So who are Kiron and Bell & Howell anyway?

[andyw]

Bought cheap from the bay. Both in lovely condition and fit the Olympus OM system.

Any idea on who these makes are and if they are good/bad quality. I have never heard of them before.

They are:

1: KIRON 80-200mm f4 Macro 1:4 ∅55 MC 25103795 KINO Precision Japan
2: BELL & HOWELL f4-f5 70-210mm Macro 52∅

Both in super condition.

[luisalegria]

Kiron - Kino Precision

One of the better makes of Japanese third-party lenses. Quality varies from average to superb, depending.

Bell&Howell - US distributor of photo equipment (formerly a manufacturer, but at the time of the lens in question, just a distributor). The lens could be from several makers. I'm guessing Tokina or Cosina in this case.

[Boomer Depp]

From Robert Monaghan's Cult Classics....

http://web.archive.org/web/20040901081529/http://medfmt.8k.com/third/cult.html#vivitar

Kiron

Kiron Lenses from early 1980s
F/l f/stop Comments
24 2
28 2
28 2.8
105 2.8 macro
28-105 3.2 macro (varifocal)
28-210 4 macro
28-70 3.5
28-85 2.8
30-80 3.5 macro (varifocal)
35-135 3.5 macro
70-150 4 macro
70-210 4 macro
70-210 4.5 macro
80-200 4
80-200 4.5 macro
80-200 4.5 macro

Kino Precision Optical Corp. was one of the more than twenty Japaneses third party lens makers in 1984. Their lenses were originally also imported under the Panagor brand, then by Vivitar.

In the early 1980s, they began direct marketing of an independent lens line in the U.S. under their new Kiron brand name. They were also producing some of the popular Vivitar lenses at the same time in their factories, reportedly including some of the Vivitar Series I optics.

Did you notice the past tense in the above history of Kiron? That's because Kino Precision Optical Corp. has returned to the relative anonymity of most Japanese third party lens makers. You can still buy their lenses, but not under their own brand name (i.e., as Vivitars).

However, some Kiron lenses were evidently their own designs, rather than just copies of the Vivitar lenses, as the specifications and costs differ significantly from Vivitar lenses of the same period.

Kiron 28-210mm f/3.8-5.6 zoom

This 28-210mm f/3.8-5.6 Kiron zoom lens remains one of the best 7:1 long-zoom lenses made (through the early 1990s). Unlike its imitators, this Kiron long-zoom uses a special helical focusing mount to extend its close-focusing range to an exceptional 3.5 feet at the 105mm portrait lens setting. Close-focusing distance rises to five feet at 50mm and eight feet at 28mm, so you may still want to keep that 24mm f/2 Vivitar lens handy!

Another nice feature of this Kiron zoom is that it has a macro setting of 1:4 at the long end of its range, i.e., at 210mm. Usually, these macro settings are often at the short or wide angle end of the long-zoom range. This macro setting at the long end means you can keep your distance from skittish bugs and critters, or shoot macro shots through museum display cases, and not have to get very close to do so.

Like most of its brethren, this lens is heavy (28 ounces) and big (5 inches). Although it is a bit slow at the long end (f/5.6 at 210mm), you can use standard 72mm filters rather than the more costly and unusual 77mm or even 82mm filters on some competing long-zooms. The lens was $360 list when introduced in 1985 (or $550 in 1998 dollarettes).
See sample flower macro photo and post from a new Kiron user

Kiron Zoom Averages vs. Prime Lenses
Lens center lpmm-edge lpmm
28mm Kiron 53 45
28mm f/3.5 Nikkor 62 42
105mm Kiron 55 50
105mm f/4 macro 55 49
210mm Kiron 57 51
200mm f/3.5 AF Vivitar 57 49
Source: H. Keppler, Super Stretch Zooms, Do you Lose Picture Quality?, Modern Photography, p. 34-35,74, June 1986


From looking at the above table, you can see that the Kiron lens beat the 200mm f/3.5 prime lens, matched the 105mm f/2.8 macro prime lens, and beat the nikkor in edge performance (where a prime is supposed to blow away a zoom lens). In fact, the Kiron lens got only excellent ratings in corner sharpness at all apertures and settings tested. In the center sharpness tests, the Kiron super-zoom lens garnered 17 excellents and 4 very good ratings.

Usually super-zooms fall down at the telephoto end, but the Kiron 210mm setting was all excellents on sharpness in center and edge tests. Distortion was also low (1.08% at 28mm vs <1% for Nikkor, and 0.63% at 210mm vs. 1.77% for the Vivitar AF lens). The Kiron zoom had light falloff of only 0.6 stops at 210mm versus 0.5 stops for the prime 200mm f/3.5 AF Vivitar lens.

Unlike many zooms, the Kiron 28-210mm zoom has its macro setting at the 210mm setting. This arrangement provides a longer four foot distance from skittish critters. Center performance at 1:4 macro was all excellent, and edge performance ranged from very good (3) to excellent (3).

So where does the Kiron and most super-zooms fall down? The answer for most super-zooms is that at their 28mm setting, they have a hot-spot or a relatively high light falloff (e.g., for Kiron zoom of 1.1 stops versus 0.2 stops for 28mm f/3.5 nikkor). The close focusing distance for the 28mm f/3.5 nikkor prime is under a foot, versus 8 feet for the Kiron super-zoom. The super-zooms are also heavier and slower (at f/5.6 for Kiron zoom at 210mm setting). See Primes versus Zooms for more comparisons.

What is surprising is not that the Kiron 7:1 28-210mm superzoom has these faults, but that it performs so well against prime lenses in sharpness and contrast (also high contrast throughout range). The macro setting may not equal a prime macro lens performance in the corners, but the center is excellent and the overall performance very good for a zoom pseudo-macro setting.

Personally, I have and like this lens for its convenience. I like to have a zoom lens as a backup of all my prime lenses too, in case one or more fail or get stolen. But since I am aware of this super-zooms limitations, I usually bring my 24mm f/2.8 AI Nikkor with me and a fast normal or macro 50mm lens (usually with a fisheye adapter attached). Since Kiron is poorly known and out of favor, I only had to pay the $75 US asking price for this lens to add it to my camera bag.

Kiron made several interesting fast f/2 prime lenses at both 24mm and 28mm in a variety of mounts. Only Kiron and Vivitar reportedly made a fast 24mm f/2 lens prior to the mid-1980s, with the Kiron being a later 1980s design listing for nearly twice as much as the Vivitar 24mm f/2 lens.

Kiron's 105mm f/2.8 tele-macro lens is also sought after, but listed for $439 in 1984 (nearly $700 in 1998 dollarettes).

Kiron 28-85mm Varifocal Macro Zoom Review (Modern Photography 1981)
Kiron's varifocal 28-85mm f/2.8-3.8 zoom rated 34 out of 36 excellent ratings for center and corner sharpness (and the two holdouts were both very goods) at 28, 50, and 85mm. Contrast rated as all highs at 28mm, all but one high at 50mm, and mostly high at 85mm (center).

Quote: Based on our lab and field experience with the 28-85, we're happy to say that it performs splendidly - better than any lens in this focal-length range we've tested so far...

The lens close focuses to 1:4 macro shots without the need for macro buttons or special settings. Both the 28mm and 50mm settings were superb by f/5.6. Pincushion distortion was under 1.25%. Light falloff at 28mm was a relatively high 1.4 stops at f/5.6, but only 0.3 stops at 85mm.

Here is an example of a Kiron varifocal mid-range zoom that is very sharp and very contrasty, while delivering its best performance at the wider and faster 28mm end of its range.
Source: Modern Photography, p. 90, March 1981

Their lenses list prices were generally also higher than most other third party and imported lens monikers. For an example, the Kiron 28mm f/2.8 lens introduced in 1980 listed for $175 while the new 1980 Tokina 28 f/2.8 was only $110 US.

Today, the Tamron or Tokina brand name is much better known and respected than Kiron. A Tokina lens is likely to command more of a premium than the lesser known Kiron lenses that listed for 50% more. In other words, Kiron lenses today are often a better buy, since they often sell at a deeper discount as a lesser known brand name.

Looking at their more extensive zoom line, we again see their relatively slow zooms often positioned near the top of the early 1980s price points. Interestingly, they also produced some varifocal macro zooms. As we saw above with some Vivitar Series I varifocal zooms from this period, this compromise helped wring higher quality out of these 1980s lens designs.

Similarly, their Panagor 55mm f/2.8 macro lens from the early 1980s was $275 when the Rokunar 55mm f/2.8 macro was only $120. Only the Vivitar macro lens from the late 1970s was comparably priced.

These cases show ways to use Table of Third Party Lens Makers (by focal length) to identify higher end manufacturers and higher priced lenses.

Back then, you had to pay a substantial premium to pick up one of these Kiron lenses. Today, you can often buy these lenses at a discount, since the brand is poorly known. My experience has been that these lenses justified their high prices with very good optics and even better mechanical construction.

http://homepage3.nifty.com/3rdpartylens-om/3rd-party-list.htm

Brand Focal (mm) f/stop Yr List $ 1998 $ Diaphragm Lens Type


kiron 24 2 80 $295 $614 auto wide
kiron 28 2 80 $149 $310 auto wide
kiron 28 2.8 80 $175 $364 auto wide
kiron 105 2.8 84 $439 $698 auto tele macro
kiron 28-105 3.2 83 $307 $509 auto zoom macro (varifocal)
kiron 28-210 4 85 $359 $551 auto zoom, macro
kiron 28-70 3.5 85 $199 $306 auto zoom
kiron 28-85 2.8 80 $220 $458 auto zoom
kiron 30-80 3.5 80 $319 $664 auto zoom, macro (varifocal)
kiron 35-135 3.5 83 $329 $545 auto zoom, macro
kiron 70-150 4 80 $239 $498 auto zoom, macro
kiron 70-210 4 82 $307 $527 auto zoom, macro
kiron 70-210 4.5 85 $199 $306 auto zoom, macro
kiron 80-200 4 80 $319 $664 auto zoom
kiron 80-200 4.5 83 $179 $297 auto zoom, macro

[andyw]

Crumbs! That's the most concise answer I think I have ever had! Thank you very much!

I think this is my favorite lens from the 4 that I bought. It will be a keeper!

[Boomer Depp]

You can see from the list price it was one of Kiron's higher end lenses....

Kiron Marketing

http://www.kelleyad.com/mktcasehist2.htm

Kiron Lenses


How to go from 0 to 4 in 12 months
Kino Precision Industries was a supplier to Vivitar.

They manufactured the Vivitar Series 1 lenses for 35mm SLR cameras. These Series 1 lenses were very good quality and highly regarded in the marketplace. Kino was a proud company, and like most Japanese manufacturers in the 70s and 80s, wanted to provide continuous employment to their people. But Vivitar was unpredictable: starting and stopping orders, changing specs, and even subcontracting other companies to make some Series 1 lenses Kino felt they could make better.

To send a message to Vivitar and to 'smooth out' their production flow, Kino created their own brand -- Kiron -- and hired some industry veterans to launch the brand in the U.S.

Kiron's Paul Ellis and Dick Wolf carefully selected suppliers -- from the company that did their packaging to their ad agency. They selected Chiat/Day, and I was chosen to run the account.

Because Kiron was a new name in a field of 64 camera lens marketers, we had to establish credibility quickly. We chose a communications approach that was both 'aspirational' and mentoring. By aspirational. I mean that the images we showed were the kind any creative photographer might aspire to take. The images were intended to stimulate creativity. And the copy was to be written to instruct without appearing to instruct, i.e., "as you know, larger f-stops result in a shallower depth of field."
All of the ad headlines started with "How to...". In 1980, Chiat /Day created five ads for Kiron. At that year's regional Belding Awards, four of those five ads won in their category -- literally an unprecedented sweep of a tough competition.
More important, the credibility of the Kiron management, combined with a great program of point-of-sale materials, outstanding packaging and an aggressive advertising schedule got Kiron on the shelves in camera stores all over the U.S., so when the ads started to 'pull through', the products were there to sell.
I should mention that the product itself was outstanding, and photo magazine reviews begain to come in, reinforcing the high quality image we were promoting.
Kiron became an example of a company that literally was doing everything right. And as a result, went from nowhere to 4th place in sales out of 64(!) independent lens brands in their first 12 months.

The moral of this case history is that if you understand the motivations of the consumer, you can position your brand as the means of achieving their desires. If the product lives up to that promise, you have a winner.

*A footnote...you'll notice Paul Ellis,who was formally the same long time innovative marketing guru and one of the guiding lights at Vivitar.

[Mike Deep]

Whatever happened to Kiron, anyway?

[casualcollector]

From past experience, the Kiron 80-200 f4 lens is very good. I bought one new and used it for ten or fifteen years. I really enjoyed the quality of the pics taken with it. I regretted parting with it after looking back. I sold it after grease from the helicoid broke down and clouded the front group for the second time. I've acquired another with the same problem and will be trying to clean it and get it back in service

[Big Dawg]

What happened to the T4 for 2 web page?

[Russ]

The Kiron 70-210 f/4 with zoom-lock is superb. As is their 70-150 f/4 and they put out the phenomenal Kiron 105 f/2.8 macro lens. The kiron 28-105 is damn nice too...

Kiron Kid

[mo]

[casualcollector]

[mo]

Thanks for the reply...4 years free now that's a bargain!

[Boomer Depp]

[Russ]

[dnas]

Bell & Howell used to make movie projectors.

[OM]

I've recently picked up a mint Bell & Howell 80-205mm with macro capability in a job lot and all I could really find on them was the movie projector business.

Are the camera lenses well regarded...?

The one I have looks very well made but I haven't had time to try it yet.

[luisalegria]

Your Bell&Howell zoom could be from several makers. B&H never made their own camera lenses in this period, they just sold imported products from several Japanese makers, sometimes good ones like Kiron or Tokina, sometimes from lesser sources.

And whatever B&H sold was also sold under many other brands by other distributors. There were at least a dozen brands under which 80-205mm lenses were sold, on a casual search.

As for quality, the only real guide you will have are your results with it.

[OM]

Thanks for that.

I wondered if there was any way of telling from the serial number which factory made which lenses like there is with the Vivitar Series 1.