Vivitar 3.8/20mm

David Lyga · Dec 1, 2012

Does anyone have comments on this lens: Vivitar 3.8/20mm (Canon mount)? I just bought one in a deal and it appears to be in near mint condition. Pros or cons. Thanks. - David Lyga

Whiteymorange · Dec 1, 2012

Like much of the gear sold under the names of companies that marketed but did not manufacture goods, Vivitar lenses are a mixed bag (though Vivitar, in this case, is given credit for the designs). Here is a website that lists the companies that did the manufacturing for them during the period from 1970 to 1990. I have found the Kiron lanses to be quite good (serial numbers beginning with 22), but others may have a different experience.

narsuitus · Dec 1, 2012

I cannot comment on the lens you mention. However, let me share my experience with you.

I purchased three 28mm Vivitar lenses. All were in very good condition. Tokina manufactured two of the lenses and Kiron manufactured the third. I expected good image quality from the Kiron and was not disappointed. I did not expect the images from the Tokina lenses to come close to the Kiron and one lens did not. However, I was very surprised to discover that the images from the least expensive of the two Tokina lenses were slightly better than the Kiron.

Bottom line, you may not be able to tell if you have a good Vivitar lens until you actually use it.

BardParker · Dec 1, 2012

I have the Vivitar 19mm f/3.8 lens in Pentax K mount and it is an amazing lens! I am also stunned at how sharp it is....

Kent

Alan Gales · Dec 2, 2012

Whiteymorange said:
Like much of the gear sold under the names of companies that marketed but did not manufacture goods, Vivitar lenses are a mixed bag (though Vivitar, in this case, is given credit for the designs). Here is a website that lists the companies that did the manufacturing for them during the period from 1970 to 1990. I have found the Kiron lanses to be quite good (serial numbers beginning with 22), but others may have a different experience.

Kiron was a real bargain back in the day. A good friend of mine bought a brand new Pentax ME Super Program camera with the Pentax 50mm lens when he was in college. He wanted a Pentax zoom but couldn't afford it so I recommended the Kiron. He purchased the Kiron and swore that it was sharper than his 50mm Pentax lens.

Russ - SVP · Dec 2, 2012

Is yours the Cosina version? I got mine pretty cheap, and it performed surprisingly well.

David Lyga · Dec 2, 2012

I says only Vivitar on it, not Cosina, Kiron Kid. - David Lyga

Russ - SVP · Dec 3, 2012

David Lyga said:
I says only Vivitar on it, not Cosina, Kiron Kid. - David Lyga

David

What is the serial # on your lens?

Russ

dbuckle · Dec 3, 2012

I have the 20mm 3.8 Vivitar in Konica AR mount made by Kiron. I find it an excellent lens. David you can tell the manufacture by the first two digits if it's 22 then it is made by Kiron.

Konica T3 by dbuckle2695, on Flickr

BMbikerider · Dec 3, 2012

I have never seen the 20mm in UK. There was aF3.8 19mm lens sold under various names - Vivitar, Cosina, Sirius were a few of them. It was around about 20 years ago and it was absolute utter rubbish I wonder if this was developed from it? It certainly couldn't be worse. It had a 62mm filter thread and the build quality was good, but the glass - Ugh!

Ian Grant · Dec 3, 2012

The early Vivitar lenses were all superb and designed by Vivitar themselselsves although manufacture was sub-contracted. But the brand name changed ownership and some cheaper Vivitar lenses were just rebranded lenses from lesser known manufacturers.

In the 70's to the 90's there were some poor quality lenses from companies like Sigma and Hoya, which you'd have expected to be good. In Hoya's case they had to scrap their entire range and they've not sold lenses under the Hoya name since - instead they used their Tokina brand name and the result was the ATX series.

There were a miriad of odd brand names as well, some just available in one country, so the same lens would appear with a whole host of different nams on it, the 19mm f3.8 vivitar was one of these.

Ian

David Lyga · Dec 3, 2012

Kiron Kid: I will post the serial number on Tuesday. (I am not at home now.)

dbuckle: that photo is the identical lens, but in Canon FD mount, not Konica. - David Lyga

David Lyga · Dec 3, 2012

OK the serial number for the Vivitar that I now own (Canon FD mount) is: # 22200777. This was made somewhat later than debuckle's which begins # 220... but is otherwise identical. - David Lyga

Russ - SVP · Dec 4, 2012

Here is the Panagor (early Kiron) 21mm f/4.

dynachrome · Dec 6, 2012

I have two of these for Konica, white & red lettering and white & green lettering, one for Minolta MC and one for M42. Some years ago I wrote about this lens, the 19/3.8 and the 21/3.8 T4 in Camerashopper. The 20 is my favorite and seems to be the sharpest of the three. The older 21/3.8 T4 model is a very close second and surprisingly good. The 19 is not bad when stopped down a little and is light and compact but it is not as good as the other two. I have that lens in Canon FD mount. I remember using the 20 with a Konica at the ballpark when the previous Yankee Stadium was new. The 20 and 21 are similar in appearance to the 21/4 Konica Hexanon and the 20/4 Zeiss Flektogon. My 21/2.8 Hexanon is much smaller and lighter but the big 20 is still fun to use.

David Lyga · Dec 6, 2012

I just tested it and even at f3.8 it is razor sharp, corner to corner. No complaints here. Thanks all. - David Lyga

KrankyKraut · Dec 25, 2012

The Vivitar 20mm 3.8 is a pretty good lens, assuming you have a copy that's within specs. Color and sharpness are good and distortion is much better controlled than in the 19mm 3.8 version. Contrast is medium-low; it's a 70's lens, after all. The 82mm filter size is a draw-back.

benjiboy · Dec 26, 2012

BMbikerider said:
I have never seen the 20mm in UK. There was aF3.8 19mm lens sold under various names - Vivitar, Cosina, Sirius were a few of them. It was around about 20 years ago and it was absolute utter rubbish I wonder if this was developed from it? It certainly couldn't be worse. It had a 62mm filter thread and the build quality was good, but the glass - Ugh!

I have a Vivitar 19mm f3.8 lens that was a present from a friend a few years ago and it was so good I'm using it on my desk as a paperweight, however it did give a taste and feeling for ultra wide angle lenses and I subsequently bought a Tamron S.P.17mm f3.5 lens which is IMO one of the best rectilinear ultra wide angle lenses ever made.

Vivitar 3.8/20mm

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