Vivitar History

cooltouch · Joined: 15 Jan 2009 Posts: 4982 Location: Houston, Texas

Fascinating stuff, Steve. I've been a Vivitar fan dating back to about 1983 or so, when I purchased my first Vivitar lens, an S1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5. Since then, I've owned, and enjoyed, quite a few different Vivitar products, including flashes, cameras, and even a very well made bellows unit with slide duplicator attachment.

I was especially interested in the Wiki page devoted to the "Professional" 135mm f/1.5. I owned one of those monsters for several years -- bought it back in the early 90s and finally sold it on eBay in 2004 to a Japanese collector. I see that you even have some serial numbers recorded. I have pics of mine around here somewhere, as well as a few pics I took with the lens (man, was it soft wide open!). I'll have to look for the pics -- perhaps one of them will show the serial number. I do recall, though that it started with 1968. Anyway, once I find the pics of my 135/1.5, I can provide them to you so that you can add them to your selection of images of the lens, if you wish.
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Michael

Canon FD: F-1n, FTbn, FTb, AE-1P, Canon Power Winder A, Canon Power Winder F, Sportfinder F, Vivitar 17mm f/3.5, Vivitar 35mm f/1.9, 50mm f/1.4 SSC, 50mm f/1.8 SC, FL 55mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.2 SSC Aspherical, 200mm f/4, 400mm f/4.5 IF, 35-105mm f/3.5, Vivitar 200mm f/3.5, Vivitar S1 24-48mm f/3.8, Vivitar S1 28-105mm f/2.8-3.8
Canon EOS: Elan IIe, XS (1000D), EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 IV USM, 70-210mm f/4, 75-300mm f/4-5.6 II USM, Tamron 24-70 f/3.3-5.6 Aspherical, 420 EZ strobe
Canon Rangefinder: IIIa, Serenar 50mm f/1.8, Serenar 100mm f/4, Kyoei Super Acall 135mm f/3.5, Canon AF35ML P&S
Nikon F: F2 w/MD-2/MB-2, F2S w/MD-2/MB-1, FE w/MD12, 24mm f/2.8, 28mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, 55mm f/3.5 Micro, 105mm f/2.5, 80-200mm f/4.5, Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5, Vivitar Series 1 105mm f/2.5 Macro, Vivitar 200mm f/3.5, Tokina AT-X 100-300 f/4 SD, PB-4/PS-4
Olympus: OM-1, OM-1n, 50mm f/1.8, 135mm f/3.5, Vivitar 28mm f/2.8, XA
Pentax K:KX, MV, 50mm f/2 SMCP, Kalimar 28-200mm f/3.9
Fuji: Finepix S3000 3mp digicam
Bronica: ETRSi, prism finder, 75mm f/3.5, 150mm f/3.5, 120, 220, Grip E.
Yashica:Mat 124 TLR, Electro 35 GT
Tamron Adaptall: 24mm f/2.5, SP 90mm f/2.5 Macro, 35-80mm f/2.8-3.5, 80-210mm f/3.8-4, SP 60-300mm f/3.8-5.4, SP 1.4x, SP 2x
T-Mount: Century Precision Optics Tele Athenar 500mm f/5.6 and 650mm f/6.8
Other Stuff: Minolta AF2 P&S, Spiratone Telescope eyepiece adapter (converts T-mount lens to telescope), Cambron zoom slide duplicator (T-Mount), Opteka Digital Slide Duplicator
Strobes: Metz 60 CT-1, Braun F900, Vivitar 283, 285, Yashica Pro-50 DX, Yuzo DC2814 Ring Light

My Blog: http://michaelmcbroom.com/blogistan/

My Gallery: http://michaelmcbroom.com/gallery3/index.php/

steevithak · Joined: 21 Apr 2011 Posts: 27 Location: Dallas, TX

steevithak · Joined: 21 Apr 2011 Posts: 27 Location: Dallas, TX

I've posted the second part of my series on Vivitar history over at the Camera-Wiki blog. This one is about enlargers but does mention enlarging lenses. Anyway, if you're interested feel free to check it out:

Camera-Wiki.org blog - Vivitar Historical Research Part 2: Vivitar Re-invents the Enlarger
http://blog.camera-wiki.org/2012/05/11/vivitar-historical-research-part-2/

And in case you missed the first post, it's here
Camera-Wiki.org blog - Vivitar Historical Research Part 1 : The origin of the Series 1 Lenses and the Macro Zoom
http://blog.camera-wiki.org/2012/03/13/vivitar-historical-research-part-1/

Big Dawg · Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 2414 Location: Thach Alabama

Big Dawg · Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 2414 Location: Thach Alabama

Big Dawg · Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 2414 Location: Thach Alabama

Here is that URL to the data base and the Vivitar lenses posted there............

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmI1YOvKt90RdGdfYmtONlBPVmZOQVJaUWdLbXZnREE&authkey=CIWts9UO&hl=en&authkey=CIWts9UO#gid=63

I noticed in Camera-wiki.org that in the description of the 200mm chrome nose there is no weight posted. In this data base I posted the measured weight of this lens as 885 grams. The barrel length is 173mm When retracted and the barrel diameter is 70.49mm at it's greatest size. It also tells you the material used on the outer surface of the focus grip and whether or not it has a built-in tripod mount or lens shade.
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Big Dawg