Vivitar 28mm f2 - Any good?

I've seen an old (70s?) Vivitar 28mm f2 in a K mount for sale and wondered if

anyone had any experience with this lens. I'm looking for a fast wide angle

and this might do the trick, but it has to perform well wide open (I have the

SMC 28/3.5 and am delighted with its performance, but want that extra stop and

a half). I need something to tide me over until I can afford to choose

between the 31mm f1.8 limited and the new Zeiss 28mm Distagon...

 

 

Paddy

If you like the SMC K28/3.5, I doubt that the Vivitar is going to be very satisfying to you. The

Pentax K28/3.5 has the reputation of being one of the very best 28mm lenses Pentax has

ever produced.

 

Godfrey

Don't bother. The copy I had was acceptable (albeit with some chromatic aberration) stopped

down a bit, but from f2 to f4 was not sharp and had awful flare. Some say that the "Series 1"

version was better, but the sample I had was just as bad.

 

Stick with your K28/3.5. If you must go faster and can go longer try either the 31/1.8 or the

35/2.

I have the "close focus" Vivitar 28mm f/2 made by Komine (serial number starts with 28). I love it. Good center sharpness at all apertures and great off-center bokeh always, no matter what aperture or where the plane of focus is. Let's say it another way. Abberations are so bad that only the center can be sharp. Works for me.

if you've "seen" it on ebay then make sure to ask the seller if the aperture is working and is not just stuck wide open. Apperently it's a common problemme with these lenses. I have this lens in a Kiron skin and it's f/2 only. Eventually I'll get into it to clean the crud out, but even wide open it's pretty good. The previous suggestion to stick with K 28/3.5 is as irrelevant as suggesting to avoid 50/1.4 in favour of 50/3.5.

I have the earlier Kino version with the 22XXX... serial number. When I got it the aperture blades were oily so I had it serviced. This lens isn't as impressive in appearance as the 28/1.9 Series 1 lens but I find it to be quite sharp. The 28mm Vivitar made by Komine (28XXX...) that I have is an f/2.8 but I would be surprised if the 28/2 Komine model was as bad as Waldo's description. I have the Komine made 24/2 Vivitar and it is quite good.

Kiron/Vivitars 28mm f/2s with a properly working aperture are dirt cheap. I'd say, I've never paid over $35 -40 for any of my copies. Like it's been said, watch out for the stuck aperture problem. The cheapest repair rate I've seen is nearly $50. Just get another one.

 

It isn't aspherical like the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 and it probably can't hold its own against say the (much more expensive) Nikkor 28mm f/2, but the price for the speed more then make up for it. A 28mm f/2 that's cheaper then a Nikkor 28mm f/3.5. That's a huge speed difference.

 

The old cliche of photo lenses, fast , cheap, good, pick any two applies to this lens. But when you're shooting hand held f/2 wide open with a 1600/3200 speed black and white film (rendering chromatic aberration moot), the whole argument of how sharp is it goes out the window. It becomes, can I get the picture: period? An f/2 allows more yes then no.

I just picked up a copy of this (P/K mount). The SN starts with 22 so I guess it was made by Kiron. The aperture blades were oily so I gave them a "naptha bath" treatment yesterday. It was a scary thought for me but it turned out to be pretty simple. Here's the "before" photo. Notice the shiny black blades, especially at the tips.

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9068963@N04/2034804707/" title="Before (Oily Blaes) by soldbear, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2295/2034804707_607c0d445a.jpg" width="500" height="463" alt="Before (Oily Blaes)" /></a>

 

 

Here's the "after" photo:

 

 

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/9068963@N04/2034804701/" title="After (Clean Blades) by soldbear, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2237/2034804701_2d32dfbe13.jpg" width="500" height="425" alt="After (Clean Blades)" /></a>

 

 

No test photos yet, but I hope that I can use it more than my current SMC-M F/2.8 and Takumar F/3.5.