Vivitar and Tokina

[badboy1984]

Got a chance to buy a vivitar 135mm f2.8 AI and a tokina 135mm f2.8 AI. Both in good condition and i was wondering which one you guys prefer or any real difference between the two?

 

[AJQS]

I have an old Komine made Vivitar 135mm f2.8, it's old, incredibly well made and heavy. I love it. At f2.8 there is purple fringing and it's generally a bit soft. By f3.5 it's lovely sharp, still a teeny bit of fringing though. Never tried the Tokina.

Here's a sample @f2.8:

and at 3.5 on film:


The Pooch by Richard A. Jones (Theram desky Kernewek), on Flickr

It's one of my favpourite lenses.

 

[CaptainPenguin]

Never used either but have had film lenses made by both and always preferred the Tokina's

 

[BacktotheFuji]

Bear in mind that Tokina made many lenses for Vivitar, so they could actually be the same lens! Vivitar branded Tokina lenses have serial numbers beginning with 37.

 

[Galaxy66]

Without googling for the answer in all likelyhood they are one and the same as was the Cosina 19-35 / Vivitar19-35 and the Tokina 19-35.

 

[AJQS]

Without googling for the answer in all likelyhood they are one and the same as was the Cosina 19-35 / Vivitar19-35 and the Tokina 19-35.

The tokina wasn't the same lens, only the Vivitar and Cosina were, the Tokina was much better built.