lens allowing focus from 1:2 to 1:1. The 100mm f/3.5 is a mud fence compared to the classy cosmetics of the Series 1, but you can't tell a lens by its covering these days and it's a heck of a lot easier to lug around than the Series 1.

There are some other facts you should know about the Vivitar 100mm f/3.5 Macro. Closeup lenses shorten the total focal length of closeup lens plus prime lens. Ergo the 100mm f/3.5 Vivitar closeup lens combination isn't a 100mm lens when you thread the 1:1 adapter in place. The total focal length becomes 75mm! Is that so bad? In terms of apparent perspective, I could see little difference between 100mm and 75mm. But how about working distance, which also becomes less? With my Series 1, the working distance from front of lens to subject at 1:1 was 140 mm while the working distance of the 100mm f/3.5 Vivitar with close-up lens was only 8 mm less, not a big loss. (Why not more of a distance loss? Because the Series 1, like many other 100mm macros, has a vast helical extension at 1:1 causing the lens to increase considerably in length, far more than the 100mm f/3.5 Vivitar Macro.)

The five-element 100mm f/3.5 Vivitar Macro focuses smoothly and performs well. While its mud-fence cosmetics and lighter construction won't give you the pride of ownership and invulnerability that a 105mm Series 1 or other expensive macro lens can, the price, size, weight, and performance are remarkable.

FYI, the six-element 105mm f/2.5 Series 1 accepts 52mm-thread filters and is available only in manual mount for Canon FD, Minolta MD, Nikon F, Pentax, and Ricoh. The five-element 100mm f/3.5 Vivitar Macro uses 49mm filters and can be had in autofocus mount for Canon, Nikon, and Minolta, and manual-focus mount for Olympus, Pentax, Ricoh, and Yashica/Contax.

From the editor

The following lenses share the same optical design developed by Cosina:

  • COSINA 100MM 1:3.5 MC MACRO
  • PHOENIX 100mm 1:3.5 MACRO AF
  • PROMASTER SPECTRUM 7 100MM 1:3.5 MC MACRO
  • MC SOLIGOR AF MACRO 100MM 1:3.5
  • Tokina AF 100mm 1:3.5
  • Vivitar 100mm 1:3.5 MC AUTO FOCUS MACRO
  • VOIGTLÄNDER MACRO-DYNAR 100MM 1:3.5 VMC

We listed only the most common lenses with this optical design, but there may be others. Most (if not all) of these were most likely produced by Cosina as an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer).

Optically the lens was so good that Pentax licensed the optical design from Cosina and released their own version for Pentax 35mm SLR cameras called smc Pentax-FA 100mm F/3.5 Macro.

The whole optical system of the lens moves considerably with focusing from infinity to the closest distance. The front element is deeply recessed inside the lens barrel which eliminates the need for a lens hood.

The lens offers magnification ratio of 1:2 at the closest focusing distance. The magnification ratio of 1:1 can be achieved by the means of the “MATCHED MACRO ADAPTOR (1:1)” which once was a part of the package. Focusing at infinity with “MATCHED MACRO ADAPTOR (1:1)” is not possible though.

Typical application

Class:

Slow full-frame macro lens • Professional model

Professional model

  • Combination of focal length and closest focusing distance meets professional demands

Missing features (5):

Life-size magnification • More efficient autofocus motor (Canon EF-mount version) • Built-in autofocus motor (Nikon F, Minolta/Sony A, Pentax K-mount versions) [LOW PRIORITY] • Focusing distance range limiter • Weather sealing • Fluorine coating

Genres or subjects of photography (3):

Macrophotography • Product photography • Travel photography

Recommended slowest shutter speed when shooting static subjects handheld:

1/100th of a second

Lenses with similar focal length

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35mm full frame

43.27 24 36
  • Dimensions: 36 × 24mm
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Diagonal: 43.27mm
  • Area: 864mm2

Micromotor

In-camera motor

In-camera motor

In-camera motor

AF - M

AFAutofocus mode.
MManual focus mode.

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You are already on the page dedicated to this lens.

Cannot perform comparison

Cannot compare the lens to itself.

Image stabilizer

A technology used for reducing or even eliminating the effects of camera shake. Gyro sensors inside the lens detect camera shake and pass the data to a microcomputer. Then an image stabilization group of elements controlled by the microcomputer moves inside the lens and compensates camera shake in order to keep the image static on the imaging sensor or film.

The technology allows to increase the shutter speed by several stops and shoot handheld in such lighting conditions and at such focal lengths where without image stabilizer you have to use tripod, decrease the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO setting which can lead to blurry and noisy images.

Original name

Lens name as indicated on the lens barrel (usually on the front ring). With lenses from film era, may vary slightly from batch to batch.

Format

Format refers to the shape and size of film or image sensor.

35mm is the common name of the 36x24mm film format or image sensor format. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2, and a diagonal measurement of approximately 43mm. The name originates with the total width of the 135 film which was the primary medium of the format prior to the invention of the full frame digital SLR. Historically the 35mm format was sometimes called small format to distinguish it from the medium and large formats.

APS-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the film negatives of 25.1x16.7mm with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

Medium format is a film format or image sensor format larger than 36x24mm (35mm) but smaller than 4x5in (large format).

Angle of view

Angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.

As the focal length changes, the angle of view also changes. The shorter the focal length (eg 18mm), the wider the angle of view. Conversely, the longer the focal length (eg 55mm), the smaller the angle of view.

A camera's angle of view depends not only on the lens, but also on the sensor. Imaging sensors are sometimes smaller than 35mm film frame, and this causes the lens to have a narrower angle of view than with 35mm film, by a certain factor for each sensor (called the crop factor).

This website does not use the angles of view provided by lens manufacturers, but calculates them automatically by the following formula: 114.6 * arctan (21.622 / CF * FL),

where:

CF – crop-factor of a sensor,
FL – focal length of a lens.

Mount

A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a camera body and a lens.

A lens mount may be a screw-threaded type, a bayonet-type, or a breech-lock type. Modern camera lens mounts are of the bayonet type, because the bayonet mechanism precisely aligns mechanical and electrical features between lens and body, unlike screw-threaded mounts.

Lens mounts of competing manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc.) are always incompatible. In addition to the mechanical and electrical interface variations, the flange focal distance can also be different.

The flange focal distance (FFD) is the distance from the mechanical rear end surface of the lens mount to the focal plane.

Lens construction

Lens construction – a specific arrangement of elements and groups that make up the optical design, including type and size of elements, type of used materials etc.

Element - an individual piece of glass which makes up one component of a photographic lens. Photographic lenses are nearly always built up of multiple such elements.

Group – a cemented together pieces of glass which form a single unit or an individual piece of glass. The advantage is that there is no glass-air surfaces between cemented together pieces of glass, which reduces reflections.

Focal length

The focal length is the factor that determines the size of the image reproduced on the focal plane, picture angle which covers the area of the subject to be photographed, depth of field, etc.

Speed

The largest opening or stop at which a lens can be used is referred to as the speed of the lens. The larger the maximum aperture is, the faster the lens is considered to be. Lenses that offer a large maximum aperture are commonly referred to as fast lenses, and lenses with smaller maximum aperture are regarded as slow.

In low-light situations, having a wider maximum aperture means that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed or work at a lower ISO, or both.

Closest focusing distance

The minimum distance from the focal plane (film or sensor) to the subject where the lens is still able to focus.

Closest working distance

The distance from the front edge of the lens to the subject at the maximum magnification.

Magnification ratio

Determines how large the subject will appear in the final image. For example, a magnification ratio of 1:1 means that the image of the subject formed on the film or sensor will be the same size as the subject in real life. For this reason, a 1:1 ratio is often called "life-size".

Manual focus override in autofocus mode

Allows to perform final focusing manually after the camera has locked the focus automatically. Note that you don't have to switch camera and/or lens to manual focus mode.

Manual focus override in autofocus mode

Allows to perform final focusing manually after the camera has locked the focus automatically. Note that you don't have to switch camera and/or lens to manual focus mode.

Electronic manual focus override is performed in the following way: half-press the shutter button, wait until the camera has finished the autofocusing and then focus manually without releasing the shutter button using the focusing ring.

Manual diaphragm

The diaphragm must be stopped down manually by rotating the detent aperture ring.

Preset diaphragm

The lens has two rings, one is for pre-setting, while the other is for normal diaphragm adjustment. The first ring must be set at the desired aperture, the second ring then should be fully opened for focusing, and turned back for stop down to the pre-set value.

Semi-automatic diaphragm

The lens features spring mechanism in the diaphragm, triggered by the shutter release, which stops down the diaphragm to the pre-set value. The spring needs to be reset manually after each exposure to re-open diaphragm to its maximum value.

Automatic diaphragm

The camera automatically closes the diaphragm down during the shutter operation. On completion of the exposure, the diaphragm re-opens to its maximum value.

Fixed diaphragm

The aperture setting is fixed at F/3.5 on this lens, and cannot be adjusted.

Automatic aperture control

Nikon F

For Programmed Auto or Shutter-priority Auto shooting, lock the lens aperture at its minimum value.

Pentax K

For Programmed Auto or Shutter-priority Auto shooting, set the lens aperture ring to the "A" position.

Number of blades

As a general rule, the more blades that are used to create the aperture opening in the lens, the rounder the out-of-focus highlights will be.

Some lenses are designed with curved diaphragm blades, so the roundness of the aperture comes not from the number of blades, but from their shape. However, the fewer blades the diaphragm has, the more difficult it is to form a circle, regardless of rounded edges.

At maximum aperture, the opening will be circular regardless of the number of blades.

Weight

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

Maximum diameter x Length

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

For lenses with collapsible design, the length is indicated for the working (retracted) state.

Weather sealing

A rubber material which is inserted in between each externally exposed part (manual focus and zoom rings, buttons, switch panels etc.) to ensure it is properly sealed against dust and moisture.

Lenses that accept front mounted filters typically do not have gaskets behind the filter mount. It is recommended to use a filter for complete weather resistance when desired.

Fluorine coating

Helps keep lenses clean by reducing the possibility of dust and dirt adhering to the lens and by facilitating cleaning should the need arise. Applied to the outer surface of the front and/or rear lens elements over multi-coatings.

Filters

Lens filters are accessories that can protect lenses from dirt and damage, enhance colors, minimize glare and reflections, and add creative effects to images.

Lens hood

A lens hood or lens shade is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare. Flare occurs when stray light strikes the front element of a lens and then bounces around within the lens. This stray light often comes from very bright light sources, such as the sun, bright studio lights, or a bright white background.

The geometry of the lens hood can vary from a plain cylindrical or conical section to a more complex shape, sometimes called a petal, tulip, or flower hood. This allows the lens hood to block stray light with the higher portions of the lens hood, while allowing more light into the corners of the image through the lowered portions of the hood.

Lens hoods are more prominent in long focus lenses because they have a smaller viewing angle than that of wide-angle lenses. For wide angle lenses, the length of the hood cannot be as long as those for telephoto lenses, as a longer hood would enter the wider field of view of the lens.

Lens hoods are often designed to fit onto the matching lens facing either forward, for normal use, or backwards, so that the hood may be stored with the lens without occupying much additional space. In addition, lens hoods can offer some degree of physical protection for the lens due to the hood extending farther than the lens itself.

Teleconverters

Teleconverters increase the effective focal length of lenses. They also usually maintain the closest focusing distance of lenses, thus increasing the magnification significantly. A lens combined with a teleconverter is normally smaller, lighter and cheaper than a "direct" telephoto lens of the same focal length and speed.

Teleconverters are a convenient way of enhancing telephoto capability, but it comes at a cost − reduced maximum aperture. Also, since teleconverters magnify every detail in the image, they logically also magnify residual aberrations of the lens.

Lens caps

Scratched lens surfaces can spoil the definition and contrast of even the finest lenses. Lens covers are the best and most inexpensive protection available against dust, moisture and abrasion. Safeguard lens elements - both front and rear - whenever the lens is not in use.