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03-10-2010, 10:36 PM   #1
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Osawa Lenses?

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I am trying to scrape up a little information on Osawa lenses, specifically the ones labeled with "Chinar" on the lens front. There were some made for K-mount--anyone used them--on digital? I have read that Osawa and Mamiya had a connection back in the 60's, and Osawa seems to have other noteworthy connections as well. But my concern here is the Osawa lenses branded with the Chinar name for Pentax K mount---thanks.

03-10-2010, 10:38 PM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jewelltrail Quote
I am trying to scrape up a little information on Osawa lenses, specifically the ones labeled with "Chinar" on the lens front. There were some made for K-mount--anyone used them--on digital? I have read that Osawa and Mamiya had a connection back in the 60's, and Osawa seems to have other noteworthy connections as well. But my concern here is the Osawa lenses branded with the Chinar name for Pentax K mount---thanks.
Chinar for the Chinon line perhaps?
03-10-2010, 11:16 PM   #3
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Canada_Rockies: Chinar for the Chinon line perhaps?
Albert, that was my initial thought as well, but research up to this point can not connect these two names at all. Their similarity may simply be coincidence, but that is why I came to the forum with this one, hoping someone out there might know more--thanks.

Ernest
03-11-2010, 05:36 AM   #4
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Osawa Mamiya connection

Osawa was one of the few manufacturers to support Mamiya's 35mm SLR efforts in the 1980's. Basically you had about a dozen lenses from Mamiya and half a dozen from Osawa to choose from. Otherwise it was 42mm thread adaption. The lenses were clearly different and the Osawa lenses I had were reasonable. The ZE-X camera body was bloody good.
Not really an answer for you. Sorry!

03-11-2010, 10:00 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by Jewelltrail Quote
Albert, that was my initial thought as well, but research up to this point can not connect these two names at all. Their similarity may simply be coincidence, but that is why I came to the forum with this one, hoping someone out there might know more--thanks.

Ernest
Yes, I googled it later and discovered that the lenses from Chinon were Chinon rather than Chinar. My bad. Sorry.
03-11-2010, 10:30 PM   #6
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Matthew: Osawa was one of the few manufacturers to support Mamiya's 35mm SLR efforts in the 1980's. Basically you had about a dozen lenses from Mamiya and half a dozen from Osawa to choose from. Otherwise it was 42mm thread adaption. The lenses were clearly different and the Osawa lenses I had were reasonable. The ZE-X camera body was bloody good.
Not really an answer for you. Sorry!
Matthew, that does help me. I was aware of the connection to Mamiya from the late 60's, but did not know this connection lasted until, or at least reconnected again, in the 80s--thank you.

Ernest


QuoteQuote:
Canada_Rockies: Yes, I googled it later and discovered that the lenses from Chinon were Chinon rather than Chinar. My bad. Sorry.
No, not at all--in fact, the first thing I did was to Google it too. The names are very close and leads one to believe there is some connection. To be honest, I am not convinced they are not connected, yet anyway. I just can not find enough facts.
03-13-2010, 01:03 AM   #7
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Well here is a link to one of these lenses in K-mount. Maybe this will bring some information to the thread.


35mm f/2.8 Prime Portrait Lens for Pentax K mount ?810 - eBay (item 200447900889 end time Mar-11-10 06:42:29 PST)

05-15-2010, 02:14 PM   #8
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I can add some more information to this. In 1982, I purchased a student lens kit that consisted of a 28mm f/2.8 and a 80-200mm f/4.5 macro zoom. I was in tenth grade at the time and purchased it through a special program for students offered through the teacher.

So, on the why this is relevant. The branding on the lens was Bell & Howell, but the company on the back of the manual is J. Osawa & Co., Ltd., and the warranty card spoke of Osawa, Mamiya and Bell & Howell lenses. Check the address on the warranty card,

Osawa & Company
One Mamiya Court

I believe Osawa was a pretty big Japanese conglomerate, so maybe it owned Mamiya for awhile.
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