NOW WITH PICTURES! A good day hunting

[casualcollector]

I found these yesterday at a thrift store about a half hour away. I was laid off from work about two weeks ago, thus have the time to poke around before the weekend crowds get all the goodies! On the left is a Vivitar 35/2.8. The 2290xxxx serial indicates it was made by Kino Precision probably in 1969. The Vivitar 135/2.8 poses a bit of a mystery as the serial is 11907xxxx. I've never seen a one or eleven prefix on any Vivitar build code list. The A-M indicator in a window and dots indicating half stops aren't typical of later Vivs. I'm guessing it came from Komine but am open to other opinions. The 55/1.4 seems a fairly typical offering of the Mamiya DTL era. A smooth operator with the aperture ring only slightly stiff from age. A bit of dust and minor cosmetic wear on all. The iris on the 135 is not working, the 35 has a dinged filter ring. I convinced the manager to take $10 US for all three!

[PeterW]

Sorry to hear you were laid off work. It's happening to the nicest people!

With regard to your thrift-store hunt they say it takes two to make a bargain, but only one gets it.

In this case it sounds as if you definitely got the bargain. BTW, couldn't see the picture.

peterW

[casualcollector]

Thanks Peter. Yes it happened to the nice people and it happened to me, too!

I was having trouble on this and another forum. The image was hosted on Picasa and not showing in the post. It seems to have reappeared, but I've also relocated the image to Photobucket. Perhaps a glitch at Google/Picasa.

The aviation business seem to be crashing along with the rest of the economy. Before my layoff we were informed there would be two, unpaid, production shutdowns. Each a week long in April and July. The local news today announced two more week long shutdowns, one in May and another in June.

BTW, I would like to thank the UK for several unexpected orders placed last year when the dollar was weak!

[PeterW]

Ah!

The picture's come up now. I see it's 1024 pixels wide. Maybe that's what delayed it, but I could see it all by centring the pic on my screen.

Can you remember in future to limit your pictures to 750-800 (max) pixels wide, please? It makes life easier for people with smaller screens.

peterW

[Just Plain Curt]

I understand the laid off part too well. We've been off on a shut down for a month now and were just informed today instead of starting Feb.27 we'll be off till at least Mar.10. Economic times are crazy but there's no control for any of us so we go with the flow.
That 135 is so darn familiar and yet I can't put a name on it, have to look through mine now you've got me curious. Nice deal by the way, haven't come close in a while myself.
I was going to resize, delete your photo and modify your post but thought it a bit rude to step on your toes so I'll leave alone unless you'd prefer I do so. I saved a copy at approx. 600 wide.

[Randy]

The 135 looks simular to the one I have for my Kodak Retina S.