Vivitar IC 101

The Vivitar IC 101 seems to have achieved somewhat of a minor cult status. Its most notable feature is a 28mm lens and a permanently fixed panoramic mask. This masks yields a 13x36mm image.  The aperture is f/8 and the shutter speed is 1/125.  For me this camera turned up in a garage sale for $1.  I didn't know its cult statue then.  I just have a habit of picking up Vivitar cameras if they are very cheap. So last summer I ran some expired Kodak Max 400, that I also found at a garage sale, through it.  Some of the pictures I kinda like, however it will probably be a while if ever before I join the fan base of this camera. If I do I will probably remove the masks.

Vivitar 24mm 1:2.8 Auto-Wide-Angle

From what little info I could find about this lens it seems to have been made by Tokina in the late 1970's. The camera, a Sears KS Super II, is all automatic with no manual option. From the one time that I used it I can say it performs well, however I don't get too excited about a camera without a manual option.









I wouldn't normally buy a camera like the Sears KS Super II on Ebay, however I noticed it had a couple of extra lens.  One was a Sears 135mm f/2.8 and the other was the lens featured here.  There also was the standard Sears f/2.0 lens.  All three are decent lenses and the price for the whole package was under $20. So I put it on my watch list and was pleased to win the auction for slightly less than $20.  I had been needing some K-mount lenses and I was very happy to get three new ones to try out for a low cost. I tend to think that if the Vivitar 24mm had been properly listed by itself that it would have gotten a better price than what I payed for all three lenses.  Especially since I have since found out that the Tokina version of the Vivitar 24mm has a very good reputation.

This image looks a lot better at a size that wouldn't be convenient for my blog.  I do have a fondness for the bare trees and shadows of winter.

I like a wide-angle for getting a different look with machinery.

Overall I have been pleased with the Vivitar 24mm.  It may be slightly less sharp than my Canon 24mm, however to me there isn't a great difference in the performance of the two lenses.  Which I think speaks well for the Vivitar.


















I took these photos with my Pentax K1000 on Kentmere 400 film developed in Xtol.  I think the Kentmere 400 does pretty well in Xtol.  Still my next roll of bulk film is going to be some Ilford HP5.  It doesn't cost a lot more than the Kentmere and from the single rolls I have used in the past the results of the HP5 is more what I am looking for in B&W.  Still the Kentmere has come to earn some respect and I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying it out.

I am excited that I should be getting a Zenit S this week.  It is a Soviet 1950's SLR.  Basically, it is a Zorgi rangefinder with a reflex-box added.  I only recently learned about it and was enamored by its appearance. So I should have something to report about my experience in meeting the Zenti S in person soon.  The picture is from Wiki Commons. 

Vivtar EZ35

Seems like it has been a while since I took some pictures with a cheap plastic camera. The Vivitar EZ35 is certainly in that category. I think the aperture is f/8 and the shutter speed is 1/125. There is not much else to it.






One thing I have just realized about this sort of camera is that it is pretty hard to be disappointed in the results since my expectations at the start are so low.

Sometimes it is interesting to shoot into the sun.

There must have been a panorama craze with these cheap cameras for a time.  A lot of the cameras that I would guess are in the post time-life type camera era have some option for fake panoramas. The EZ35 has a mask that is inside the camera that cuts off part of the upper and lowers frames.  If you want normally framed images you have to remove the mask before you load the film. I only discovered this after taking a roll of film so I got all panoramas.

Here is the optional black border showing how much is cut out of the frame.

This format does leave quite a bit of room for text.  Unfortunately at least for me there is not a lot to say about this camera. I used Kentmere 400 developed in Xtol for the images.

Polaroid One Step Rainbow and Vivitar PN2011

• 1 element plastic lens with fixed aperture (103mm, f14.6)
• 4ft minimum focus distance.
• Exposure compensation dial around electric eye.
• Uses SX-70 integral film.

There must have been a lot of the One Step Rainbows made since I see them at garage sales all the time.  I got this one over the weekend at a church sale where they were giving things away.  So I couldn't pass on a free camera.  This one came in a bag with the manual.  It is very clean and I think it would be a good bet to still work if I wanted to spend the money to get film for it.  I have to admit that I kinda like the way it looks. So right now it is just a looking at camera.

• Fixed focus.
• Manual film advance.
• Aperture: f/8 .
• Wide angle 28mm lens.
• Shutter speed fixed at 1/125s.
• Lens cover opens and closes via sliding switch.
• Tripod socket.
• No batteries required.

This one is a bit of a "cult camera".  Do a search and you'll find a fair amount of discussion.  The PN2011 reminds me some of the Vivitar UWS although its 28mm lens is not as wide as the 22mm that the UWS has. The PN2011 does beat the UWS in having the familiar fake panorama mode.

The Vivitar PN2011 has a useful wide-angle.  It is very light and easily fits in a shirt pocket. 

Sharpness is mostly a quality that you may often have to do without in the PN2011.  It doesn't seem to have the vignetting that frequently happens with the UWS.

This Vivitar EZ35 was in the box with the Vivitar PN2011.  It has a fairly normal 35mm lens.  I imagine it will be a while till I get around to seeing what kind of pictures it takes. 

So this week it was back to the cheap plastic cameras.  This entire haul cost $1.50.  It would have been only 50 cents, however I made a $1 donation to the church sale.  

Vivitar PS25 Focus Free/Motor

Probably made sometime in the late 1980's.  One of a large number of inexpensive point & shoots sold by Vivitar.











Someday I would like to find a listing of all the point & shoot cameras that were made with the Vivitar name from the 1980's up until that brand no longer appeared on film cameras.  The information must exist somewhere and I would guess that the number of models is very large.  Certainly the numbers are very large in comparison to the number of people who would like that data.

The Vivitar PS25 is likely a camera that I picked up at a garage sale for a dollar or so.  It has only one aperture of what looks like f/5.6.  The shutter speed is likely the 1/125 that appears to be the standard for cameras of this type.  The focus is fixed.  It uses DX coding for the built-in flash.  That flash comes on automatically if you need extra light.  A motor advances and rewinds the film.  I'd guess it was sold fairly cheaply in places like Walmart. I tend to think of a camera like the Vivitar PS25 as being in the spirit of the box cameras of the 1940's and 1950's.  A cheap easy to use camera for the masses that took reasonably good photos.  Although I have my doubts that these cameras will ever inspire some of the nostalgia that cameras like the Kodak Brownies do. Still I admit that the looks of some of this type of camera has grown on me.  Fortunately if cameras like the Vivitar PS25 ever become objects of camera collecting desire there should be plenty to go around.  

I could be wrong, however from the few photos I have taken with the PS25 I have a feeling that it has the potential to make some interesting photos.  Still so far I haven't felt motivated to further explore its possibilities.  For now all I have is the images in the Vivitar PS25 Gallery.

Garage Sale Finds

Twindar Star, Suprema Mini GTG, and Vivitar T200








Pickings have been slim around here camera-wise.  I went to the Champaign County Humane Society garage sale and the cameras above were the best I could do.  And this is from one of the largest community garage sales of the year.  This haul did only cost $2.  I also got four rolls of expired Kodak Gold Max 400 for a dollar and five rolls of expired Kodak Gold 200 for the same price.  The Twindar did have a manual that says it is f/9 with 1/100 for the shutter speed.  The other two don't give those details although I would guess they have similar specifications.  The Suprema has a 28mm lens.  The other two look like 35mm. 

So I have nothing to add to a museum of fine photographic equipment.  Still I am looking forward to putting a roll of the expired film through each one and seeing what happens.  I am getting quite a collection of these cheap plastic cameras.  Some I have gotten some pleasing results from.  And at least they don't cost much.  Still I hope that I run across some more sophisticated cameras this summer.

If you need to purge your eyes after looking at these lowly cameras this link may be helpful to you.  It is to a bunch of articles on historic and classic cameras at Shutterbug Magazine.

Blue Deluxe, Kodak S 100 EF, and Vivitar Champion II

No idea who made this camera other than it was made in China.  I got it because I had not seen this design before.  A single shutter speed and aperture camera.











Despite the urgings of my higher self I have developed an affection for the cheap plastic point & shoots of the 1980's and 90's. So a camera like the Blue Deluxe is hard for me to resist.  As its color would suggest, with its 1/125 shutter speed and f/11 aperture, the Blue Deluxe is a camera for sunny days and blue skies.

Many cameras of this sort have the defect of occasionally taking a technically decent image. The Blue Deluxe seems to be free of that defect.

The viewfinder is a problem in this camera.  When originally framed only the door and a small area around it was shown in the viewfinder.  Obviously the camera is taking in a much larger area.

I felt an unexplainable affection for this Kodak S 100 EF when I first saw it at an antique shop this weekend. The only thing I can think of is that it is a reincarnation of a camera that I knew in a previous lifetime. 





The Kodak S 100 EF is a little more advanced than the Blue Deluxe.  It has three apertures and a flash.  It can work without batteries.  Two AA batteries are only needed for the flash to work.  The lens is a doublet.  The camera originally sold for 59.95 and was out from 1989 to 1993. 

The Kodak S 100 EF appears capable of taking images superior to those of the Blue Deluxe - at least from a technical viewpoint.

I don't know much about the Vivitar CHAMPION II.  It appears to have only one aperture and one shutter speed.  These will work without the battery which is needed only for the flash.







I imagine that it would be a challenge to collect all the Vivitar cameras of this type.  Just making a list of all the ones that were made would be a major feat.  The Vivitar CHAMPION II is one of the rare cameras that I was unable to find example pictures for on Flickr. 

Popular Photography on Google, Vivitar 24mm lens

From a January 1981 ad in Popular Photography.  Frank's was a hot place for photographers in its glory days. 














I remember the ads for Frank's used to catch my eye.  I think is was because it was the only camera store ad that had pictures of the people that worked there. I wondered if they were still in business and found that they may still be hanging on. They didn't make a transition to digital and appear to be going on with business by selling off their remaining inventory from film days while trying to find a buyer for their store building. I found a mention of the store in a Yelp review from 2010, so they were still open at that time.  They still have a website.
Frank's Highland Park Camera
It looks like the winding down process  has been going on for a while.  Here is a thread from 2005 discussing Frank's.
Good Bye Camera Landmark - Franks' Camera in LA

I made the photo for Frank's ad from an issue of Popular Photography that I found in Google Books.  There are issues there from the 1980's, 1990's, and the 2000's. The issues are searchable and obviously are a useful resource for anyone interested in cameras from that time period.  I hope that some earlier issues become available. 
Issues of Popular Photography on Google Books

Yesterday I developed some test images I took with a Vivitar 24mm 1:2.8 Auto Wide-Angle PK mount lens. I wasn't seeking out this lens, however when I was checking out Sears camera stuff on Ebay I saw this lens offered along with a KS Super camera, a Sears 135 lens, and the standard Sears 50mm 2.0 lens, for a very cheap price.  I won the auction for $14.  I figured it was a good deal since I could probably sell the Vivitar or the Sears 135 for more than that if they were in good shape.  When I got the stuff it was all in good shape.  The Vivitar had front and back caps and the Sears had caps and a carrying case.  There also were a few filters and a nice camera bag.  So I felt like I got my money's worth.

So far I have one picture to offer from the Vivitar.  It is pleasing to me at least. The film is Arista Premium 400 developed in HC-110 for 6 minutes at 68.

Vivitar Big View BV35

Lens: 35mm f/5.6
Features
- Motorized film transport.
- Over-sized viewfinder.
- Auto flash-on and off for easy flash operation.
- Motorized film loading, advance and rewind.
Produced: 1996









Seems like there are hundreds of various point & shoot film cameras with the Vivitar name from the 1980's, 1990's, and the first part of the 2000's. I got this one along with three rolls of slightly expired Kodak Ultramax 400 at a church sale for $1.00.  I was more glad to get the film than the camera.  Still I did run some Arista Premium 400 through it.  I do like the big viewfinder.  While it is not quite as large as the view in a slr it is much larger and brighter than in most cameras of this type.  Also it seems pretty accurate in showing what will actually be in the picture.

The picture quality while not being anything to rave about is certainly acceptable.

I wonder how many times I have photographed this shed when testing cameras?










By the standard of being an inexpensive camera by which someone who knew little about photography could take decent photos the Vivitar Big View BV35 does pretty well.  By today's standards it seems to fall into that vast middle-ground between a camera capable of outstanding results and a camera with some quirk that makes them valued by lomo enthusiasts.

Vivitar Big View BV35 Gallery

Vivitar PS 55s

Lens: 30mm f/5.6, 3 elements in 3 groups.
Focusing: Fixed focus (5 ft/ 1.5 m to infinity).
Flash: Built-in electronic sensor flash. Recycle time 6 seconds with fresh batteries.
Film: 35mm, 400 iso recommended.
Battery: 2 AA





I have to admit that I got this camera because it is red and it was cheap. All the technical detail that I could find is listed next to the photo.  I couldn't find anything about shutter speed, however if it is like most of this type of camera the speed is around /125. 

You might not know that Vivitar was an American company.  They started out importing German and then Japanese camera products and eventually commissioned Japanese manufacturers to make products that they had designed.  They were one of the first companies to use computers to assist in the design of a lens.  During the 1980's and 1990's they appear to have put out an infinite number of cheap point and shoot cameras. Probably the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim is the most famous of this breed.  Vivitar fell on hard times during the 2000's and the name ended up being bought by Sakar International. They use the Vivitar name on some mid-priced digital cameras and on DSLR lenses.  

So far I have only put one roll of Fuji 400 through the PS 55s.  I am pleased with the results.  I like the small amount of softness and the slight glow that some of the images have.  The camera didn't seem to have any problem with lighting from a dull cloudy day to a bright sunny one.  Not being much for flash photography I failed to test the flash. 

I wouldn't say that this is a must have camera, however if you encounter one for a good price I think you will be pleased. 

Vivitar PS 55s Gallery