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Ponder & Best T-mount system lens spec sheets
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 20, 2016 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Initially I thought the Dollonds / Vivitar 200 was a Tokina, but I now have it on my list as Kino - Kiron, and I think that is Luis' opinion, so I'll go with that Wink


PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've owned so many of these Vivitar (Ponder & Best) pre-set lens that it is hard to remember which ones I did own. I know I did not own the 800mm shown here. I have owned a 400mm, 500mm and the 600mm. I did not have that 85mm though. I tried but never was lucky enough to own one. To salve my want for one I bought the Series 1 85mm f/1.4 (Samyang etc.) lens instead. That 200mm was one of the better ones of that group but like all those pre-sets the aperture blades were easy to get locked up and need to be opened and reset in place. They can be quit fragile.


PostPosted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Big Dawg wrote:
I've owned so many of these Vivitar (Ponder & Best) pre-set lens that it is hard to remember which ones I did own. I know I did not own the 800mm shown here. I have owned a 400mm, 500mm and the 600mm. I did not have that 85mm though. I tried but never was lucky enough to own one. To salve my want for one I bought the Series 1 85mm f/1.4 (Samyang etc.) lens instead. That 200mm was one of the better ones of that group but like all those pre-sets the aperture blades were easy to get locked up and need to be opened and reset in place. They can be quit fragile.


Agree on all but on the 85 in particular. 85's in this series are a tough get; major challenge.

Easiest of all in this series to find is the 135 f3.5. It's a small lens but it is built to the same quality standard as all the others and it still is a very nice lens to own.


PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Referring back to the OP, and link to brochure contained therein:

I finally have acquired a copy of the 28mm. It arrived in its original box with the original Styrofoam packing, which was pretty cool. But the box carries only the "Vivitar" indicia. The name "Ponder & Best" is nowhere to be seen. It is a window lens, a very nice lens, but it is quite unlike other lenses in the long series shown in the brochure. My best estimate is the 28mm was made for Vivitar by a different company than all the other lenses shown in the brochure.

The 28mm lens iris has only 8 blades, whereas the other lenses in the brochure feature nearly round multi-blade apertures. And of course, as mentioned in the brochure, the 28mm lens comprises a significantly different and more complex lens structure than the other lenses there. It is a T2 lens though, like the others.

Make no mistake, I'm pleased with this 28mm lens. I'm trying to collect that brochure, this lens is in there, so it was a "must get" item for me. It's just different, that's all. In addition, after much effort I can report this 28mm was significantly more difficult to locate than other lenses in the brochure, several of which are ubiquitous. Even the highly touted and sought-after 85mm, while not affordable (I do not own an 85, sadly), is frequently seen offered for sale. But not the 28.

The following is speculation:

While most of the lenses in that brochure go back circa 50 years, I think the 28mm is a newer lens than that. The brochure itself is dated in the 1970's. I'm thinking this 28mm lens did not exist in the 1960's, whereas the other lenses did. I have to wonder if the 28mm is, in reality, the start of another series, a newer series of Vivitar lenses. If so, they would presumably be window lenses. Perhaps there is a newer brochure than the one referenced in the OP. Or perhaps this 28mm is instead the last of its kind, Vivitar having at some point shifted focus to automatic lenses. I dunno.

Anyway, here are photos of my new (old) 28mm lens, and the original box:







PostPosted: Tue Sep 13, 2016 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

it's interesting that Vivitar marketed the lens as "Basic Wide Angle Lens", can you imagine any company using 'basic' in a description of their product today?


PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Lloydy wrote:
it's interesting that Vivitar marketed the lens as "Basic Wide Angle Lens", can you imagine any company using 'basic' in a description of their product today?


Classic example I think, Lloydy, of truth in advertising!

I'm continuing to monitor the market for Vivitar (and also Ponder & Best) 28mm preset lenses. My hunch says there existed a predecessor to my new (old) 28mm, a preset lens much more in keeping with the other lenses in the series vis a vis overall design aspects, a windowless lens with many aperture blades . . . . like all the others. Am thinking the predecessor, if it exists, might also be f2.8 instead of f2.5. However, I'm not finding many Vivitar (or Ponder & Best) 28mm preset lenses, regardless how fast. Remaining on alert and searching diligently are part of the fun of collecting, of course. Wink


PostPosted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have stumbled across more on this latest 28mm lens. Please bear in mind:

As documented up thread, I only bought the lens because it appears in the brochure mentioned in the OP.

However, this new-to-me 28mm appears to have entirely separate provenance from the other brochure lenses! First of all, it is a Kiron lens. Mine was made for Vivitar by Kiron shortly before Vivitar went over to (what was back then) their new numbering system. But the lens continued to be sold following the transition to the new system. This 28mm lens has caught the attention of collectors for reasons unrelated to any brochure. Here are a couple of references containing information quite interesting I think, together with very nice sample photos:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/steevithak/sets/72157631458959944/

There we find my new lens but with serial number obviously Kiron (22xxxx).

Here is another reference with Big Dawg having contributed his comments:

http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=17183

Finally, here is the camera-wiki data page for the lens:

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Vivitar_28mm_f/2.5_Compatible_T_System

Reference is made there to an earlier, presumably poorer, version of a Vivitar 28mm preset I guessed up thread might exist. The search goes forward.

ETA

Based on information in that final reference, it appears my 28mm lens might after all have been sold during the late 1960's, not the 1970's as I earlier had supposed.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last post to this thread was three months ago. But today I brought in the 500mm shown in the brochure in the OP!!!

Whoo Turtle

I am so happy finally to have acquired this lens. Cost was about US$27 so within reach for me. Nice hood was included, along with an old case. Glass is quite good. There are only two groups. Body of lens is not perfect, but for the money it is fine. No dents and the filter threads are perfect. The 500 aperture has MANY blades, as do most apertures of lenses in this series.

Getting the 500 was sweet. Now have entire series except:

85mm, 600mm, 800mm

I've never even SEEN a 600mm or an 800mm offered for sale, and the 85mm lenses are very tough on cost.

So this might be the end of the line.

Seeking a 92mm screw-in lens cover for my new lens. No success finding one so far.

Seller of my lens said it was made my Olympus. Interesting.


PostPosted: Fri Dec 16, 2016 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

guardian wrote:
I've never even SEEN a 600mm or an 800mm offered for sale,


Why don't you look for the Tokina branded siblings? They are offered from time to time on Ebay.

I have the 600mm/f8 Tokina version and surprisingly it is a quite good performer. Although a little cumbersome and tricky to use.

Here you can see how it's performing:
http://forum.mflenses.com/tele-tokina-600mm-f8-t-mount-on-ff-dslr-sony-a850-and-dx-t71561.html


PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good on you getting the Vivitar 500.
Thats not such a common lens.

I had the Kawakami (Kawanon) made 600mm and 800mm in the Soligor brand.
I think these may also have been offered in the Vivitar brand; as we see there was a variety of lenses Vivitar branded over the course of a few years. Not the extreme variety of Soligor, but still a variety.

I would search ebay regularly for 600mm or 800mm; thats how I found mine. The Tokina made lenses are less common than the Kawakami but I have seen them.


PostPosted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 2:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you, guys, for the kind words and excellent suggestions. I've no doubt that other-branded lenses from this era might be every bit as good as the Vivitar-branded lenses . . if not better.

It's quirky, I realize and readily acknowledge. But the goal all along here, from the outset, has been to collect the exact Vivitar lenses in the brochure, the one first mentioned and linked in the OP of this thread nearly two years ago. I've been fortunate so far with this effort, but am now down to the much more difficult to locate and/or expensive lenses. After all these lenses are, what, circa fifty years old?

I can imagine that many fewer of the 600mm and 800mm lenses were sold back then than the more popular focal lengths. The very long lenses must have been expensive at the time, and obviously not all have survived.

I have no good explanation for the Vivitar 85mm preset, or for any 85mm MF lens for that matter. It's 85mm lens price insanity to my mind right now, and the phenomenon transcends my understanding. Buyers today are going absolutely NUTS for virtually any and all 85mm lenses. I don't own a single 85mm lens, but I do have a nice 90mm MF lens and the insanity for those is nearly as great as for the 85s.

Regardless all that, I love these old Vivitar presets and find them really quite special. Even though I might never acquire a complete set, I'm really fortunate to own the lenses currently in hand. And of course the search will go on.