The company 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, including Mamiya/Sekor 35mm cameras, Kobena 8mm movie cameras, Sankyo/Komura wide/tele adapter lenses and a full line of photographic darkroom equipment imported from many manufacturers throughout Japan and later Taiwan. Ponder and Best were the first to gain acceptance for lenses with interchangeable mounts allowing customers to use the same lens on different manufacturers' camera bodies.

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In the early 1960s, the partners created the "Vivitar" brand to compete with major lens manufacturers. The company commissioned experienced lens designers and top-line Japanese optical lens manufacturers such as Kino Precision to produce their lens designs. By carefully positioning their limited product line with key photo retailers, they quickly built a reputation for good quality lenses at modest prices. The retailers found that they could make good margins while giving good value. As their reputation grew, many contract lens manufacturers sought them out to carry their products under the Vivitar brand. In the 1970s, Vivitar introduced its now-famous Series 1 lenses. These computer-designed state-of-the-art lenses were well priced and often outperformed the optics of camera manufacturers of the day.