On Thu, 15 Oct 1998 23:03:37 -0700, Stefan Grove wrote:

>I am looking for a used zoom lens to complement my standard lens (wich
>is the only one I currently own). I have read that the
>quality/brilliance of a zoom lense is not as good as a fixed lens.

This is generally true, but there are a very few exceptions...

>Would it be more so in the case of a 100-500 mm zoom than, say a 70-200
>mm?

Generally, yes...

>The particular lens is a Vivitar series 1 for my Minolta manual
>focus.

Specifically, definitely yes...;-) I tried two of these lenses,
and thought them quite poor. The old Cosina 100-500 was FAR
sharper (and actually a good lens, though nearly unuseably
slow in practice...). I would stick with the 70/80-200/210
range, since most zooms in this range are at least decent.