Talk:Vivitar

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Vivitar Lens Families

This is a working area for assembling vivitar lenses into their respective families. The groupings here are based on guesses and theories. Once I've found sufficient evidence for a family group, I move them from here to the main Vivitar page.

  • P&B example
  • P&B Vivitar example
    • P&B Vivitar 35mm Wide Angle, SN:65416, two rear aperture rings, alternating flats on focus ring
  • Vivitar
    • Vivitar T-Mount Two ring family (two aperture rings, one to set, one to preview, focus ring has alternating flats and longitudinal ridges) (I believe these to be P&B Vivitars - all photos so far have borne this out. The following are lenses for which I have descriptions but no photo evidence)
      • 35mm f/3.5 (sn 131914)
      • 135mm f/3.5 (sn 64293, 653xx)
      • 200mm f/3.5 Tele Vivitar sn: 66717 (looks identical to 200mm with longitudinal ridges except for focusing ring, two rings in front, rear element extends on focus)
    • Vivitar T-Mount two rear ring family (18 blade iris, two rear aperture rings, focus ring has continous longitudinal ridges)
      • Vivitar 35mm f/2.8 Wide Angle SN:74783, front barrel extends on focus (I own this one)
    • Vivitar Unknown T mount family - T-mount, 18 blade iris, two front aperture rings (sometimes with gap between), focus ring has conntinuous longitudinal ridges
      • 135mm f/2.8 Tele Vivitar sn:73087 (mine)
      • 135mm f/3.5 Tele Vivitar sn:74983 (mine), 7215x (ebay) 70746 (ebay), 101092 (ebay) rear barrel extends on focus
    • Vivitar Compatible T System family - T-Mount, 18 blade iris, two front aperture rings, focus ring has continuous longitudinal ridges - according to this photo, the 200mm is part of a Vivitar family called the Vivitar Compatible T System.
      • 35mm f/3.5 rear element extends on focus sn:220797 (mine), 572021 (ebay), 571249 (ebay, +photo of "compatible t system" box)
      • 85mm f/1.8 (Vivitar Telephoto?)
      • 85mm f/1.8 (Tele Vivitar)
      • 135mm f/2.8 Tele Vivitar sn:199355 (mine) (SN:70942?)
      • 135mm f/3.5
      • 180mm f/3.5 (Telephoto) (sn: 198043 ebay)
      • 200mm f/3.5 (Tele Vivitar) (sn: 76774 ebay)
      • 300mm f/5.6 (Tele Vivitar) sn:69260 rear barrel extends on focus (photo of box confirms "compatible t system" name)
      • 400mm f/5.6 (Tele Vivitar) sn: 6665609 (shopgoodwill.com +confirm "compatible t system" name)
      • 500mm f/6.3 (Tele Vivitar) (sn: 71315 ebay)
      • Vivitar 600m f/8 sn: 379000329
      • Vivitar Telephoto 800mm f/8 sn:379000070
    • Pyramid preset T-Mount family (date? info?) example example
      • Vivitar Wide-Angle 28mm f/2.5 sn#ss51368
      • Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 sn#63903
      • Vivitar 85-200mm f/3.8 (chrome nose + knurled silver mid band)
    • 2 window preset family (ca 1975?) example
    • Chrome Nose family (ca 1968-70?) example
      • Complete and referenced, see main page
    • Bright Band family (ca 1970?) example
      • Complete and referenced, see main page
    • Dark Band (Ridged Ring)? Same as chrome nose/bright band, but with no silver at all
      • Vivitar 35mm f/1.9 Auto Wide-Angle, sn:28400974, 55mm filter
      • Auto Vivitar Telephoto 135mm f/2.8, sn:2804881
      • Auto Vivitar 135mm f/3.5, sn:4111998
    • Auto T-4 family (ca 1969) 1969 Camera 35 ad for family
      • Complete and referenced, see main page
    • TX Lens 1st Gen family (ca 1976) (lens listing from PopSci May 1976 vivitar ad, page 43)
      • Complete and referenced, see main page
    • TX Lens 2nd Gen Family (ca 1980) (see wolf book)
      • Complete and referenced, see main page
    • Pre-Wolf Fixed Mount Family (ca 1976) (hypothesized) - since the wolf fixed correspond to the 2nd gen tx (particularly the f2.5 to f2.8 update), so it's very likely the fixed mounts evolved in the same way. So a pre-wolf family likely exists containing similar focal lengths with different minimum aperture values.
    • Wolf Fixed Mount Family (ca 1980) named for documentation in wolf book
      • Complete and referenced, see main page
    • SMS family (all seem to have diagonal diamond pattern on rubber focus ring)
      • Vivitar SMS 28mm f/2.8 Close Focus Wide Angle, 49mm filter, sn 26405205, 28401098
      • Vivitar SMS 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 MC Macro Focusing Zoom, 62mm filter, sn 77403474
      • Vivitar SMS 70-210mm f/4.5 MC Macro Focusing Zoom, 52mm filter, sn 77317510, 77316676
      • Vivitar SMS 75-210mm f/4.5 MC Macro Focusing Zoom, 52mm filter, sn 77602760 (m/md stock: 0821575)
      • Vivitar SMS 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 MC Macro Focusing Zoom No.77502874 58mm, Nikon mount
      • Vivitar SMS 80-200mm f/4.5 MC Macro Focusing Zoom, 55mm filter, sn 77203775, 77200615
    • 5xxxx preset family (date? info? example?) (pyramid family?)
    • 6xxxx preset family (date? info? example?) (pyramid family?)
  • Vivitar Series 1 (ca 1978+) example


Other Lens Types

RL Edition example (common wisdom online suggests RL lenses were identical to non-RL but came with an extended 7 year warranty. So any given lens might come in both a "normal" or RL edition but RL is not a separate family of lenses. In reality, blue RL stamps are probably limited to one particular family of Lenses (probably the Wolf family but need verification). Known RL edition lenses:

  • Vivitar RL Edition 28-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Macro Zoom MC, 62mm filter, sn:77401732 (RL stamp in white!)
  • Vivitar RL Edition 35-200mm f/2.-4.5 MC Macro Focusing Zoom, 62mm filter, sn 77504145, 77501131
  • Vivitar RL Edition 80-200mm f/4.0 Macro Focusing Zoom MC, 55mm filter, sn:77505570, 77403469

SMS Lenses One claim is that SMS stands for Special Marketing System and SMS series lenses are just extended warranty lenses like the RL labelled lenses. But so far, the evidence suggest the SMS lenses were at least cosmetically different from any known Vivitar family (though the primary difference is just an alternate pattern on the focusing ring rubber - these may be variants of the Wolf family, like the RL lenses). Another claim is that SMS stands for "Simultaneous Multiple Surfaces", an optical technique that can simplify lens designs involving air gaps. This claim fits with what is know about Betensky's computer work on the Series 1 lenses which included development and patents on air gap techniques. See http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/34654-vivitar-28mm-fa31mm-replacement-20.html However, it appears the optical term SMS was not coined until 2004 and not by Betensky. Also Vivitar used the SMS designation on products such as flash units as well as lenses, where air gap lens design was unlikely to be used.

DL Lenses Not sure what these are but so far only one model has been identified

  • Vivitar DL 75-205mm f/3.8-4.8 MC Macro Focusing Zoom No.77415114 52mm, Pentax K mount
  • Vivitar DL 75-205mm f/3.8-4.8 MC Macro Focusing Zoom No.77400410 52mm, unknown mount, possible Minolta
  • Vivitar DL 75-205mm f/3.8-4.8 MC Macro Focusing Zoom No.77403305 52mm, unknown mount, possible Canon FD
  • Vivitar DL 75-205mm f/3.8-4.8 MC Macro Focusing Zoom No.774049?? 52mm, unknown mount

Class II Demo or irregular Vivitar products were sometimes old with yellow stickers attached that read "Vivitar Class II -- Products which have been previously used for demonstration, or sold to an end user, or which contain minor appearance irregularities".

Misc Vivitar Notes

Vivitar trademark filing

Known facility locations for Vivitar

  • Ponder & Best, 814 N. Cole Ave. Hollywood (Los Angeles), Ca US
    • Address when they filed the Vivitar trademark, Sep 21, 1965
  • Vivitar Corp. import/export facility post-earthquake: 20480 East Business Parkway, City of Industry, Ca 91789 US

Vivitar held trademark on the TX mount system name (filed in 1975): [1]

Popular Science:


Other stuff

  • Vivitar Cosmorex SE - this was added to the vivitar page but I've found no evidence that Cosmorex was a badge or trademark used by Ponder and Best or Vivitar. The trademark is owned by another company. Might be worth further research if anyone wants to take a look at it. Cosmorex or the parent company may need it's own page
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