The Great Vivitar 28mm Bestiary
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Updated in June 2023 after... ten years!
Introduction
Back in the manual focus era, Vivitar were known as a great third-party lens company. Though based in the USA, they sourced their glass from the best Japanese manufacturers: Komine, Kiron, and Tokina. Even now their lenses can provide excellent optics for those who do not mind -- or actually prefer -- to focus manually.
I became particularly interested in the 28mm focal length, which used to be a great wide angle in the film era, and provides a comfortable "normal equivalent" on the APS-C size sensor of today's Pentax digital cameras. It is a bit of a mystery why Pentax have no current 28mm lens. Their FA 31mm Limited, while widely regarded as one of the best pieces of glass on the planet, measures closer to 32mm in formal tests, and so has a very differetn field of view. Shouldn't a normal lens be available at commodity pricing.
So, back in August 2008 I started a thread on Pentax Forums titled Vivitar 28mm As FA 31mm Replacement? It soon became obvious that there were many different variants on the Vivitar 28mm and many people interested in them. Little did I know I'd end up cataloguing over thirty variants! Hence the need for this page, a single home for the definitive lens list. This first went live April 2009.
Then I got a Masters, got married, got a PhD, got a job, and got a new camera system! This Bestiary was left behind. Until now.
Lens Mounts
The lenses are grouped by mount but only those of interest to Pentax users: TX, M42, K, and KA. Lenses in other mounts are not included in this catalogue.
TX was a "universal" mount type that requires the correct adaptor for a particular mount. Vivitar sold individual adaptors for Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Pentax and other cameras so a given TX lens could work with all of them.
M42 is the original Pentax screw mount. Readily-available adaptors allow use on current Pentax digital bodies, and also cameras from other brands.
K-mount is the Pentax bayonet mount, but without the auto-aperture feature many take for granted.
Finally, KA indicates K-mount lenses with the contacts for automatic aperture control by the body.
For all except KA, your view will darken as you stop down the lens, making focusing difficult. If you have a Pentax digital camera with the "green button", you can use this to stop down. Otherwise you need to adopt a manual technique. This is one of the difficulties in using vintage glass!
Organisation
The lenses are indexed using the following scheme:
The first letter indicates the type of mount; T, M, K, A.
The next number indicates the manufacturer:
- 0 = Komine
- 1 = Kiron
- 9 = Tokina
- 2 = everyone else
The final number orders the lenses for convenience. Originally this put faster lenses before slower, but as more have been added, this model was broken. Sorry!
Next the barrel text is indicated, exactly as found, starting with "Vivitar" for consistency. You'll have to pay close attention to these markings, as some variants differ only slightly. A vertical line separates the components, though this is not found on the lens itself.
Then the filter size and manufacturer are given, if these are not already obvious.
Each of the lens IDs links to further info and a picture on a seperate page.
Lens List
TX mount (4) T91 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.5 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | No. 37xxxxx | Ø58mm" T92 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | No. 37xxxxxx | Ø52mm" T93 "Vivitar | WIDE-ANGLE | 28mm 1:2.8 | No. 37xxxxx | AUTO" [58mm] T94 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | No. 63xxx" [52mm] M42 mount (13) M01 "Vivitar | 28mm 1:2.0 | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | No. 28xxxxxx" [55mm] M02 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" M03 "Vivitar | 28mm 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | JAPAN | No. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" M04 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" M11 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | No. 22xxx | Ø55MM" M12 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.5 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | No. 22xxxxxx | Ø62MM" M13 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.5 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | No. 22xxxxxx | Ø67MM" M14a "Vivitar | WIDE-ANGLE | 28mm 1:2.5 | No. 22xxxxxx | AUTO" [62mm] M14b "Vivitar | WIDE-ANGLE | 28mm 1:2.5 | No. 22xxxxxx | AUTO" [62mm] M15 "Vivitar | WIDE-ANGLE | 28mm 1:2.5 | No. 22xxxxxx" [62mm] M16 "Vivitar | 28mm 1:2 | MC | WIDE-ANGLE | No. 22xxxxxx | Ø55MM" M21 "Vivitar | WIDE ANGLE | 28mm 1:2.5 | No. 26xxx | AUTO" [62mm, make?] M22 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | Ø49MM" [0/0M96301485 on barrel] M91 "Vivitar Series 1 | 28mm 1:1.9 | VMC | Auto Wide Angle | No. 37xxxxxx | Ø58MM" K-mount (13) K01 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.0 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" K02 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" K03 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" K04 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | AUTO WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" K05 "Vivitar | RL EDITION | 28mm 1:2.8 | CLOSE FOCUS | MC | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49mm" K06 "VIVITAR | SMS | 28mm 1:2.8 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" K11 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2 | WIDE-ANGLE | NO. 22xxxxxx | Ø55MM" K12 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | No. 22xxxxxx | Ø55MM" K13 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2 | MC | WIDE-ANGLE | NO. 22xxxxxx | Ø55MM" K14 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.5 | AUTO WIDE-ANGLE | NO. 22xxxxxx | Ø67MM" K21 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | WIDE ANGLE | MC | NO. 42xxxxxx | Ø49MM" [Bauer] K22 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | AUTO | Ø49MM | VMC" [make?] K91 "Vivitar Series 1 | 28MM 1:1.9 | VMC | AUTO WIDE ANGLE | No. 37xxxxxx | Ø58MM" KA-mount (8) A01 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.0 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" A02 "VIVITAR | SMS | 28mm 1:2.8 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" A03 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | CLOSE FOCUS WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" A04 "VIVITAR | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | NO. 28xxxxxx | Ø49MM" A21 "Vivitar | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | Ø49MM" [Cosina] A22 "Vivitar | 28mm 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE LENS | NO. 61xxxxxx | Ø52MM" [make?] A23 "Vivitar | 28mm 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE JAPAN | Ø49mm | IMAGE by" [make?] A24 "Vivitar | RL EDITION | 28MM 1:2.8 | MC | WIDE ANGLE | Ø49MM | 97xxxxxx" [Cosina?] for comparison X01 "KINO PRECISION | KIRON | 28mm f/2 | MC" X02 "smc PENTAX-A 1:2.8 28mm xxxxxxx"
Advice
I have too many of these variants, but nowhere near all of them. So I cannot definitively answer the most common question: "Which one should I buy?"
I would first caution readers to not have too hightened an expectation of their prospective purchase. These lenses are old and not optimised for digital capture. We are interested in them because they can provide good value for money, not necessarily because they are the best lenses on the planet. Bu then as lenses become famous and collectable their prices go up out of all proportion. The irony is that guides like this don't help!
Three things to be aware of.
First, older lenses have coatings that may be poor by today's standards. Always use a lens hood and consider the placement of light sources in your frame. A hood increases contrast and reduce flare.
Second, don't expect these lenses to be sharp or contrasty wide open. In fact some are quite ridiculously hazy and mystical... a nice effect if you want it. But stopped down one or two, many are excellent performers.
Third, be aware that there will be great variation in individual samples, depending on where the lens has been and how it has been cared for. Someone else's lens might be good as new, but your copy could be out of alignment.
As a specific example, Kiron manufactured lenses have a common problem with oil on the blades. If you get a lens cheaply enough, even in this condition, the cost to clean it up might nonetheless present you with a bargain.
Further advice: You will do best to avoid the newer variants with an "A" setting, made by Cosina and other unknown manufacturers. These tend to be as average as any off-brand 28mm. You might also wish to avoid the "TX" and "M42" mount lenses since many have poorer coatings and seem to have mediocre micro-contrast. However, this is not true in all cases, since some of the M42 variants are more recent than some of the K-mount variants. If we could date more of the lenses we would have a better idea of their evolution, but it seems unlikely this will happen.
There is no doubt that the "Close Focus" variants have become particularly desireable, due to the championing of certain forum members. The ability to get closer to the subject opens up new and enticing photographic possibilities. For some reason the overall image quality of these also appears to be superior to many variants.
About Me
I am a university lecturer in digital media, a composer of electroacoustic music, and dedicated researcher.
You may wish to visit the Theatre of Noise to read many other articles on photography (and much more besides).
Corrections and additions are welcome, even if it takes me a decade to add them! Contact robin746 at gmail dot com.
But please note that I'm only cataloguing Vivitar lenses (no other manufacturer) for Pentax cameras (no other mounts) at 28mm (no other focal length). I haven't even shot Pentax in years, but will stick to these constraints just the same.
My Collection
Here are the lenses I collected while researching this database.
Left-to-right, top row:
Vivitar 28mm [K02], the very famous close focusing 2.8
Kiron 28mm, not a Vivitar but the equivalent of K11, with lovely blue numerals
Vivitar 28mm [K03], haven't shot as much with this one
Vivitar 28mm [K01] my "go-to" 28mm, just because of the extra stop
Bottom row:
Pentax A 28mm, smaller than most alternatives
Vivitar 28mm [T92] with a strange aperture dial that turns either way
Vivitar 28mm [M91], the fastest 28mm -- look at all that glass!
Vivitar 24mm [similar to A01], my only KA mount Vivitar in 24mm
What is SMS?
The SMS designation was long a mystery, until revealed on this page of the bestiary thread by georgweb and TourDeForce. You can read United States Patent 6896381 Compact folded-optics illumination lens to discover:
The shapes of the plurality of optically active surfaces (e.g., three optically active surfaces), deployed on the first and second lens surfaces, are derived through a simultaneous multiple-surface (SMS) method. The present method, according to one embodiment, utilizes an SMS process in at least part of the method to perform a conjoint successive generation of two optically active surfaces in a system.
I trust that's clear.
References
A decade ago I trawled every possible source of information. Most of these are lost to time, only accessible through the Wayback Machine.
Denis' page gives an overview of Vivitar and some stats for the 28mm focals, but it is hard to tell which variants these go with.
Robert Monaghan's Cult Classics in Third Party Lenses last appeared in 2006.
Bill Salati writes about the Kiron 28/2 lubricant problem.
Comparison tests of three relevent lenses (and seven others that are not) at 28mm. In Japanese.
Kiron 28/2 tested in Modern's Photo Buying Guide '85 (OM mount).
Robertstech illustrates the problem rear mount flange that needs to be cut off certain models.
History
v3.00 (10 June 2023): Rewritten for clarity, new photos of K13, missing photos noted, added section My Collection, added section What is SMS?
v2.14 (13 Apr 2012): M14a and M14b distinguished with new photos
v2.13 (11 Jul 2011): added SMC Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8 for comparison
v2.12 (11 Jul 2011): updated size of M91, updated optics and official size of K01, added 9 links to reviews on my blog
v2.11 (18 Jan 2011): new photos of A01 and M13 (courtesy "721"), changed reference to Robert Monaghan's site (thanks Paul)
v2.10 (6 Nov 2010): reference to rear flange problem
v2.09 (21 Oct 2010): added missing A24 details, explanation of "RL EDITION", few more data points and the References section
v2.08 (20 Oct 2010): two new photo sets, addition of "full focus range", "front element turns" and "aperture blades" specs
v2.07 (19 Oct 2010): add full details! photos! extravaganza!
v2.06 (18 Oct 2010): add T94, rewrite with section headers
v2.05 (19 Jan 2010): corrected A03, updated totals
v2.04 (18 Jan 2010): add A24, M15
v2.03 (18 May 2009): add A03, A04
v2.02 (5 April 2009): T93 casing fix, filter size on M14
v2.01 (4 April 2009): add K06, fix casing on M and T lenses
v2.00 (3 April 2009): formatted and online