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Vivitar  Auto-aperture MC close-focusing 24mm F2.8 Review RSS Feed

Vivitar Auto-aperture MC close-focusing 24mm F2.8

Sharpness 
 8.0
Aberrations 
 8.0
Bokeh 
 7.8
Handling 
 9.3
Value 
 9.3
Reviews Views Date of last review
7 82,265 Thu June 1, 2023
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Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $54.79 8.29
Vivitar  Auto-aperture MC close-focusing 24mm F2.8
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Description:
The "close focus" Vivitars were made by Komine - 28xxxxx serials. Can be found in PK, M42 and PKA mounts.

Construction:
Aperture: f2.8 - f22
Iris:
Filter: 49mm thread
CFD:
Focus throw:
Weight:
Mount Type: Pentax KA
Price History:



Add Review of Vivitar  Auto-aperture MC close-focusing 24mm F2.8
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Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 1-7 of 7
New Member

Registered: April, 2023
Location: Sunny Wisconsin
Posts: 2
Review Date: June 1, 2023 Recommended | Price: $17.50 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Extremely inexpensive for a 24mm full frame lens, works well for IR
Cons: Not sharp at any focal length
Sharpness: 7    Aberrations: 7    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 9    Value: 10    Camera Used: K1-ii, K3, K5, Kx, K-01, K1000, Zx5n, PZ1   

Purchased this manual focus 'A' lens from a pawn shop for under $20 (circa 1997) when I was shooting film, doing weddings, and basic shooting. This lens has found a solid home as a great wide-angle lens. Shooting full-frame 24mm is a good focal length for a prime for walking around shooting nature/landscape. This lens has a bit of softness throughout, and that can work in your favor as the bokeh is soft and non-distracting. This is suited well for IR photography and my copy sits with a 720nm filter on at all times for quick access to IR shots.
   
New Member

Registered: November, 2013
Posts: 14

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: September 2, 2014 Recommended | Price: $80.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: very sharp single lens
Cons: wide open a few weak
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 9    Handling: 10    Value: 9   

sharpness only 9 points because wide open less contrast, but from f 5,6 to f 11 very good to excellent sharpness.

excellent color rendition.

high contrast stopped down,

very nice close-ups
   
Senior Member

Registered: February, 2008
Location: Mount Shasta
Posts: 185

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: July 7, 2010 Recommended | Price: $79.00 | Rating: 9 

 
Pros: Great in low light. Light weight and small. Inexpensive.
Cons: Manual focus. Not complaining, just be aware.

I bought this lens as an inexpensive prime to shoot low light events for the newspaper. Using catch-in-focus, I have had incredibly good results at very high ISOs with the Kx. ISO 12,800 of Christmas lights.
   
Veteran Member

Registered: August, 2015
Location: Toulon, South of France
Posts: 357
Review Date: September 10, 2015 Recommended | Price: $12.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: close fine focus, A mode, punchy colors, light
Cons: not so sharp at far range
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 7    Handling: 10    Value: 8    Camera Used: K200D   

I got the COSINA brand but it is exactly the same lens.
I got mine for cheap because there was something to fix with the aperture mount switch, I fixed it and it is 100% functionnal. But I guess my copy fell on the floor and that an inside lens moved because I have a very poor overall rendering in outdoor shots, at any aperture (although f11 is the best) : CA on left of pics and blur on right of pics, even the center is not so sharp and colors rendering is very low saturated, worst than my kit 18-55 under 30mm !
So I sell it on e-bay for parts.
Perhaps some copies are very good, but I recommend to test before buying one if you can.

Its serial number is 94063226 JAPAN PK-A/R, if you find that it is not the same lens build, feel free to ask a deletion of my review.

a pic of my copy :

https://flic.kr/p/xtm9hp

(in comparison, my 28mm Takumar-A and my 50mm Auto Chinon 1.7 are precious gems)

EDIT : a member told me it could be not exactly the same build, but my model seems rare, I also have a lot of light burn effects, maybe this lens could do a good job for B&W old-style photos, and maybe the aperture lever should be removed to get better results, I'll try that if I don't sell it, could become a "special" prime lens^^

He is right, I have a 52mm plastic filter support and idk for the vivitar, but this cosina has 5 blades.

Test shot B&W to show exposure strange effects, the real sky is cloudy and skylight burns tree leafs... not very sharp anyway, even after LR tweaking :



Taken at F11, iso 100, 1/10s (speed is not the concern, pics taken at 1/250 are not sharper)

The infinity focus does not seem well calibrated (under infinity) as I get much sharper focused zones at short range. I'll recalibrate it tomorrow and add a new shot (same scene), perhaps sharpness will come back. On this lens, infinity starts very close, between a few meters and infinity has the same focus plan.

Here it is, calibrated, internal cleaning, dust and hair removal, I had to change ratings as the colors on this photo have not beed at all modified in LR, so they are naturally very punchy :



As sharpness is hard to see on uploaded pics, this is the flickr link of the full frame photo, not crop at all :

https://flic.kr/p/yuhZdn

I'll add a review for this lens as it is not the same build as the vivitar even if bodies look close. I'll finally keep it, a good deal for 10 euro, and this model seems rare, mainly in PKA mount.
   
Junior Member

Registered: June, 2010
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 44

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: September 10, 2011 Recommended | Price: $45.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Reasonable IQ for the price; dirt cheap next to Pentax
Cons:
Sharpness: 8    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 6    Handling: 8    Value: 10   

I'd been searching for a 24mm lens for my Pentax MX and Pentax K1000 for some time. I already had an extremely cheap Vivitar 28mm lens and found usually myself wishing it was just a bit wider. I was also totally unwilling to pay the going rate for a used Pentax 24mm lens. So the day I saw this pop up on one of the well-known online used gear retailers for $45, I could hardly click "buy" fast enough.

Like other reviewers said, the image quality isn't any kind of standout; just a nice, competent lens. f/2.8 is usable, and stopped down even just to f/4 is more than good enough for my purposes. It flares very easily: just having a bright sunlit spot in the image is enough to reduce contrast in the rest of the image. Stopping down helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem. (I have used this flare characteristic purposefully, so it's not necessarily all bad.) 5-bladed aperture. Wide-angle lenses are never about bokeh; that said I haven't really noticed it one way or the other. (So, it's at least not bad.) Focuses crazy close, which is nice for a wide lens.

As far as build quality, it's all shiny plastic on the outside, with a metal mount. Seems physically durable, though the 3' mark on the focus scale on mine is worn off. (It's painted on, not engraved.) 52mm filter thread is totally different from all my SMC-M lenses, but then Pentax's own 24mm lens from the era had a 52mm thread as well, so you really can't take points off for that vs. a real Pentax lens. The focus ring is more rubbery plastic than the rest of the outside, and focuses the opposite direction from Pentax lenses. Not as smooth or as perfectly damped as a Pentax lens, but not bad.

Considering I picked this up for over one hundred dollars less than a real Pentax SMC lens, I have absolutely no complaints about it. In fact, this plus my 85mm SMC-M have become my go-to pair for "walk around" duty while wandering the city.

I give this a "strong recommend", if you can find it for the right price, or just don't want to pay the premium for a real Pentax SMC 24mm.

- = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - = - =-

I'm going to update this review a bit: all of the above applies for using film.

Now that I have a K-5, my impression of this lens has changed a bit. Flare really is a problem with this lens-- any sort of strong light in the image really decreases the overall contrast of the image with this lens. Still a useful focal length-- like a 35mm lens on a film camera.

The "value" is still great for the price paid, though. And I took away a little bit of the rating for "sharpness" (on the K-5, need to stop down quite a bit to make it sharp, though on film it doesn't show as much.) That's about it. Still glad I have it in my camera bag!
   
Junior Member

Registered: June, 2010
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 43

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: September 16, 2010 Recommended | Price: $100.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Small, lightweight, A-setting, IQ good, close focus is handy.
Cons: Little wobbly, soft wide open, MF only

A competent little lens - nothing amazing, just chugs along.

Build is okay on mine - maybe a little more wobble than I'd like, and the manual focus feel isn't the best: it's not bad, just doesn't give quite the connection I'd like (like a takumar would!).

IQ wise, it's not bad: wideopen is the usual unsharp, low contrast deal, but usable in a pinch. Stopping down, nice sharpness and contrast come through. Colours though aren't very exciting - definitely not as nice or saturated as pentax SMC lenses!

Focuses down to 0.19m (~8"), which is handy, even if not a true macro.
   


1 user found this helpful
Review Date: April 9, 2011 Recommended | Price: $50.00 | Rating: 7 

 
Pros: Simple, cheap, good build quality
Cons: Simple and cheap

As mentioned in the review above, this lens needs to be stopped down to about F5.6 before there is a decent level of sharpness. Once stopped down to here it performs as well as the Pentax SMC lenses however those considerably out perform it wider open. Also the 'softness' that is inherent in the lens is a bit ugly and doesnt have a natural look. So id advice against buying this lens for shooting in low light and for 2/3 senors as DOF has to be compromised condierably for sharpness. Probably on a full frame cameras and stopped down to F5.6 it is a good performer.
However for the price i paid and for general useage its not bad at all...
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