> 5. finally it doesx not mount my autofocus bodies - how do i > cooreect this?
The problem is that, way back in the 1970's, Vivitar provided a very "generous" semi-circular baffle on the K-mount flange of this lens (and I have no idea as to whether such a baffle exists on other lens mounts). While this baffle caused absolutely no problems on the contemporaneous K bodies for which it was designed, and does not cause any problems on many of the newer K-mount bodies (I have found it to be OK with the ME Super, the MEF, the Super Program/A, and the Program Plus/A), it can "intrude" too much on some of the newer bodies (my experience is that the flange just makes contact with the upper baffle in the LX, for example, and others have mentioned newer autofocus bodies having a problem with this lens). The solution is simply to remove the excess baffle by carefully cutting it or grinding it away. Of course, some might question whether it is worth doing this to such an old lens simply in order to use it on a newer body, but I personally think it is, although tastes vary considerably amongst us - <g>. I'll put up a few photos of the problem and the solution shortly (along with a few scans of some of the VS1 35-85/2.8's ads and brochure images, while I'm at it) shortly. Fred