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Kiron 28MM F2 on Sony A7
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PostPosted: Sun May 24, 2020 4:58 pm    Post subject: Kiron 28MM F2 on Sony A7 Reply with quote
Well a very well-known lens, came out for a walk, and did some pics with her.
The lens has great colours and is lovely to handle,
Flaring is really bad and could do with a hood, as you can see in the extreme pic i took, you can see the lens elements lay out in the pic
A little soft in Corners, most landscape taken at F5.6

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PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2020 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
A pleasing variety of shots. Thanks!


PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2020 5:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
the colors certainly pop - is that from the lens, or were they adjusted in post?


PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2020 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Also available as Vivitar and Panagor.


PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looking for something else (ie another lens) on the attic I stumbled upon a Kiron 2/28mm and decided to play around with it while on my way to get the second sample of the rare Mamiya 45-90mm ...

First a few comparing 100% crops at various apertures:



Typical for fast lenses, the Kiron 2/28mm is slightly soft in the center at f2.0, but stil has lots of resolution. Stopping down to f4 results in perfect center resolution and contrast.

Corners are a different story, though. Very bad at f2 (but don't think a Nikkor AiS 2/24mm would be better!!), still quite bad at f4 and reasonably good at f11. CAs are a bit too strong I would say, however they easily can be removed by PP, and then the f11 images look really good.


PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here are a few more images. First a few images from Bülach, a small but old town in north of Zurich.










PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 1:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Two images taken at or near MFD, and wide open (f2.0). Even though the Kiron doesn't have floating elements (most OEM 2/28mm do have floating elements), there's decent resolution in the image center (corners are a different story, of course). The Bokeh of the lens is quite remarkable - busy, but pretty nice nevertheless, and quite different from the busy "cateye/bubble/swirley" bokeh we often see with other "busy bokeh" lenses:




PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
A few more, this time taken in Schaffhausen - a slightly bigger town at the very north of Switzerland, right on the German border:

As you can see we have some rather nice buildings here, with even nicer frescoes ("Haus zum Ritter", built 1492, Frescoes by Tobias Stimmer 1568-70)


Here are some 100% crops from the image above. Image taken at f8, and RAW data converted with Photoshop. Lateral CAs were removed, and sharpening was set to 45 with a radius of 0.8. First the extreme corner:


Then the center:


As you may see, these frescoes don't look as old as advertised. In fact, the original frescoes - said to be some of the most precious renaissance fresco north of the alps - were taken down shortly before WWII, put in a safe storage, and replaced by copies (1938/39). Probably a wise decision, as we can see these days.

And finally an image showing the peaceful and relaxed atmoshpere around here:


All images - with exception of the two flower images - were taken at f8.

S


PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 4:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1

Something the Swiss and Japanese have in common. Such lovely clean streets. More due to attitude than an army of street cleaners.


PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
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Nice images here!

I like the monochromes a lot and should be trying it more myself.

-D.S.


PostPosted: Tue Mar 22, 2022 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Doc Sharptail wrote:
Like 1
I like the monochromes a lot and should be trying it more myself.
-D.S.


Yes, I always did like b/w images. In the 1990s I was using the Kodak Technical Pan TP2415 a lot, usually in combination with a red filter. Since the TP was sensitive into the near IR, that combination was great for landscapes. Of course it had to be developed with a special developer ("Neofin doku") to avoid ultra-hard negatives ...

I forgot to mention that the Kiron 2/28mm has a pretty low distortion. So it's certainly a very useful lens if one knows its advantages as well as its downsides.

I probably have to try the Kiron 2/24mm next Wink. It should be somewhere on the attic as well, along with lots of Tamron, Tokina, Vivitar and Miranda stuff!

S


PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very nice images Steve, and eddieitman.
Between the komine made viv 28/2 and the kiron/viv 28/2 lenses that I looked out for and eventually acquired in PKA mounts, i tend to prefer the kiron. I think it is a lens for taking pictures with rather than scrutinising corner pixels.
Mind you it seems like most of the 28's I try out on my standard test pic of the castle leave me unimpressed - I wonder if it is something about the way the light gets to the sensor on a dslr...


PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 4:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excellent images. Also a very "interesting" garage that Miata is parked ....


PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2022 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
marcusBMG wrote:
Very nice images Steve, and eddieitman.
Between the komine made viv 28/2 and the kiron/viv 28/2 lenses that I looked out for and eventually acquired in PKA mounts, i tend to prefer the kiron.

Interesting. Today (before seeing your posting!), looking for a Sigma 13.5/1000mm mirror I hadn't used for ages, I stumbled upon a Vivitar/Komine 2/28mm ... I probably will compare the two lenses tomorrow, if I have time.

EDIT: IT WAS NOT A VIVITAR 2/28MM BUT A VIVITAR 2/24MM!!



marcusBMG wrote:
I think it is a lens for taking pictures with rather than scrutinising corner pixels.
Mind you it seems like most of the 28's I try out on my standard test pic of the castle leave me unimpressed - I wonder if it is something about the way the light gets to the sensor on a dslr...


Which DSLR are you using? Generally speaking I don't think it's the sensor, but more the fact that most 2.8/28mm lenses were "budget" lenses: competition in the f2.8 (or f3.5) segment was tough, and fast (i. e. f2) 28mm lenses were difficult to design.

S

Last edited by stevemark on Fri Apr 01, 2022 1:10 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hmm, the corners let this lens down for a FF user


PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
martinsmith99 wrote:
Hmm, the corners let this lens down for a FF user


The Kiron 2/28mm certainly is a "character lens". Wide open (24 MP FF) it is very well usable e. g. for b/w reportage pictures. Color pictures will need more attention, but flowers would come pretty nice (especially since the bokeh is interesting and not weird). Stopped down to f8 or better f11 it is perfectly suitable for high-quality landscape / cityscape photos, espectally if CAs are corrected in post processing.

S


PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I'l look forward to that comparison Steve.

Took the kiron out sat last - pentax KS2, f9:



PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
marcusBMG wrote:
I'l look forward to that comparison Steve.


I just looked at the Kiron 2/28mm, the Vivitar (Komine) 2/28mm, the Minolta MD-III 2/28mm and the Konica Hexanon AR 2/35mm (new version with AE markings an rubber focusing grip).
For landscape purposes, the Minolta would be best, followed by the Kiron, then the Konica. The vivitar (Komine) has by far the worst corner performance at f2 ... f8.
Be aware that the Minolta MD-III 2/28mm - in spite of being one step faster - is better than all other 2.8/28mm lenses I have tested, including the Canon nFD, all the Minolta, the Nikkor Ai, the Pentax-M, the Yashica ML, the Topcor RE, and the Zeiss CY.

Images will follow.

S


PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 2022 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
martinsmith99 wrote:
Hmm, the corners let this lens down for a FF user


The one I had didn't get sharp in the corners until f5.6, same with the 2/35 version.

Lenses that I would only suggest using if one particularly liked the rendering they have wide open or close to it.


PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have that lens too. Not too concerned about the corners, but flaring can be problematic, unless used creatively. Flaring at night is downright annoying. So are distortions, but that's to be expected from 28mm. Still can't bring myself to like this focal length, despite having several.

Summer light in Manhattan by Artem, on Flickr

At night with Kiron by Artem, on Flickr

The Flatiron District at night by Artem, on Flickr

New York by Artem, on Flickr

Lights in the night by Artem, on Flickr


PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Those are excellent images Artem, I particularly like the last one.


PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 2022 11:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:

I just looked at the Kiron 2/28mm, the Vivitar (Komine) 2/24mm, the Minolta MD-III 2/28mm
...
Images will follow.

S


Here they are (CLICK TWICE ON THE IMAGE FOR FULL RESOLUTION):



S

EDIT: Error in the annotation corrected (wrong "Vivitar (Komine) 2/28mm" deleted and replaced by correct "Vivitar (Komine) 2/24mm")

Last edited by stevemark on Fri Apr 01, 2022 1:08 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 2:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="stevemark"]
stevemark wrote:

I just looked at the Kiron 2/28mm, the Vivitar (Komine) 2/28mm, the Minolta MD-III 2/28mm


Wow, the Vivitar one is just embarrassing...


PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
[quote="Arutemu"]
stevemark wrote:
stevemark wrote:

I just looked at the Kiron 2/28mm, the Vivitar (Komine) 2/28mm, the Minolta MD-III 2/28mm


Wow, the Vivitar one is just embarrassing...


Wonder if it needs a cleaning... I don't usually see them that bad unless a cleaning is required- at least out of the 28mm Vivitars I've had. Might be sample variation too.

-D.S.
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