BebuLamar

Back in the 70's Vivitar was a better brand than Tamron.

delder Loc: Maryland

Does the fact that Vivitar is now marketing Electric Razors....

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

I have the Vivitar 70-210mm f3.5 ser.-1 and 100mm f2.8 macro, plus the Vivitar 285HV flash. I use the70-210 for close up flower shot with my Nikons.

gwilliams6

Vivitar is not what it was, and no longer owned by same folks.

"Vivitar, a once storied camera brand known for quality flashes and third-party lenses, isn't what it used to be. The imprint is now owned by Sakar, a company that has built its reputation on low-cost products of questionable quality, manufactured to spec and imported from China. "

https://www.pcmag.com/news/vivitar-not-what-it-used-to-be
Jun 22, 2018

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I didn't know that!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I have a lens like that upstairs - either Vivitar or Soligor, with a T-mount lens. It's so much larger than current 200mm lenses. I should take it apart and do something with it - or the pieces.

11bravo

Humped my 70-210 in my Lowepro phototreker backpack for a couple of decades through a number of countries. Great lens, even worked well with a Canon 2x extender to reach out to an incredible 400mm... But that was in my youth; now I'm happy carrying my FZ1000 bridge up the mountains.

ScottWardwell Loc: Maine

Quite true. I worked for Value House back in the 70's and Series 1 lens were very competitive and well thought of. Sold more of their's and Sunpak strobes than OEM at the time.

TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

As others have pointed out, "back in the day" Vivitar was pretty respectable and offered some very good lenses. But, they didn't make them. Instead they would specify what they wanted from lens manufacturers. And they were large enough and well-respected enough to get a lot of cooperation from the actual lens makers.

In the 1970s and 1980s the serial numbers of Vivitar lenses could be used to identify the actual maker, some of whom were quite good.

The first one or two digits of Vivitar serial numbers from that era designated the manufacturer. They were:

6 (or 06) Olympus (Note: disputed by some who say Oly never made Vivitar lenses)

9 (or 09) 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

75 Hoya Optical

81 Polar

These included but weren't limited to manual focus Vivitar Series 1 lenses, their "premium" line of lenses. Some of the earlier interchangeable mount lenses fell under this numbering system, as well as some of the later autofocus lenses in the 1990s.

I've used several of the Kiron (Kino Precision) lenses over the years that were truly excellent. I recall some macro... 90mm or 100mm... and 24mm f/2, in particular. Kino Precision was an interesting manufacturer. The company was started by optical engineers who had formerly worked for Nikon. In fact, the CEO of the company once said that the "Kiron" name they used on their lenses was "Nikon spelled sideways"!

The third digit in these Vivitar lens serial number indicate the year of manufacture, while the 4th and 5th indicate the week of the year. The rest of the number was a sequential serial number. The year can be a bit tricky, for example because an "8" might indicate either 1978 or 1988. It helps to also know when certain lenses were marketed, to narrow it down to the correct decade.

As far as anyone has been able to determine, Vivitar lenses made earlier and later than this period do not use the same designations in their serial numbers. Even so, in some cases the manufacturers are known.

This link is a fairly comprehensive list of lenses Vivitar has offered over the years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivitar

wingclui44 Loc: CT USA

Jerry, you mean the 70-210? Why do you want to take it apart? It was/is a fine zoom with 1/2X macro/close-up ( not true macro 1/1X),mine has Nikon F mount, I use it on my Df for flower imaging with in a couple feet.