Kiron Lenses
Encyclopedia
Kiron Lenses were photographic lens
es distributed by the Kiron Corporation, formerly based in Carson, California
, USA.
of Kino Precision Industries Limited, Tokyo
, Japan
and registered as a trademark on Jan 25 1980, in order to market manually-focused film camera optical lenses to the United States
. Kino Precision was originally formed by a group of engineers formerly employed at Nikon, who had developed their own designs for 35mm (24x36mm) film format camera lenses. These lenses were offered in a variety of camera mounts to fit a number of different Japanese cameras, including Canon, Contax
, Konica
, Minolta
, Nikon
, Olympus
, and Pentax
.
Originally, Kino Precision manufactured some of the now-famous Series 1 manual focus lenses under contract for Vivitar
, a U.S. lens distributor of after-market film lenses for 35mm cameras. However, after the positive reception from consumers on Vivitar Series 1 lenses, the company believed the time was right to successfully market lenses to fit existing 35mm Japanese film cameras under their own brand, Kiron. Kiron soon became known as one of the very few after-market lens manufacturers that could supply products equal to or even exceeding the optical and mechanical quality of the original manufacturer. In particular, the Kiron 28mm/2.0, the 105mm/2.8 1:1 macro, the 28-210mm/4.0-5.6 and the 3.8-5.6 varifocal zoom, and the 28-85mm/2.8-3.8 varifocal macro zoom lenses were praised in contemporary reviews of the day for their superb optical resolution and clarity, as well as mechanical quality.
Although reasonably priced for the level of quality offered, Kiron manual focus lenses were never economy-level products, and were always made and assembled in Japan. As such, Kiron lenses produced during the 1980s were normally priced only slightly below lenses offered by the camera manufacturers themselves. Later, Vivitar itself would purchase some Kiron/Kino lens designs, (such as the Kiron 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, re-labeled as the Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 macro and the Vivitar 105mm/2.5 (1:1) macro lenses), and offered them for sale under the Vivitar brand.
The increasing cost of quality lens manufacture in Japan led to a loss of sales for Kiron, as the company could no longer offer its lenses at a cost less than that charged by the camera manufacturers, who had begun to offer economy-level lens designs as well as contracting lens assembly operations in lower-cost factories outside Japan. Additionally, the 35mm camera market was in flux by the late 1980s, and 35mm camera manufacturers were transitioning to autofocus lens designs. By 1988, the company decided to discontinue after-market 35mm camera lens production to concentrate on industrial and other markets.
In 1989 Kino Precision Industries merged with 'Melles Griot Japan' to form 'Kino-Melles Griot'.
In 1995 the firm has changed its name to 'Melles Griot Ltd', and subsequently became a member of CVI Melles Griot Group in 2007.
In June 2011 Illinois-based IDEX Corporation
completed its $400 million acquisition of the laser and optical component maker CVI Melles Griot from its previous owner, the private equity firm Norwest Equity Partners.
film cameras:
Lenses were made in the following lens mount
s:
Photographic lens
A camera lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in...
es distributed by the Kiron Corporation, formerly based in Carson, California
Carson, California
Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, Carson had a total population of 91,714. Located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately 14 miles away from the Los Angeles International Airport, it is known as a suburb of the city....
, USA.
History
The company was set up as a U.S. subsidiarySubsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Kino Precision Industries Limited, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and registered as a trademark on Jan 25 1980, in order to market manually-focused film camera optical lenses to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Kino Precision was originally formed by a group of engineers formerly employed at Nikon, who had developed their own designs for 35mm (24x36mm) film format camera lenses. These lenses were offered in a variety of camera mounts to fit a number of different Japanese cameras, including Canon, Contax
Contax
Contax was a camera brand noted for its unique technical innovation and a wide range of Zeiss lenses, noted for their high optical quality. Its final incarnation was a line of 35 mm, medium format and digital cameras engineered and manufactured by Kyocera, and featuring modern Zeiss optics...
, Konica
Konica
was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers.- History :...
, Minolta
Minolta
Minolta Co., Ltd. was a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photocopiers, fax machines, and laser printers. Minolta was founded in Osaka, Japan, in 1928 as . It is perhaps best known for making the first integrated autofocus 35mm SLR camera system...
, Nikon
Nikon
, also known as just Nikon, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in optics and imaging. Its products include cameras, binoculars, microscopes, measurement instruments, and the steppers used in the photolithography steps of semiconductor fabrication, of which...
, Olympus
Olympus Corporation
is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...
, and Pentax
Pentax
Pentax is a brand name used by Hoya Corporation for its medical-related products & services and Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company for cameras, sport optics , etc. Hoya purchased and merged with the Japanese optics company on March 31, 2008. Hoya's Pentax imaging business was sold to Ricoh Company, Ltd...
.
Originally, Kino Precision manufactured some of the now-famous Series 1 manual focus lenses under contract for Vivitar
Vivitar
Vivitar Corporation was a manufacturer, distributor and marketer of photographic and optical equipment originally based in Oxnard, California. Since 2008 the Vivitar name serves as Sakar International's photographic and optical equipment brand.-Products:...
, a U.S. lens distributor of after-market film lenses for 35mm cameras. However, after the positive reception from consumers on Vivitar Series 1 lenses, the company believed the time was right to successfully market lenses to fit existing 35mm Japanese film cameras under their own brand, Kiron. Kiron soon became known as one of the very few after-market lens manufacturers that could supply products equal to or even exceeding the optical and mechanical quality of the original manufacturer. In particular, the Kiron 28mm/2.0, the 105mm/2.8 1:1 macro, the 28-210mm/4.0-5.6 and the 3.8-5.6 varifocal zoom, and the 28-85mm/2.8-3.8 varifocal macro zoom lenses were praised in contemporary reviews of the day for their superb optical resolution and clarity, as well as mechanical quality.
Although reasonably priced for the level of quality offered, Kiron manual focus lenses were never economy-level products, and were always made and assembled in Japan. As such, Kiron lenses produced during the 1980s were normally priced only slightly below lenses offered by the camera manufacturers themselves. Later, Vivitar itself would purchase some Kiron/Kino lens designs, (such as the Kiron 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, re-labeled as the Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 macro and the Vivitar 105mm/2.5 (1:1) macro lenses), and offered them for sale under the Vivitar brand.
The increasing cost of quality lens manufacture in Japan led to a loss of sales for Kiron, as the company could no longer offer its lenses at a cost less than that charged by the camera manufacturers, who had begun to offer economy-level lens designs as well as contracting lens assembly operations in lower-cost factories outside Japan. Additionally, the 35mm camera market was in flux by the late 1980s, and 35mm camera manufacturers were transitioning to autofocus lens designs. By 1988, the company decided to discontinue after-market 35mm camera lens production to concentrate on industrial and other markets.
In 1989 Kino Precision Industries merged with 'Melles Griot Japan' to form 'Kino-Melles Griot'.
In 1995 the firm has changed its name to 'Melles Griot Ltd', and subsequently became a member of CVI Melles Griot Group in 2007.
In June 2011 Illinois-based IDEX Corporation
IDEX Corporation
IDEX Corporation , based in Lake Forest, Illinois, is a publicly traded company engaged in the development, design, and manufacture of fluidics systems and specialty engineered products...
completed its $400 million acquisition of the laser and optical component maker CVI Melles Griot from its previous owner, the private equity firm Norwest Equity Partners.
Types
Lenses for 35 mm135 film
The term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...
film cameras:
- 24mm 1:2.0
- 28mm 1:2.8
- 28mm 1:2.0
- 28–70mm 1:3.5–4.5 (two versions)
- 28–70mm 1:4.0
- 28–85mm 1:2.8–3.8 varifocal macro zoom (aka "The Stovepipe")
- 28–105mm 1:3.2–4.5 (two versions) varifocal zoom
- 28-210mm 1:3.8-5.6 varifocal zoom (14 elements/11 groups)
- 28–210mm 1:4.0–5.6 varifocal zoom (14 elements/11 groups)
- 30–80mm 1:3.5–4.5 varifocal zoom
- 35–135mm 1:3.5–4.5 varifocal zoom
- 105mm 1:2.8 (macro 1:1)(6 elements/6 groups)
- 70–150mm 1:4.0
- 70–210mm 1:4.0 (two versions)
- 70–210mm 1:4.5
- 80–200mm 1:4.0
- 80–200mm 1:4.5 (six versions)
Lenses were made in the following lens mount
Lens mount
A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a photographic camera body and a lens. It is confined to cameras where the body allows interchangeable lenses, most usually the single lens reflex type or any movie camera of 16 mm or higher gauge...
s:
- Canon FDCanon FDThe Canon FD lens mount is a physical standard for connecting a photographic lens to a single-lens reflex camera body. The standard was developed by Canon of Japan and was introduced in March 1971 with the Canon F-1 camera. It was the primary Canon SLR lens mounting system until 1987 when the...
- KonicaKonicawas a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers.- History :...
AR - Minolta MD
- Nikon FNikon F-mountThe Nikon F-mount is a type of interchangeable lens mount developed by Nikon for its 35 mm SLR cameras. The F-mount was first introduced on the Nikon F camera in 1959, and features a three lug bayonet mount with a 44 mm throat and a flange to focal plane distance of 46.5 mm...
AI and AI-S - Olympus OM
- Pentax KPentax K mountThe Pentax K mount, sometimes referred to as the "PK mount", is a lens mount standard for mounting interchangeable photographic lenses to 35 mm single-lens reflex cameras. It was created by Pentax in 1975, and has been used by all Pentax 35 mm and digital SLRs since...
and KA - Contax/YashicaContaxContax was a camera brand noted for its unique technical innovation and a wide range of Zeiss lenses, noted for their high optical quality. Its final incarnation was a line of 35 mm, medium format and digital cameras engineered and manufactured by Kyocera, and featuring modern Zeiss optics...
See also
- VivitarVivitarVivitar Corporation was a manufacturer, distributor and marketer of photographic and optical equipment originally based in Oxnard, California. Since 2008 the Vivitar name serves as Sakar International's photographic and optical equipment brand.-Products:...
- List of photographic equipment makers
- What do you think of KIRON lenses?