Vivitar 19mm f3.8 – Exactly What it Should Be

Late one night, I was on a deep dive into finding a lens that matched a narrow, and somewhat arbitrary set of requirements I set. A mess of browser tabs covered my monitor. Most of these being the multicolored eBay logo as I hunted for a PK-mount, 18 or 19mm, manual focus, and most importantly, cheap lens.

At first glance, this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but with more context the heavily constricted range of choices was more logical. I had long enjoyed 28mm on my film cameras and wanted a lens that would give me the same experience on my Fuji X-Pro 1. I wanted a PK-mount lens though as I still wanted it to work with my troop of K1000s in a variety of conditions. (Budget had long crossed out Fuji’s own 18mm anyways.)

After all this, the search had narrowed down to a Vivitar 19mm f3.8

$40 and an eBay purchase later and the lens was in my possession. As it turns out, there are actually multiple forms of this lens, some plastic, some metal, some Cosina made, etc. I ended up in possession of a metal, and likely Cosina built model.

First impressions were off to a positive start, the lens was compact, being about the same size as your average 28mm lens. It also felt well-built, even if the aperture ring on my example couldn’t decide how stiff or loose it wanted to be.

Further tests on digital were less promising. It performed fine, but definitely only stopped down. Distortion is notable, and the lens struggles with contrast at wider apertures. Its resolving power also does not hold up to 16mp sensors. This is absolutely understandable for an old, film-intended, budget ultrawide, but nonetheless I found this lens to capture my attention on its intended medium more than anything.

Shooting ultrawide on film, especially at the very cheap price-point of this lens feels very special. You can ignore the strange five-blade aperture, and appreciate being able to capture things you wouldn’t otherwise be able to with your dented, abused, K1000. I found an ultra-wide and HP5 pushed two stops to be a winning combo in the right environment.

The lower resolving power of film, and general carefree-ness regarding imperfections let me actually enjoy this lens for what it was supposed to be. No longer bound by the hunt for precision I find myself engaging with on digital photography, I find few lenses give me as unique of an experience as this 19mm, especially considering the price. It is not a perfect lens, but some of the stranger qualities give the lens an eccentric persona. While the Vivitar 19mm may not have been what I thought I was looking for, I think I found something even better. It may not be for everyone, but at least for me, I always manage to find a creative boost with this lens.

Share this post: