Any love for Vivitar?

Bill Burk · Mar 10, 2023

KerrKid said:
I have so little knowledge of these third party companies. It’s nice to know which ones are best.

I have my eye on a Super Takumar 35mm lens.

My favorite Super Takumar 35mm is the f/2 with the 67mm filter ring size. I used to tell my friends it’s rectilinear. Compared to the SMCT 35mm f/3.5 that I felt had barrel distortion.

I also thought I saw barrel distortion in the 35mm f/2 SMCT with the 49mm filter size. So I gave it away to a pre-press operator I was training in Phoenix.

How much of my opinion was hokum I don’t know, but I like to tell these stories.

Helge · Mar 10, 2023

Vivitar flashes here. Mainly 285 and 283. They are still awesome powerful simple and simply modable manual (and simple auto sensor) flashes.
They are AFAIK not yet equaled for power/cost/reliability triangle.

And with the cheap Yongnuo rf-603 ii, still the only affordable trigger that can take the voltage, they offer unbeatable value.
A portable micro studio.

Anyone know who really made them?
They feel a bit like Panasonic/National flashes, only better quality. The internals is a mixed bag of components though.

BobD · Mar 10, 2023

I use an old Vivitar 253 flash almost daily with a tabletop set up. It's plugged into the wall with SB-1 cord and sits on a Vivitar slave trigger. It has worked flawlessly for a long time.

There are lots of older Vivitar flashes for sale cheap or "best offer" online. Sellers will often take low offers on them. They may appear "dead" at first from non-use but are usually easy to revive.

Paul Howell · Mar 10, 2023

KerrKid said:
I just bought another 420/SL in black and it came with the Vivitar 135 and 28mm lenses. Yeh, the 28 f2.5 is a bit funky. And heavy. I like the 135 though.

The black 420/SL is a handsome rugged camera. Thank goodness they aren’t on many peoples’ radar.

The 28 2.5 is sharp lens, small number of reviews

Vivitar (Tokina 37xxx...) TX , Auto Wide-Angle 28mm F2.5

Sharpness	9.0
Aberrations	9.0
Bokeh	9.0
Handling	8.0
Value	10.0

Reviews	Views	Date of last review
1	14,194	Wed May 10, 2017

Recommended By	Average Price	Average User Rating
100% of reviewers	$33.00	9.00

Read more at: https://www.pentaxforums.com/userre...x-28mm-f25-auto-wide-angle.html#ixzz7vZEHi8CB

xkaes · Mar 10, 2023

That Vivitar/Tokina 28mm f2.5 is a winner, just like a lot of Vivtar lenses.

Just like with Soligor, Spiratone, etc. some of their lenses were great and some mediocre. The uniformed try a so-so model or they hear/read bad reviews and they assume all of the lenses are the same. (It's basically the opposite of someone believing that all of Nikon's lenses were great).

It's OK with me because I've gotten some great lenses for next to nothing. I recently nabbed a like-new Vivtar/Tokina 400mm f5.6 (Vivitar sold SEVERAL 400mm lenses) with a case and a TX mount -- so it works with all my cameras. It's a hunk o' glass!

Jim Jones · Mar 11, 2023

My 400mm f/5.6 Vivitar in Nikon mount (probably made by Komine Co. Ltd) is excellent. Without doing serious testing, I'd rate it as good as my Nikkor 180mm.

xkaes · Mar 11, 2023

The Komine (#28XXXX)) is a winner, but the Tokina version (#37XXX) has the TX mount -- so I can switch. That's the only reason I went with mine.

xkaes · Mar 11, 2023

I just got a Vivitar (who knows who made it) multi-coated 3X tele-converter. Like new, in the case -- and for FREE. Looks great. I can't wait to try it out. I know I'll have to STOP-DOWN to get decent results, but I also expect that the results will be better than cropping the original image 3X.

KerrKid · Mar 11, 2023

Bill Burk said:
My favorite Super Takumar 35mm is the f/2 with the 67mm filter ring size. I used to tell my friends it’s rectilinear. Compared to the SMCT 35mm f/3.5 that I felt had barrel distortion.

I also thought I saw barrel distortion in the 35mm f/2 SMCT with the 49mm filter size. So I gave it away to a pre-press operator I was training in Phoenix.

How much of my opinion was hokum I don’t know, but I like to tell these stories.

I have the 35mm f3.5 because it got very good reviews and was less expensive than the others. I will resort to just photographing barrels with it if need be.))

KerrKid · Mar 11, 2023

xkaes said:
The Komine (#28XXXX)) is a winner, but the Tokina version (#37XXX) has the TX mount -- so I can switch. That's the only reason I went with mine.

Mine is a #22449655. A Kino.

I’m thinking of getting a genuine Pentax M42 to K mount adapter for my KM and an Urth M42 to F-mount adapter for a Nikkornat FTn I have coming.

Paul Howell · Mar 11, 2023

I have a 35 2.8 Vivitar in Konica mount, a nice lens, don't use much as the Konica 35 is very good, a lens from the 60 to 70s but will resolve Tmax 100.

KerrKid · Mar 11, 2023

My flash units are a Vivitar 2800 and SMS 20. Don’t know if that’s good or bad. I am flash photography illiterate.(

Chrismat · Mar 11, 2023

I have a Series 1 28-90 Komine (#28XXXX) 'stovetop' lens, it's bulky and on the heavy side, but optically it's excellent.

redbandit · Mar 12, 2023

xkaes said:
I just got a Vivitar (who knows who made it) multi-coated 3X tele-converter. Like new, in the case -- and for FREE. Looks great. I can't wait to try it out. I know I'll have to STOP-DOWN to get decent results, but I also expect that the results will be better than cropping the original image 3X.

some vivitar lenses had special designed teleconverter doublers for them that were factory designed on that fancy computer software... i have the lens, and a MINT unused converter on my Ftb... its nice..

Any love for Vivitar?

Vivitar (Tokina 37xxx...) TX , Auto Wide-Angle 28mm F2.5​

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Vivitar (Tokina 37xxx...) TX , Auto Wide-Angle 28mm F2.5