Vivitar 135mm f2.8 Nikon AI

[badboy1984]

i was wondering is this lens any good? Fall in love with prime and manual focus recently after my dad gave his nikon 28mm f2.8 AI prime to me.

I can get one for £20 but it have some fungus so was wondering is this lens anygood after some cleaning?

 

[BacktotheFuji]

Vivitar lenses were made by several manufacturers although most were good. The serial number will tell you who made it. £20 is steep given the fungus though.

 

[mortimerhill]

Not worth it if it has fungus. Just keep an eye out on ebay etc and you will find a fungus free one at a decent price.

Of the independent brands from the 70s and early 80s Vivitar were decent lenses; their Series 1 Lenses were very, very good.

 

[badboy1984]

ok, thanks for the advice guys. i was in doubt about buying it as well. I checking on the vivitar and nikon AI 135mm lens. The nikon one is attractive as well.

 

[AJQS]

See my reply in your other thread, fungus doesn't matter unless there's a LOT of it. There are 2 versions of the Vivitar - the older one has a 55mm thread and is marked around the inside of the lens bezel as the normal way, the 2nd has a 52mm thread and it's marked around the outside of the lens. The former is the better one and has 1/2 stop aperure ring. (There's not much in it optically but the half stops gives it the edge)

 

[BacktotheFuji]

£20.00 is too much for that lens with fungus.

Here is a link to Vivitar serial numbers, in order to identify the manufacter of VIvitar lenses. There were loads of 135/2.8 models branded as Vivitar

http://www.cameraquest.com/VivLensManuf.htm

 

[badboy1984]

i found one around local that sells the same lens but in top notch condition and the serial number starts with 28. I guess is a good one i guess.