Vivitar PN2011 - Panoramic Plastic

15

Panoramas with a plastic lens? Read on to find out more about this Vivitar camera!

Don't let the diminutive price tag, plastic body and lens fool you. At 10 dollars at most, this unassuming star takes fairly sharp images of panoramas you want to capture with its focus free capability just wind it up and let the light do the rest . What I enjoy most about this camera is the ability to switch from normal mode to panoramic mode with just a flick of a switch. What this means to me is that I can do regular and panoramic shots all in the same roll. When at the "P" mode a mask covers the top and bottom area of the lens as well as the view finder giving you an idea on how you can compose your shot if you're into that sort of thing still. There's also a tripod socket underneath for those steady shots. It takes all sorts of 35mm film and does wonders for red scaled shots. The built is quite solid I must say for a cheapo plastic cam the aperture and shutter speed are set to f/8 and 1/125.The lens is pretty sharp too.

Tips:

  • It does awesome with red scaled film
  • You can convert it into a pinhole camera with half an hour worth of tinkering
  • Double exposures are great for this camera too.
  • Use the panoramic shots to pimp your Lomohome.

written by halfawakehaiku on 2009-03-05 #gear #review #redscale #panorama #vivitar #panoramic #halfawakehaiku #pn2011

15 Comments

  1. kylethefrench
    kylethefrench ·

    this is one of my fav cams and it is underused ... I sent in a review too! I hope people see these galleries and understand the genius of this here cam... oh also you can modify it to take long exposures and multi-exposures!

  2. ethermoon
    ethermoon ·

    nice review james! I haven't got and tried this camera --- but now i will do. :D

  3. eyecon
    eyecon ·

    What the f*** is going on in pic # 13?

  4. thaiseb
    thaiseb ·

    So bad ! I ordered it on eBay last month and it was stolen at the post…

  5. halfawakehaiku
    halfawakehaiku ·

    @ eyecon- that's what we do to rapists here. we burn them in the public square...

    Kidding :) That's a high diver who lights himself up and summersaults into a tank of water.

  6. stouf
    stouf ·

    Thanks for that review ! Funny camera !

  7. mattcharnock
    mattcharnock ·

    nice gallery! i am intrigued by the lady bed spacer! cool review to

  8. halfawakehaiku
    halfawakehaiku ·

    As always, thank you for the kind words :)

  9. dirklancer
    dirklancer ·

    I called about the Lady Bedspacer - it was taken ;)
    Nice review, nice camera! Vivitar has a few hidden gems.

  10. halfawakehaiku
    halfawakehaiku ·

    hahahaha! for real?

  11. Putankaat
    Putankaat ·

    I got this camera at a second hand store today, cool to find it here to. Price? 10sek (About 1 Euro)

  12. shoujoai
    shoujoai ·

    I bought a camera that looks exactly the same but seems to be from another company (PN 919) for 1,50€ at the flea market. Will try it soon!

  13. bear1973
    bear1973 ·

    Thanks for posting this review.I just got this camera while I was on holidays in the states. I paid about 50 cents for it. I also found this link for hacking it for multiple and long exposures which I thought I would share with you and anyone else that reads your article. Heres the link: www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Modify-your-Vivitar-PN2011/

  14. zotaylor
    zotaylor ·

    i saw it on ebay the other day, very cheap and brand new. how can you not buy it ? :)

  15. joeurban
    joeurban ·

    I bought this after greatly enjoying the Ilford single use XP2 camera and looking for a similar reusable camera. Works great as my dedicates B&W snap shooter.

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