Tomioka made Vivitar 35mm (?)

[Crow-matic aberration]

Hi all, first time poster here. I have recently got back into digital from film (and digital before that) and have used this site as a reference many times. So I thought I would finally sign up and join in. And start things off with a question.

I love shooting old glass, especially M42 screwmounts. I needed a 35mm on my Canon 40d to get me around my favored 50mm focal length so I finally got around to going thru the boxes of old M42's a local camera shop has. The budget I limited myself to was around $80 or $90 so I figured I would be able to get a Takumar or maybe find one of my favorite lenses, an old Mamiya Sekor. But while digging thru the boxes a Steinheil Munchen Auto D Quinar 135/2.8 caught my eye and I just had to have it. That blew about half my budget so I wasnt able to get the Takumars like I had hoped. They didnt have any Mamiya 35's either so I dug around until I found this.







I posted up an inquiry on another forum and from what I could gather the lens was made in 1967 (due to matching an ad one gentleman posted from that year, the serial numbers on the ad lens was 003 and mine is 095) and bares a striking resemblance to old Tomioka made Yashinon DX's. Does anybody have any info they can add to this? Nobody else had seen a Vivitar like this before so I was hoping someone here might have some experience with it or some history on it.

BTW, all photos were taken by my new Steinheil. Im really liking that lens so far. Very compact. Anyway, thanks again for all the help I have recieved in the past and I hope to contribute positively myself in the future.

[ManualFocus-G]

[Crow-matic aberration]

Thank Graham. Thats odd, the picture links in my post say they are broken but the photos appear in your reply. What gives?

Edit....errrr, nevermind, now they are showing up.

[ManualFocus-G]

You can't post images in your first post as an anti-spam measure

BTW, that is a fabulous looking old lens! And yes, it bears a striking resemblance to the Yashica DX line.

[dimitrygo]

See this Yashica 35mm/f2.8 for reference Click here to see on Ebay

[Lloydy]

Shamelessly stolen from somewhere else, this is the list that most people take as the best available. But your Vivitar isn't listed
So that's the limit of my knowledge.

The 1st TWO digits generally indicate lens manufacturer, except serial numbers starting with 6 or 9, which are single digit lens maker codes

The 3rd digit indicates the year of manufacture. This is a bit confusing, as you have to know which decade a particular style and type of lens was made. 8 as the third digit might mean 1978, or 1988, or even 1998. Hopefully you know enough about your lens to guess its decade.

the 4th and 5th digits indicate the week of the year of manufacture, from 01 to 52

the digits thereafter indicate the manufacturing serial number

Vivitar Subcontracted Lens Makers
(1st two digits of serial number)
6 Olympus
9 Cosina
13 Schneider Optik
22 Kino (aka Kiron)
25 Ozone Optical
28 Komine
32 Makinon
33 Asanuma
37 Tokina
42 Bauer
44 Perkin Elmer (US)
47 Chinon
51 Tokyo Trading
56 Kyoe Schoji
61 Samyang (?)
75 Hoya Optical
77 Kobori
81 Polar

I do not guarantee the accuracy of these reported Vivitar serial number codes. They are the best recollection of a former Vivitar employee, and may or may not contain errors. However, this list is to my knowledge the only list on the internet to give you a starting point to help determine your Vivitar lens' family heritage.


Seen on Ebay –
Serial No. 09952787 Number not on front lens ring, but otherwise identical
Serial No. 77717801 Seller says “Made in Korea”
Mitakon lens. Serial No. 206185 – looks the same as Vivitar, 72mm front element.

[luisalegria]

You got a deal on that Steinheil.
Those Quinar 135's are in demand. They will sell on ebay for at least twice what you paid, probably more.

This 35 is one of the early Vivitar 'chrome nose' style probably all from the 1960's prior to the serial number system.
Member Big Dawg had quite a collection of them. One of those he had is known to be a Kiron if I recall correctly, the 85-205/3.8 zoom.

Apologies to Big Dawg for attaching his posts -

http://forum.mflenses.com/vivitar-chrome-nose-lenses-are-made-by-kiron-photo-evidence-t30239,highlight,%2Bvivitar.html

http://forum.mflenses.com/the-gangs-all-here-the-vivitar-chrome-nose-family-t31854,highlight,%2Bvivitar.html

[Crow-matic aberration]

Dimitygo- Yep, that auction site lens is a pretty close match. The main difference is the Yashica lens has a wide metal chrome strip that has cutouts for the aperture numbers and focus scale. The Vivitar just has a thin center chrome strip and leaves both the other dial bare. The fonts are all the same and even the placement of the info on the lens ring is the same. The aperture ring is ribbed more on the Yashinon but thats about the total differences. Thanks for this link.

Lloydy- I have seen that list and it is indeed very helpful for identifying old Viv's. There is a preface written to this list on one site that states if the Vivitar lens you have does not fit this number scheme then it was either made before 1970 or after 1990. Vivitar only used this particular numbering system during those years. Mine was almost certainly made in 1967 as supported by this ad posted on the other forum I asked at about this lens. http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00Z/00ZhRU-421985584.jpg The lens in the photo is #1000003 and mine is #100095 so it should be a '67 year of manufacture as that is when the ad is from.

luisalegria- Thanks for the nod toward the Steinheil. I mainly bought it because it seemed well made and was German. I dont really have any German lenses in my collection and while I didnt need another 135 this one was very intriguing. I glad I took a chance on it as the preliminary photos are turning out nicely. It is very compact as well for this focal length. And thank you very much for the forum links to the Yashinon discussions. That was some very interesting reading. An envious collection he has for sure.

Grahm- Thanks again for the compliment. It is a very beautiful old lens indeed and feels wonderful in the hand.

Thanks to everyone who responded to this.

[Mike Deep]

This is probably as good a time as any to ask (and probably not for the first time): Has anyone ever found one of these mythical Olympus-made Vivitars?