Panagor 35/2 (Kino or Komine?)

Lucio · Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 64 Location: Italy

Hi there! I recently put my hands on this beautiful lens, which has a very distinctive OOF rendition due to the high astigmatism out of the focus plane, a very good sharpness (standard glow effect up tp 2.5, but details are there) an excellent build quality and a good flare resistance. I read online it's a Kino made lens, but it's identical to the Vivitar 35/1.9, which SN starts with 28, which should indicate it's a Komine made lens... do you guys have any information about this 35? Anyways, that's a very good lens, expecially for video, thanks to the 270Â° focus throw.

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20186/10585_1_1.jpg

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20186/10585_2_1.jpg

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20186/10585_3_1.jpg

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20186/10585_4_1.jpg

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20186/10585_5_1.jpg

http://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/20186/10585_Pana2_1.jpg

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7588 Location: Hong Kong

Yes. Same lens as the Vivitar 35/1.9 by Komine.

vivaldibow · Expire: 2021-03-09

Lucio · Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 64 Location: Italy

Thank you for your inputs, guys!
The two lenses look so alike that it's hard to believe they don't have something in common. Still, thanks to vivaldibow, I went back to allphotolenses and realized that the Vivitar has a 55mm filter thread, while the the Panagor has a 58mm filter thread. Lenght, weight, scale of distances, focus throw, general aesthetic... they all look the same, though. The plot thickens... Smile

I'll try to find the Vivitar to make a side by side comparison or at least to find its optical scheme, I'm getting curious because it's a surprisingly good lens.

calvin83 · Joined: 12 Apr 2009 Posts: 7588 Location: Hong Kong

Minolfan · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 3439 Location: Netherlands

Lucio · Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 64 Location: Italy

Thank you very much, Calvin83! I saw the leaflet on allphotolenses.com and the two lenses seem to share the exact same optical scheme, except - maybe - for two differences:

1- Front lens size (assuming the 58mm filter thread of the Panagor implicates a bigger front lens, since the name ring looks the same in both lenses)
2- Diaphgram position (if I'm not wrong, in the Komine is behind the third element, while in the Panagor is behind the fourth element)

Basically, they seem one the "russian copy" of the other! Smile

Anyways, even considering their aesthetic, they clearly share something, from a production standpoint; they're definitely too similar!

marcusBMG · Joined: 07 Dec 2012 Posts: 1319 Location: Conwy N Wales

It is clear that Panagor was not tied to Kino. The panagor 90mm f2.8 macro, for example, is the same komine made lens as the 90mm vivitar/soligor/elicar etc. (update) and the panagor 400mm f5.6 is also almost the same as the komine made vivitar 400mm f5.6.

Minolfan · Joined: 30 Dec 2008 Posts: 3439 Location: Netherlands

vivaldibow · Expire: 2021-03-09

Lucio · Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 64 Location: Italy

At this point, I can't see many reasons to doubt that's a Komine made lens. Probably on the web this 35/2 is often described as "Kino made" just because many people think that Panagor only distributed Kino lenses...

Manichaean · Joined: 03 Oct 2013 Posts: 70

Lucio · Joined: 28 Jan 2018 Posts: 64 Location: Italy

I finally had the chance to test side by side 4 Panagor 35/2 and 2 Vivitar 35/1.9
WO, the two Vivitars were about 1/5 of a stop brighter of the brightest Panagor and 1/2 of a stop brighter than the darkest Panagor. For some reason, the "speed" of the Panagors was not consistent. What's more, while both Vivitars were properly aligned, all of the Panagors were softer on the right side of the frame. In one case, just slightly, in the other cases quite evidently.
The Panagors had a different coating, they were evidently warmer than the Vivitars and handled flaring better, preserving more contrast.
That said, images took with the Vivitars and the Panagors, colors warmth aside, looked exactly the same. OOF rendition and flares shape were identical, just like the astigmatism and the progressive decrease of sharpness from the center to the edges of the frame.
I found the rendering of the Panagors more pleasing, thanks to the warmer colors and to the higher contrast, but the two lenses look very similar. Mechanically wise, they're exactly the same.
So... I can't tell if the optical scheme is exactly the same and if the only difference lies in the coatings, nor if both lenses were produced by Komine. What I can say is that the two lenses are extremely similar, but have some differences and that both lenses are among the best vintage 35mm I ever tested.

Focusthrow · Joined: 12 Sep 2017 Posts: 209

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2539

It is a bit of a mysterious lens indeed. The build looks more like the Kino made 28mm 2.5 Panagor but it is also a bit different (wider aperture ring, different shape A/M switch that is not sticking out from the main body like on the 28/2.5. It's Bokeh is more like Kino wides than Komines since it features soap bubbles. My copy is from 1973 going by serial and 74 going by jcII sticker. This is pretty early for Komine made lenses. Still it may be an early Komine (Because of the similarities to the Vivitar which is from the same Period and does feature a Komine serialnumber, also the aperture switch looks pretty similar).

Close up shot:

Blossomkeh by The lens profile, on Flickr

blotafton · Joined: 08 Aug 2013 Posts: 1636 Location: Sweden

I wish I bought one when I had the chance. It was a good deal.