Overview

The Vivitar 13mm f/2.8 is a manual focus, manual aperture ultrawide lens praised for sharpness comparable to Canon/Nikon 14mm f/2.8 at a fraction of the cost. It is compact and lightweight. Optically, it is sharp in the center even wide open, with good flare resistance but strong ghosting when flaring occurs. Weaknesses include complex mustache distortion on full frame, making it less ideal for architecture, and correctable vignetting at f/2.8. It suits landscape, night, and creative photography, but not architectural work.