Est. 1938 · Santa Monica, California, USA (marketing brand; lenses manufactured in Japan) · 3 lenses
Vivitar Corporation traces its origins to Ponder & Best, Inc., a photographic equipment importer founded in 1938 in Los Angeles. The company sold imported Japanese photographic accessories under the Vivitar brand starting in 1959, eventually adopting Vivitar Corporation as its corporate name in 1971.
Vivitar's commercial model was unusual: the company designed and marketed lenses but contracted their manufacture to Japanese optical firms — primarily Komine, Tokina, Cosina, Kiron, and Mamiya, among others. The brand became known primarily for affordable third-party lenses for the SLR market, but its premium tier, the Series 1, earned a distinct reputation for optical quality that rivaled — and in some cases surpassed — first-party alternatives.
The Series 1 designation was introduced in 1973 to mark lenses whose designs were developed or supervised by independent optical engineers rather than being straightforward copies of existing formulas. The most prominent contributor was Ellis I. Betensky, an American optical designer and patent holder who collaborated with Ponder & Best on several Series 1 designs. Betensky's patents — including US 3,942,876 covering the 200mm f/3.0 VMC — introduced design innovations such as fixed rear corrector elements that remained stationary during focusing, reducing focus breathing and improving off-axis performance at close distances. Other Series 1 contributors included David Betensky and William Peck.
Production quality varied by manufacturer: Series 1 lenses made by Komine are generally regarded as the highest-quality examples, with Kiron-made units also well-regarded. The VMC (Variable Multi-Coating) designation, introduced in the mid-1970s, indicated multi-layer anti-reflection coatings applied to all air-glass surfaces — a feature that markedly improved contrast and flare resistance relative to single-coated alternatives.
Vivitar was acquired by Hanson Photo in 1992. The brand has since changed hands multiple times and today is largely a consumer electronics label with no connection to the optical engineering tradition of the Series 1 era.
Notable designs: Series 1 200mm f/3.0 VMC, Series 1 90mm f/2.5 Macro, Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5