About the Panagor Auto Wide Angle 28mm f 2.5 lens

[richard_wallace2]

Hello all!

 

Does anyone have any knowledge about this lens that can be shared with me?

 

Thanks for any help,

 

RWallace

[michael_linn]

Panagors were made by Kiron, one of the best third party lens manufacturers.

 

They also made a number of the best Vivitar offerings and I think this model is also in the Vivitar line. It's rather big for a 28mm, but, like all Kirons, is worth a try. BTW the Kiron-made Vivitars have serial numbers beginning with "22".

[jim_thompson6]

Partially on topic: If you already have the lens, know of one at a good price, or are just curious, then go for it. As mentione above, it is made by Kiron, which is a pretty good optical company. On the other hand, for not much money, i.e. under $30, you could pick up a clean Kiron 28/2. I have one, and feel that its quality is top-notch (probably only exceeded in the Minolta mount by the Minolta 28/2).

 

Regards,

Jim

[User_502260]

This lens appears in my CameraShopper article Same Lens, Different Name. The one I show is in M42 mount. From what I can tell this is the same as the 28mm f/2.5 lens with the Vivitar name and made by Kino. It is one of my favorite lenses. I have it in mounts to fit Konica AR, Minolta MC, Canon FD, Olympus OM and M42. In addition to these I have a pre-set model in T mount. Now I am looking for ones in Pentax K mount and Nikon mount. Vivitar sold a later 28mm f/2.5 lens which was a TX interchangeable mount model. That one is also nice and it was made by Tokina.

 

I have other Panagor lenses but I don't think they were all made by Kino. The Vivitar 55mm f/2.8 macro was made by Komine (28XX..) and I have an identical lens with the Panagor name. I have four other 28mm lenses in Minolta mount. They are the 28mm f/3.5 MC, the 28mm f/2.5 MC, the 28mm f/2 Kiron and the 28mm f/1.9 Vivitar Series 1 (made by Tokina). These are all good performers but the f/3.5 MC lens is best used when the light is good. If your 28mm f/2.5 Panagor is in good condition is should work nicely.

[joseph_albert]

The Kiron-made wide angle lenses are of high optical quality, have rugged build quality, and generally are priced lower than similar lenses bearing the same brand as your camera.

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However, there are a couple of things you have to live with. Generally, they are a little less resistant to flare than, say, a Minolta wide angle prime lens. They also generally produce images that are noticeably cooler in color balance than a Nikon or Minolta lens as examples. If these limitations aren't a problem for you, then these lenses represent excellent value. The 24/2 and 28/2 lenses are very sharp by f/4, and usable at f/2.8. The 24/2 and 28/2 also have 55m filter threads, which is convenient for vintage Minolta users. I once owned an M42 screw mount Vivitar 28/2.5, most likely the same lens as this as noted above, and while image quality was good, it is heavy and required 67mm filters if I remember correctly, making it cumbersome to use.