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Astranar (Kawanon) 400/6.3 "Girl Watcher"
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 7:41 pm    Post subject: Astranar (Kawanon) 400/6.3 "Girl Watcher" Reply with quote

Among the popular 400/6.3 preset lenses of the last century, the Astranar has a special place.
This was the lens actually advertised via mail order as the "girl watcher". Some of the other
similar lenses picked up the same creepy epithet, but this is indeed the very item sold through those ads.
Spiratone never called theirs a "girl watcher" !










It is very different in construction from the lens thats well known as the Spiratone "Sharpshooter" or "Pluracoat",
though the specifications are very similar.

The Spiratone and Astranar are definitely not variants of each other, they have different parantage.

These "girl watchers" were made by Kawakami Seiki Seisakusho Ltd (Kawanon) and imported by Sterling Howard
of Yonkers, NY, and mainly sold by mail order through the ubiquitous magazine ads. These were generally cheaper
than the Spiratones.

Its a very common lens in the US market, as one may imagine, and can be picked up at anytime for a low price.
There was a rather extensive line of lenses made by Kawakami, and I have spotted a non-US example of this lens
under the Kawanon brand, along with very similar (rare) 300mm and 350mm models.
Sterling Howard sold other Kawakami lenses under the Astranar brand, and of course Kawakami lenses are common
under all sorts of brands, such as Soligor.

Oddly though, for this 400/6.3 I am drawing a blank finding this lens under any merchants brands other than Astranar.
I have never seen this one as a Soligor for instance.
I suspect there may have been some sort of exclusive agreement with Sterling Howard.

The lens itself is a very simple, light and compact item, shorter and lighter than the Spiratone lens.
I believe the optical formula is a cemented pair in front and another in the rear, or 4 elements in two groups.
I may be wrong here as I haven't fully disassembled the rear cell.
The finish is certainly not as nice as I have seen on other Kawakami lenses such as the 600 and 800mm,
so I suspect that these were intentionally made rather cheaply to suit Sterling Howards business model.
Otherwise it seems to be a very standard design of a long preset telephoto.
The focus mechanism is in front of the aperture, requiring the front barrel to rotate.
This is typical of this type of lens as it simplifies construction.

My copy is in excellent condition, as most of these are. I suspect that they were rarely used, for the most part,
as its much easier to buy a cheap long tele than it is to use one. In film days one was likely to use up a lot of
film learning how.

Performance is fairly good I think. It lacks total sharpness wide open, its much better at f/8.
It shows considerable CA and red fringing under the right conditions.
It requires a deep hood as its prone to low contrast otherwise.
I find the Spiratone, Tamron and Komura 400mm's are marginally better.
Its advantages are very light weight, decent close focus for what it is, and of course very low price.
If one wants to learn long tele work this is a good one to start with - most problems will be
because of mistakes in technique, and the lens will show its limitations only when all the other reasons to screw up
are dealt with.

Samples -



















The bird -



crop -



PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, you've made that lens sing.
Again. Smile


PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Where are the girl pictures? I only see monkeys Shocked
Just kidding. Pictures look great ! Awesome find.


PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

#1 is a female chimp (rather elderly)

#4 and 5 are young female gorilla ! So thats a "girl".


PostPosted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The first five -- your self and family portraits -- are great!


PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Oh, so that's the type of girls it was built to watch Smile


PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice looking lens! Photo 4 for me, that could hang on the wall Smile


PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent shots Luis.

I get the impression it's a crap lens made to look decent by a master.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

iangreenhalgh1 wrote:

I get the impression it's a crap lens made to look decent by a master.


I tend to agree.

Gorillas might be a safer subject The last time I leveled one of these at a girl she grabbed it and leveled me. Very Happy


PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 5:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Interesting. I grabbed one of these lenses last weekend for a grand total of $5. It's so incredibly well-built, the focus action is as good as any Zeiss lens. Pity the optics kind of sucks :-/ but it's not so bad stopped down if you have a tripod and shooting still subjects.


PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah, but I think the strong point of this lens (and similar ones) is hand-held snap shooting.
Even in questionable light its perfect for targets of opportunity, if one is narrow minded like me.
With an SLR body with in camera IS its perfect for street-style photography.
I imagine that a modern AF lens of this focal length would offer similar advantages, but that's much more money and bulk/inconvenience.
Sticking this on a tripod is a waste. Put a big awkward lens on a tripod, not this.


PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 7:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taht's a cool ad! Thx for sharing Very Happy


PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

luisalegria wrote:
Ah, but I think the strong point of this lens (and similar ones) is hand-held snap shooting.
Even in questionable light its perfect for targets of opportunity, if one is narrow minded like me.
With an SLR body with in camera IS its perfect for street-style photography.
I imagine that a modern AF lens of this focal length would offer similar advantages, but that's much more money and bulk/inconvenience.
Sticking this on a tripod is a waste. Put a big awkward lens on a tripod, not this.


Monopods are where it's at. Even for big awkward lenses I use monopods. 4-stop IS for $30 in a small package. Smile


PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess marketing it in Saudi Arabia would be a problem: burqa watcher?... Rolling Eyes Wink


PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It does have some strong resemblence to the Soligor 400 / 6.3



The tripod mount is the same, and a lot of the style is common, the 'boxed' focusing mark is also the same. The main difference is the trade mark chrome ear style of the Soligor aperture ring. I would suspect they are the same, although the best information regarding the serial numbers indicate the Soligor is Kino / Kiron

I've had some good results from the Soligor as well. ( and this is one of two I've got, it's for sale Wink )


PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great review and pictures, you handle masterly all kind of strange things !


PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Attila wrote:
...you handle masterly all kind of strange things !


I love that comment Very Happy


PostPosted: Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had it. Sharpness and CA incomparable with TOU 500/8. Sold it for low price. The optical formula is really different from other 400/6.3, 500/8 lens.

If these other lenses look like this from side: [] -means lens, ---- means tube, | means aperture

[]----|----[]--------

This lens has the following formula:

[]----|----[]-----[]-