Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 Auto Macro Prime Lens Olympus OM Caps

This Vivitar 55mm f2.8 Macro has an Olympus OM mount, and comes with the original Vivitar push-on metal cap, a Ponder & Best skylight filter, and an Olympus rear cap. Its serial number begins with 28, and the consensus is that Vivitar lenses with serial numbers beginning with 28 were made by Komine Co. Ltd, a quality lens maker. It probably dates to 1976. It focuses smoothly and seamlessly from infinity down to true macro 1:1 images, with the lens fully extended. Consequently, the working distance from the front of the lens barrel is less than a few inches in 1:1 macro (see photo). The focus throw is short in normal shooting but quite long as you enter macro range. The six-blade aperture clicks at half and full stops, and it takes 62mm filters.

The lens is in fine conditions, with no scratches, fungus, or haze. There is some dust visible with backlighting, typical of lenses of this era. The aperture blades are oil-free and snappy. The body has no dents, dings, and only light signs of use, and the lettering is bright and clean.

The Vivitar cap has a lanyard attached to it and fits snugly on the lens when the skylight filter *IS NOT* attached. The skylight filter is a fraction of a millimeter narrow than the lens, and does not hold the cap.

This lens was made in various mounts, and the Komine versions get superb marks for sharpness, color rendering, handling, and bokeh. These vintage macros are popular for both portraits and close subjects. The sample image of the marbles and nickel were taken with the lens adapted to an EOS Rebel T2i and show the entire APS-C frame view, and the marbles images has a 1:1 inset. With caps, the lens weighs 362 grams.