Kiron Lens - oldies but a goodie

[mongo]

Mongo purchased a very well known Vivitar 70-150mm constant f3.8 made by the well known Kiron optical company of Japan in the mid 70's. Mongo knew it was made by Kiron becuase of the serial number on the lens. Not all Vivitars are the same. Vivitar had most of its lenses made by other manufacturers of the time eg, Kiron, Cossina, Tokina, Komine and others. Some of these manufacturers were exceptional - Kiron and Komine were generally considered to be the best of them. The famous Vivitar Series 1 range was largely made by these manufacturers. Mongo owned the famous Vivitar Series 1 105 f2.5 1:1 macro lens which was as good as they say it was.

However, as with many things, each manufacturer got a reputation for producing the best of a particular Vivitar Series 1 lens e.g. whilst Kiron, Tonika and Komine all made various excellent versions of the Series 1 70-210mm macro lens, Komine is though to produce the best of the 3 manufacturers for that particular model of lens (See http://www.robertstech.com/vivitar.htm)

The lens Mongo just bought is not a Series 1 lens but it comes from a manufacturer that makes very good stuff. Mongo paid the outrageous price of $14.00 for it because it had a scratch on the front element. It was otherwise in perfect shape. However, Mongo was more than certain it would not affect the image quality - and , it doesn't in any way at all. It is a very small lens - about the size and weight of a nikkor 105mm f2.5 AI-s.

Based on the results below and the relative pittance these lenses can be purchased for, Mongo is on the look out for the Series 1 version of the 70-210mm made by Komine if he can find one.

This shot was hand held at 150mm - subject about 6-7 metres away. This is a 50% crop. and processed the same way Mongo would process any other image.
97250



This image is also hand held of the neighbour's roof and taken using a Kiron X2 converter which Mongo also has. Subject about 20 metres away and this image is also a 50% crop.
97251

[Lance B]

Wow, looks the goods. Possibly just lacking in a bit of contrast, but the sharpness looks great. For the princely sum of $14.00, how could you go wrong!! :th3:

Like you, I tried the Vivitar Series 1 105 f2.5 1:1 macro and it is as good as they say. A real old gem both optically and mechanically.

[Mathy]

Isn't Mongo lucky to have the knowledge base to be able to make such economically fantastic purchases :D They are both lovely shots. I'm assuming that due to age of the lens, these would be manual focus?

Perhaps Mongo could be persuaded to write a 'Sticky' about such information (if he hasn't done so already). The knowledge of fine older lenses really ought to be written down so they can be treasured, in the way that old musical instruments are. For, as technology progresses I suspect, some of the craftsmanship of old glass may be lost. Perhaps old glass will have a certain look and feel that the modern cannot replicate, much as some people value Vinyl music over CD for the warmth that it brings.

Thanks for sharing, cheers Deb

[Cage]

Some surprisingly good detail in those black feathers Mongo.

Were any birds eaten in the production of this post?

PS: I have a Cosina 70-210mm of the same era in a Canon FD mount, but it is not one of the 'good ones'.

[mongo]

Thanks Deb and Kevin.

Yes, this is a small manual lens Mongo wrote about but there is nothing wrong with manual lenses when they sometimes outperform the AF ones. Mongo uses manual lenses often in preference to some of his modern AF lenses depending on circumstances.

Mongo is glad you got something from this post. There is a mountain of information about older but fantastic lenses even by today's standards and at a small fraction of the price. You just have to know what to look for. Mongo has not thought to write a sticky but may one day. In the interim, he will mention anything he comes across which may be helpful.

Unfortunately, Mongo go no bird dinner for his troubles on this occasion .

[Rattus79]

I have a mint condition (seriously straight out of the box) Kiron 28 - 105 (I think it's a 3-4.5) in a nikon mount that's useless to me as I don't have any nikon bodies ....

I only got it because I heard they were very good and it was not going to go to a good home otherwise ...

[mongo]

I have a mint condition (seriously straight out of the box) Kiron 28 - 105 (I think it's a 3-4.5) in a nikon mount that's useless to me as I don't have any nikon bodies ....

I only got it because I heard they were very good and it was not going to go to a good home otherwise ...

Greg, why not list it on Camera Market and it may go to a good home and some useful money come to your home in exchange - there may be buyers for it out there. However, if it is not a series 1 lens (whilst it may produce excellent results), it may not be worth as much.

[Rattus79]

Greg, why not list it on Camera Market and it may go to a good home and some useful money come to your home in exchange - there may be buyers for it out there. However, if it is not a series 1 lens (whilst it may produce excellent results), it may not be worth as much.

I'm not sure what series it is Mongo. But from what little I've read about them, they were considered as good if not better then the Nikkor lenses of the time!

I had a Macro Tele-converter too (I'd never heard of them before but they're basically a tele-converter with an extending barrel for macro work) that came with it. I put it on ebay and got $25 for it. :( It was in it's original packaging!

I guess I should get off my hands and put it up on the camera market. It's no good to me, but anyone with a newer Nikon body metering should work right?

[mongo]

Good idea Greg.

Mongo still has his Vivitar Tele-macro X2 converter. Its a re darn good piece of glass and unique design.

Yes, your lens will work fine on the older Nikon camera (almost pre-didgital) and on the upper level digital cameras but not on anything in between unless you use them in manual mode and meter separately. good luck

[extraball]

I will post pics taken with my Kiron lens as well, just have to wait for the PK to eos adapter to arrive from HK.

[mongo]

I will post pics taken with my Kiron lens as well, just have to wait for the PK to eos adapter to arrive from HK.

Mongo looks forward to seeing those.

BTW, Mongo has been looking for a Canon to Nikon adapter but will not buy it as all of them must have a small lens built in due to the sensor to lens distance difference. Mongo has real reservations about the quality of image he is likely to get when you run some very high quality lenses through a $20 dollar piece of adapter lens. Mongo hopes he is wrong but can't help thinking it will give poor results.

Some adapters (depending on what camera to lens combo you wish to cross marry) have no lens. Mongo would think they will give very good results and would buy one in an instant if he was not trying to put a canon lens on a nikon body.

whether or not yours has a lens in the adapter, Mongo hopes it works very well. Would love to see the results and your opinion of how your lenses performed compared to what you are used to seeing them do normally without the adapter,

[extraball]

whether or not yours has a lens in the adapter, Mongo hopes it works very well. Would love to see the results and your opinion of how your lenses performed compared to what you are used to seeing them do normally without the adapter,

there doesnt seem to be any glass in the ones I have seen on ebay, so maybe I will get some good results. Just gotta wait the 3-4 weeks it takes from china.