Impulse buy - Vivitar 35ES

[cbass]

Seasons greetings, fellow RFFers. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday.

While visiting my in-laws in New Jersey I paid a visit to my former local camera shop. While there, I stumbled upon a cherry Vivitar 35ES compact rangefinder with its original case, wrist strap and warranty card. A mini bounce-flash was also included in the kit. The asking price was $90 and I concluded that it might be a good buy (did I pay too much 😕 ?). IIRC, the Vivitar 35ES is a Cosina-built kissing cousin of the highly respected Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII. I had this in mind as I handed over my $$.

Holy wow -- what a nice camera! Bright RF & VF, shutter-priority, short focus throw, compact size, near silent shutter, fast glass, glossy black paint...a perfect low-light candid and street shooter. Surprising heft for such a tiny camera. I'll try to post a few shots once I get my first negatives back.

Anybody have any user's tips for shooting with this little gem? How come the 1/125 shutter speed is marked in orange? Is there an owner's maual available on-line? I'd appreciate any input on this little camera. Thank you!

 

[taffer]

If it's in such a nice condition I think that's a fair price, you should get top class results from that beauty.

What I can't help with is the manual or other questions, but be sure some people will come to the rescue soon 🙂

 

[lubitel]

Nice Camera! Never thought about 125 being orange, may be it has something to do with Flash sync?

 

[DougK]

Maybe this link from Matt Denton's website will help.

 

[JoeFriday]

wow.. yours is in great shape... mine is nice, but probably not as minty as yours.. and I'd expect to get about $60 for mine without the case or flash.. so you didn't get screwed

it's got a very nice sharp lens, and it's a handy little size.. I keep mine loaded with b&w film and get great results

 

[Fred]

Looks like you got a very good example 🙂

Not sure why the 125 is a different colour, the camera has a leaf shutter so in theory should be able to sync at all speeds.

There is a company in the UK called 'Oldtimer Cameras' that tend to keep copies of old manuals. The link used to be http://www.oldtimercameras.com/jessops/ I'm of course no affiliate or employee and have not used the service but they might be able to help.

The important thing is have fun shooting with it and share some photo's from it.

 

[DaveP]

How would you guys compare the Vivitar to the Olympus RC in size and performance?

 

[Richard Black]

I can't compare my 35ES to the Oly but I can endorse this fine little camera. I enjoy using mine, for it convenience and its size. It is surprising solid for a small camera. I was looking for the XA but mine came up and I won on a low bid. $90 is a good price for all you received. You will be pleased with the results. I love the vivid color I get with mine.

 

[ch1]

Seasons greetings, fellow RFFers. Hope you all enjoyed the holiday.

While visiting my in-laws in New Jersey I paid a visit to my former local camera shop. While there, I stumbled upon a cherry Vivitar 35ES compact rangefinder with its original case, wrist strap and warranty card. A mini bounce-flash was also included in the kit. The asking price was $90 and I concluded that it might be a good buy (did I pay too much 😕 ?). IIRC, the Vivitar 35ES is a Cosina-built kissing cousin of the highly respected Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII. I had this in mind as I handed over my $$.

Holy wow -- what a nice camera! Bright RF & VF, shutter-priority, short focus throw, compact size, near silent shutter, fast glass, glossy black paint...a perfect low-light candid and street shooter. Surprising heft for such a tiny camera. I'll try to post a few shots once I get my first negatives back.

Anybody have any user's tips for shooting with this little gem? How come the 1/125 shutter speed is marked in orange? Is there an owner's maual available on-line? I'd appreciate any input on this little camera. Thank you!

From this and subsequent posts - looks like you got a great find.

I would guess that the 125 is in orange so it is easiest speed to find as it is the most common used when shooting 100 ISO at Sunny 16.

Kind of the "default" shutter speed around which you adjust apeture.

For a manual, didn't see your exact model but check out Craig Catalogs - here' the immediate listing I found for Vivitar 35's:

http://www.craigcamera.com/ib_tuv.htm

Again, for $90 you cannot have gone wrong and I'm guessing you went very right!

Congrats!

George

P.S. Scroll down pretty far on that catalog page to find the Vivitar listings.

 

[cbass]

Update

Update

Well, I got the test roll back from the processor and all my photos were underexposed by about a stop. I was bummed until I realized that I set the meter for 200 ASA but the store manager had put 400 ASA film in the camera. Whew! At least I know the meter works. I could have used a film cannister window like the one on my Bessa.

Anyway -- a few shots were OK, examples are shown below. All using available light, shot close to wide open at between 1/15 and 1/60 hand held. I am happy with the color and sharpness. I found out that you can lock the aperture by depressing the shutter release half way which helps in backlit situations. There is no way to manually set the aperture.

All things considered I'd say the little Viv is a keeper. The original light seals were awfully gummy so I replaced them earlier today (that $9 kit from Jon Goodman just keeps on going! 😀 ). The Viv should now be ready for another 30 years. I'm so enamored with this little gal that I included her in the "family portrait" of all my user cams.

 

[GeneW]

Well, I got the test roll back from the processor and all my photos were underexposed by about a stop. I was bummed until I realized that I set the meter for 200 ASA but the store manager had put 400 ASA film in the camera.

Wouldn't that make them overexposed by a stop?

Gene

 

[cbass]

Wouldn't that make them overexposed by a stop?

Gene

Oops...you're right. Should have said "overexposed." Thank you.

Apparently, the 35ES does not lock the shutter if the meter needle falls into the red over- or under-exposure zones. A few of my indoor test shots were badly underexposed even with the meter set 1 stop over.

 

[GeneW]

It's a pretty-looking cam! Did Vivitar make these themselves or did they put their label on a unit manufactured for them? Just curious.

Gene

 

[cbass]

Vivitar branded the camera but I think Cosina built it -- at least the body, anyway. The shutter is a Copal unit. The lens may be from Minolta.

 

[ch1]

Vivitar branded the camera but I think Cosina built it -- at least the body, anyway. The shutter is a Copal unit. The lens may be from Minolta.

Looks like you found a wonderful "mutt".

It's a fine deed to take in a "stray" and give it a good home. I'm sure she'll now be a very faithful companion.

Congrats and Happy New Year!

 

[Rob]

This was my first 35mm camera so it was my first rangefinder too. It has a good lens but when I bought it new in about 79 or so I was a beginner and should have shot with my glasses on it back then, I would have had a lot more sharper pix...I sold it after handling the nice new Canon AE-1 cameras. Yours looks mint, but how have you gotten around the 1.35 volt battery it wants?

 

[cbass]

Yours looks mint, but how have you gotten around the 1.35 volt battery it wants?

Yikes, I forgot about that. After reading your post I checked the Vivitar's meter against the known accurate meter in my Bessa R. With an SR 76 1.5 volt battery the Vivitar's meter read only very slightly higher than the Bessa R -- probably within the acceptable exposure range for print film but likely a tad too underexposed for slides. I'll have to remember to keep the Vivitar on a print film diet from now on.

 

[DougK]

If it's anything like the Konica C35 Auto, a Wein cell should work fine for the meter.

 

[Richard Black]

Sample of my 35ES

Sample of my 35ES

😀 Here I hope is a photo taken with my 35ES. We users of this lovely r/f should have our own, "Show us a sample..." like those guys with the Yashicas.

 

[JoeFriday]

yeah.. where's OUR gallery, dammit? here's my contribution.. Kodak BW400CN processed at Target