Kiron 24mm f2

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<p>Kiron stopped exporting lenses to the west primarily because they were so busy making all the short zooms for Nikon.</p>

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<p>Lynn, do you have a source you can cite for this information? I highly doubt Nikon sent work out to a smaller firm for their lenses.</p>

 

Nikon did outsource some of theirs lenses. And yes, Kiron was one of their manufacturers.

An old thread, but I have an update. My oldest son who is using Minolta MD film gear liked the Kiron 24mm lens so much I finally gave it to him a few years ago. A couple of years ago I found the Vivitar version of it in Minolta MD mount. Worked great for a few months and then aperture stuck at f 2. Aperture ring still turns but lens remains wide open regardless of pressing DOF preview or actually taking a photo.

These lenses are more prone than most to getting stuck apertures in my experience. And it's virtually impossible to free them up.

Very true, John. My Vivitar version has been assigned star trail photography now. There was also a 28mm f 2 version but I have more than enough 28's.

Every time I see one of these Frankenposts (reanimation, you know), and see one of Gene M's posts I miss him all the more.

 

Kiron did some good work. Vivitar (the original, not the mess that calls itself Vivitar today) had some of their classic "Series 1" lenses made by them.

Nikon did outsource some of theirs lenses. And yes, Kiron was one of their manufacturers.

 

Why do you feel the need to constantly dredge up old threads?

 

If you have something to say on the topic, there's no harm in starting a new thread on it...

These lenses are more prone than most to getting stuck apertures in my experience. And it's virtually impossible to free them up.

 

Yup. I have the 28mm f/2 version, which I've had apart at least three times to de-grease the aperture mechanism. I distinctly remember completely stripping and washing the iris blades in alcohol and de-gunking their seating last time.

 

I recently re-discovered the lens during a house move and, guess what? The darned iris was greased up again!

 

Is there a crude-oil teleporting device hidden in the bloody thing?

I can't think what else could cause it except alien nano-technology.

 

Aside from that, it's a pretty good lens used on the APS-C format. Just don't look too closely at the corners and edges when it's on full-frame though.

Being rather a fan of Kino Precision products, I keep a lookout for their lenses bearing the "Panagor" brand, used by Kino for marketing in Europe and, in some instances, in the USA. They are often considerably less sought-after than the Kiron equivalent, but of equal quality. In fact, one Panagor 80-205 f/3.8 Panagor zoom I use frequently for botanical photography, because of it's very subtle and accurate colour rendition. Sample below.

 

Panagor 80-205mm f/3.8

 

JDMvW said:

Every time I see one of these Frankenposts (reanimation, you know), and see one of Gene M's posts I miss him all the more.

 

Don't we all.. His website is still up, but there doesn't appear to have been any activity in the past four years, or so.

 

Index 2014

Great result, Rick.

Great result, Rick.

Thanks, Mike

Yup. I have the 28mm f/2 version, which I've had apart at least three times to de-grease the aperture mechanism. I distinctly remember completely stripping and washing the iris blades in alcohol and de-gunking their seating last time.

 

I recently re-discovered the lens during a house move and, guess what? The darned iris was greased up again!

 

Is there a crude-oil teleporting device hidden in the bloody thing?

I can't think what else could cause it except alien nano-technology.

 

Aside from that, it's a pretty good lens used on the APS-C format. Just don't look too closely at the corners and edges when it's on full-frame though.

 

You have to remove all of the older lubricant, and replace with a modern synthetic lubricant. Once you do that, you will never have this issue again.