'IMAGE by Vivitar'

[silverJON]

Has anyone heard of lenses branded

IMAGE by Vivitar?

I've just acquired a PKA mount 'IMAGE by Vivitar' 28-70mm f3.9-4.8 manual focus 1:4 macro lens. As far as I can tell by specs and appearance, it's the same as the (also obscure) Tokina 28-70 SZ-X 270, except for the colour of the markings and the pattern of the grip on the focus and zoom rings.

I can't find ANYTHING on 'IMAGE by Vivitar' on the internet, let alone about this lens. There are a couple of people ebaying IMAGE lenses, but that's it. No-one's written about them. There are no plain Vivitar lenses matching the specs, either.

It's got a Ricoh pin (now removed) and it seems quite sharp, if a bit slow. Very compact, nice feel.

The lens reads:

IMAGE by Vivitar 28-70mm 1:3.9-4.8 MC MACRO FOCUSING ZOOM 77702767 ♂55mm

(note that 55mm is the filter ring: it's not anything male, it's just the best symbol I could find)

The serial number doesn't match with any Vivitar manufacturer's two-digit code, but I'd hazard a guess it's Tokina-made.

Has anyone got a clue what the lens's origins are?

Jonathan

 

[silverJON]

One last bump:|

 

[Steep]

As long as it's sharp I wouldn't worry about it m8. Vivitar were East German 30 odd years ago and made reasonable cheaper end lenses then, nowadays who knows! They and/or Tokina may well make lenses for other manufacturers or buy them in, just as you will see in the electronics market, many 'brands' no longer do their own manufactiring but buy from whatever source is cheapest.

 

[silverJON]

OK, thanks


A new question please: when the lens is at the extreme wide end (where the ring stops), the iris doesn't move. It won't stop down at all, or if the camera stops it down and then I turn the zoom ring to the end, and let go of the iris, it remains stopped down. Until I discovered the conditions that made the aperture play up, this was very frustrating!

The aperture is otherwise reliable, very clean, dry, snappy.

Is this a known thing, and can I fix it? :-S

 

[Steep]

I doubt it could be 'known' if no one has heard of the lens I'd say, if it's new send it back, if it's second hand learn to live with it and work around it if you can.