Vivitar Series 1 35-85mm f/2.8 FD (Canon) mount

Serial no. 22809711

With lens hood. Lens does have a ring of haze on one of the elements.

The Vivitar Series 1 35-85mm f/2.8 VMC Auto Variable Focusing lens was intentionally designed to use vari-focusing instead of being a conventional zoom in order to achieve higher optical quality. The upside was having one of the highest resolution lenses of its type. The downside was needing to refocus each time the focal length changed.[1] Though modern zoom lenses may match or surpass the quality of this 1970s lens, it compared favorably with zoom lenses made as late as the 1990s, putting it well ahead of its time. The Lens Book, published in 1994, says this lens has cult status[2] and offers this praise for it: <blockquote> An old lens, like the 1970s-vintage Vivitar Series One 35-85mm f/2.8, may actually outperform some modern zooms of similar focal length, especially if they are of the variable-aperture type''.[3]

Vivitar believed the wide angle to medium telephoto range lens was an ideal choice by many photographers who wished to carry only one lens with them. Vivitar had 8 goals they wished to achieve with the design of this lens, which are described in a 1975 full-page ad for the lens: