Help!! Tamron 70-210 3.8-4 CF or Kiron 70-210 f4 macro??

[francotirador]

Hello guys.
I am returning to analog photography. And want one zoom for my Contax RST II.
My doubt is between these lenses.
Tamron 70-210 MAcro f3.8-4 CF & Macro Kiron 70,210 f4
Yashica Contax mount
I would appreciate your opinions.

Best regards
Sergio

[Attila]

Kiron usually sharper, more contrast and more weight ( a lot)

[marcusBMG]

I have done some comparison between these two lenses (tamron 46A and kiron "zoomlock") in the past. Actually in terms of sharpness they were pretty equal. Although the 46A was tamron's standard 3x consumer telephoto (third incarnation) I think it performs well actually and is better for fringing and colour balance than the preceding 103A. The kiron wins handily though on colours for which it has something of a reputation, and edged contrast.
Other factors to consider are what camera(s) you are using. The adaptall is obviously inherently more versatile, mount can be swapped, and with NAI or PKA mounts gives auto aperture operation on Nikon/Pentax respectively. And it's lighter and easier to handle. The kiron is rather front heavy and clunky and ~250g heavier.
Both can be acquired for bargain prices, I got my zoomlock for a tenner and the 46A for next to nothing, the 46A more easily than the kiron, for the latter you may have to be patient waiting for one in a desired mount to crop up.

46A review here

http://nextimelah.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/tamron-adaptall-2-70-210mm-f38-4-46a.html

PS I have a spare zoomlock in C/Y ...

[WNG555]

I have the Tamron 80-210 103A and the Kiron 70-210 Zoomlock. Of the two, the Kiron wins for the reasons given by Marcus.
Also the Zoomlock button is very handy.

My copy of the 103A sucked. It could've been internally loose as it couldn't get sharp.

Both are cheap, $10 and $13 respectively were my costs.

But I'd recommend the Tamron SP 60-300 23A instead. Far better performance and reach and possibly the last zoom you'll need.

[Attila]

I was very happy with Tamron SP 70-210mm f3.5 , heavy lens also like Kiron and even better.

[WolverineX]

i can recommend Tokina AT-X 50-250mm/4-5.6. it comes in many mounts, it's not heavy, it's cheap, it has macro option that goes to 1:1,4 on it's own...

[Excalibur]

Well the problem in recommending old film lenses is that you can get copy variation e.g. I was so disappointed with my Vivitar series 1 zoom made by Tokina that I threw it away (well I paid £4 and have too many zooms). I remember in the past the pros would go to their friendly dealers\shops and try the lenses out and only buy the best copy, they might still do it today.
But if you can get the Kiron 80-200 f4 non zoomlock cheap it's worth trying as my copy is very good and only loses out to primes on very large crops. My copy's weakness is in close ups (macro) so I never use it for that.