Vivitar Lens Reviews
Vivitar Corporation is a manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of photographic and optical equipment originally based in Santa Monica, California.
Vivitar Corporation was founded in 1938 as Ponder and Best by Max Ponder and John Best. Max Ponder headed the sales department, while John Best ran the operations side of the company. Ponder and Best first imported German-made photo equipment. After World War II, the partnership began to import cameras and photographic equipment from Japan. They were instrumental in the introduction of many brands into the American market.
- Wikipedia.org, Feb. 2018
Vivitar lenses that have a serial number beginning with "77" were made by Kobori: Kobori Manufacturing Company, Ltd. is a Japanese lens manufacturer, founded on April 1, 1925. Originally manufacturing watch components, they expanded into aeronautical instruments for the military and later focused on optical equipment and camera lenses. Most of the lenses were made for rebranding by other companies such as Minolta, Sony, Nikon, and Vivitar. The company also sold lenses under its own brand name Koboron and has used the names Tefnon, Teknon, and Technon.