On Wed, 29 Nov 2000, Ray Moth <ray_moth@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>I bought my Viv 70-210 (OM mount), brand new, in Singapore in 1993
>>...any idea about which company might have actually made it, given
>>(IMHO) the poor QC?
... and Lex Jenkins <lexjenkins@xxxxxxxxxxx> responded:
>Very unlikely it's a Kino-manufactured lens. I believe they terminated
>their relationship well before 1990. Tokina? Komine? Even Samyang/Phoenix
>is possible, based on similarities. Haven't been able to find any more
>definitive info on the web.
In addition to the three versions of the Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm
zoom already mentioned here, there was a fourth (and final?) version:
Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm F2.8-4 which had a rubber grip with an
embossed "Vivitar Series 1" pattern, and it accepted 58mm filters.
(It shouldn't be confused with the Komaine-made, identically spec'ed
3-rd version, which takes 62mm filters.)
This late version is not as sturdy or well-made as the previous ones,
and the rumor has it that it was made by (bleh! puke!) Cosina! (I'll
need a serial number to confirm or disprove this.)
I never owned such a 4-th version lens, but it's depicted in my 1994
Vivitar brochure, so it may well be the lens Ray M. complains about.
Quality-wise, all those 4-th generation Series 1 zooms (there were
several!) were a disaster, and the fable Series 1 moniker was almost
ruined. Talk about corporate greed, stupidity, and ineptness...
Cheers,
/Gary Schloss.
schloss@xxxxxxxxxxx
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
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