The Vivitar V3800N - the last of the K-mount film SLRs

I have this lens in M42 mount, and it's great - and heavy!

You probably associate the Vivitar name with lenses from the 1970s to 1990s.    It’s a well-known brand in the photographic industry, or at least it was, as it went bankrupt in 2008.    There’s a lot of information about the Vivitar brand, and many people are familiar with the Vivitar flash units that were considered to be among the best, as well as the numerous lenses with the Vivitar name.  Vivitar rarely manufactured anything, but they had a lot of items manufactured to their specifications by OEMs, as well as simple rebadging of existing products, such as many of their lenses.  The Vivitar Series 1 lenses were at one time, among the best of third-party lenses, made by Kiron, Komine, and other Japanese manufacturers.    If you could not afford a Nikkor zoom, by golly there was a nice Vivitar 70-210 that could do the job.    I still have a 19mm f/3.8 Vivitar F-mount lens that I purchased new in 2002.    One of the all-time best 28mm lenses was sold by Vivitar in a variety of different mounts - the Vivitar 28mm/2.5 with a 67mm filter thread.    Sharp as a tack on a bare foot.

The Vivitar Series 1 70-210 zoom was sold in many different SLR mounts, and was an 
outstanding lens for its time. It's still a great lens, but make sure you get one that has not been abused.

The Vivitar 220/SL was a popular M42 mount body

Okay, but what about the cameras? Cosina manufactured a series of Vivitar-branded M42 SLRs in the late 1960s into the late 1970s.    The 220/SL, 250/SL, 400/SL, 420/SL, and 450/SLD are similar to the Cosina branded Hi-Lite series.    All have metal copal square shutters, B. 1-1/1000 sec shutter speeds, stop-down metering, hot shoe, 1/125sec flash sync, and are all in black. I highly recommend the 420/SL. You’ll find that prices for these well-made cameras to be quite low on eBay. They require a battery only for the operation of the meter.    In retaining the fidelity of Pentax mounts, the Vivitar K-Mount bodies, are the Vivitar XV-2 and XV-3 in the late 1970s, followed by the Vivitar V335 and V635 in the late 1980s. In the 1990s, we have the Vivitar V2000 and V4000, followed by the V3800 in 2001.    If you were to compare the the last few models of the these cameras made by Cosina, they compare favorably to the Nikon FM10, Yashica FX-7, and Canon T60, also made by Cosina. 

The V3800N that I own is a basic, competent 35mm SLR with a metal vertical focal plane shutter with a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000 sec.    Yes, the body is plasticky, but no more so than any other contemporary camera.    

Features of the Vivitar V3800N

•      B, 1-1/2000 sec shutter speed
•     a multiple exposure button 
•     hot shoe and PC socket for studio flash
•     depth of field preview button
•     self-timer
•     film reminder slot on back
•     uses 2 LR-44 cells
•     ISO settings of 25-3200
•     3 diodes in the viewfinder for +/- metering
•     takes K-mount lenses
•     shutter button with ability to take a standard remote release cable.

So, forget about the Pentax K1000, as the V3800N has better features.  But it’s not a Pentax, you say? Doesn’t matter. I’ve seen plenty of late model K-mount cameras from Pentax that suffer from electronics failure. The Cosina bodies are fairly simple, and proven to last. You have access to a huge array of K-mount lenses made by Pentax, Ricoh, Chinon, Cosina, as well as Vivitar and other brands, such as Tamron, Tokina, and Sigma.

This is a pretty easy camera to use, and it’s not at all bulky. The shutter has a satisfying “clunk” when you make an exposure. The controls are simple, straightforward, and really all that you need on a manual SLR.    

 The V3800N is the last of the basic 35mm SLRs made in the 2000s.    As far as I know, they were still being manufactured as late as 2012, and if you are lucky, you might still find a “new in box” camera on the infamous auction site.    The Promaster 2500PK is the same camera, and there’s another version of the same camera with the "Phenix" brand.    Since these cameras were aimed at the “low-end” you are likely to find some with problems attributed to misuse, since they are not built like a Nikkormat, but they are built like a Nikon FM-10.    If the camera is in good working condition, there’s no reason not to buy one, and prices for any of the K-mount V-series SLRs are ridiculously low - less than $50 with a lens, so there are definitely bargains out there. 

You can see the Cosina lineage in the FM 10

This brings me to another thought — imagine if Cosina produced these for today’s market? If one is willing to pay $500 for a Pentax 17, I’d think that a similar price for a Cosina-based SLR would be warranted.    It’s likely that it would sell quite well.    There are lots of K-mount lenses available, and I suppose that Cosina could OEM this for Ricoh/Pentax, or even as their own brand. Remember that Cosina sold the Bessaflex M42 mount camera in the early 2000s. 

The Canon T60, another Cosina-made SLR. The last of the
FD-mount cameras

I recommend the Vivitar SLRs due to their ease of use, proven technology, and ability to use K-mount lenses. Maybe you feel like people will look down on you because you have a camera with a Vivitar brand on it.    Don’t fall into that trap. You can take photographs with it and spend far less than someone thinking that the K1000 is the “perfect” camera.      

While writing this, I was searching for V-series cameras on eBay.    Wouldn’t you know it, I bought a Vivitar V2000 with a Samyang 28-70 zoom lens for $23 + shipping.    It arrived within 5 days, so after doing my usual checks to make sure everything was working correctly, I attached a Pentax 50mm/1.7 to it, put in a roll of Kentmere 400, and shot the roll at the Beaver Lake Nature Preserve.    If anything, the V2000 handles more like the Nikon FM10, as it has a shutter release lock when the film advance is pushed against the body.    In typical Nikon fashion, once you pull the lever back to its standoff point, it unlocks the shutter release an activates the meter.    The +/- diodes are on the left side of the viewfinder, whereas with the V3800, they are on the right.    The V2000 is a delight to use, as it has nice ergonomics  and feels right in the hands.  So again, the V2000 is also a good choice for a budget SLR.    

Camera-wiki has a lot of information on the various Cosina and Vivitar cameras, so if you want to know more, it’s a fantastic resource.    

Since these budget cameras use K-mount lenses, there’s a huge number of possible lenses available. Naturally, most people start out with a 50mm prime lens, and that’s a good choice. While there are not quite as many options for 50mm lenses as there are with M42 mount SLRs, there are lenses made by Pentax (of course), Chinon, Cosina, Ricoh, and the Vivitar-branded lenses, which are probably made by Cosina. You can’t go wrong with an SMC Pentax 50mm f/2.    However, the Rikenon 50mm f/2 is also highly regarded, as is the Chinon 50mm f/1.9.    

One to look for, the Vivitar 24mm f/2.8

I shot for years with just a Pentax MG with a 50mm f/2 SMC Pentax lens, and a 135mm f/3.5 SMC Pentax telephoto. Then, in 2000, I acquired an Takumar A Pentax 28-80 zoom, and my world was changed.    While I love my prime lenses, the short range zooms such as 28-80, 35-70, and 35-105 are definitely worth having.    In the K-mount tent, there are a LOT of different zoom lenses to be had.  Accordingly, there are a lot of different manufacturers and brands available.    Do your research and go from there.