The Off-Brand Club!! - Page 12

*Blue* · 08-19-2008, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by JETninja

Can anyone tell me about the Hanimex 135mm F2.8 "A" lens? . . .

That question is a lot like asking who made/makes Vivitar. There has been no less than 16 companies to make Vivitar lenses over the years including Olympus, Hoya, Kiron, Makinon, Cosina, Chinon and Perkin Elmer. Some of them have cult following and some are out right dogs. You will find Hanimex the same way.

stevebrot · 08-19-2008, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by Blue

That question is a lot like asking who made/makes Vivitar. There has been no less than 16 companies to make Vivitar lenses over the years including Olympus, Hoya, Kiron, Makinon, Cosina, Chinon and Perkin Elmer. Some of them have cult following and some are out right dogs. You will find Hanimex the same way.

Just a small point of clarification...Hanimex was an importer that rebranded products from various manufacturers. A Hanimex 135mm lens may well be the exact same product as a Focal, a JC Penny, a Rexatar, or any number of moderately priced, good quality, Japanese-made lenses of a particular era. As the photos on this thread have consistently demonstrated, these generic lenses often offer very good performance on a par with the more expensive "top-shelf" lenses of their day.

Vivitar (at least in their heyday during the middle 70's and early 80's) became more than just an importer. They pioneered computer optical design, did their design engineering work in-house, and outsourced the manufacturing to various firms in the US and Japan according to their expertise. (The Perkin Elmer-made 600/8, I believe, was the sole US-made product and is considered to be a cult-classic today.) Re-branding and poor quality was generally not a characteristic of the brand during its peak years when Vivitar was held in very high regard as the industry leader in innovation and technical excellence.

Steve

JETninja · 08-19-2008, 07:59 PM

Originally Posted by Blue

That question is a lot like asking who made/makes Vivitar. There has been no less than 16 companies to make Vivitar lenses over the years including Olympus, Hoya, Kiron, Makinon, Cosina, Chinon and Perkin Elmer. Some of them have cult following and some are out right dogs. You will find Hanimex the same way.

I don't think I asked who made it anywhere in my post, I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of that specific lens. I'm looking for a fast 135mm, and seeing lots of Offbrands. Looking also at the Quantaray F2.8 and even an old Spiratone F1.8 (looks very old, prob not MC) and of course lots of the usual JC Penny etc...

I should mention, I used to have a 2nd job in the early 80s working for one of the two hottest camera's sellers in Southern California. Got tons of old goodies from that period though not many lenses. (Vivitar rep took my check for the 28-90 Series 1 and never cashed it!

) But obviously we focused mostly on the name brands that paid best...It was a very lucrative 2nd job, in the time of the Pentax Super Program and LX, Olympus OM-10, Nikon F200 (?) and F3...and the Minolta Maxxum....heady time in 35mm....

stevebrot · 08-19-2008, 08:15 PM

Originally Posted by JETninja

...I'm looking for a fast 135mm...

You should be able to find a SMC Takumar, Pentax-K, or Pentax-M for reasonable money and not have the risk (or fun) of playing with off-brands. Unless, of course, you need an A-series mount. In that case, you might make a good deal on one of these:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensrevi...uct=293&cat=28

Steve

*Blue* · 08-19-2008, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by JETninja

I don't think I ask who made it anywhere in my post, I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of that specific lens. I'm looking for a fast 135mm, and seeing lots of Offbrands. Looking also at the Quantaray F2.8 and even an old Spiratone F1.8 (looks very old, prob not MC) and of course lots of the usual JC Penny etc...

Well pardon the hell out me.

ddhytz · 08-21-2008, 06:31 AM

This is surely off-brand lens. I paid a few dollars for it.

stevebrot · 08-23-2008, 05:14 PM

Originally Posted by ddhytz

This is surely off-brand lens. I paid a few dollars for it.

Well, it looks like your "few" dollars have provided a pretty good return on your investment! Like all of our off-brand owners, you should add a review to the third-party lens database.

Steve

*Mike Cash* · 08-31-2008, 07:01 AM

Been a while since this thread had a bump:

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

Pentax K20D
Cosina MF 20/3.8

jgredline · 08-31-2008, 06:38 PM

Originally Posted by Mike Cash

Been a while since this thread had a bump:

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

Pentax K20D
Cosina MF 20/3.8

Mike, When are you going to post up junk so we know you are human?

Another fine image... ''bravo''

jgredline · 08-31-2008, 08:36 PM

Sears 50mm

Haakan · 09-03-2008, 08:14 PM

This is a club that fits my budget and small lens collection. Inspired by all the nice images I got two old lenses that I bought second hand in the end of 70's. One is a Meyer Optik Orestor 135/2.8.

The other lens I have not found any info on. It is an "expert" 28mm 1:2.8 multi coated. "Expert" is a Swedish camera and electronics store so it must be a rebranded lens simlar to the e.g. the Sears lenses. Perhaps someone recognizes it from the pictures.

I have attached two pictures of the lens itself plus a shot taken with it. The image suffers from artifacts when compressing it to fit the upload limit (I have to learn how to do this in a good way), but in general I was happily surprised with how the lens performs.

Best regards,
Haakan

jgredline · 09-03-2008, 08:37 PM

I just received a 135 / F3.5 super tak so my collection is well on its way. Now I just need my Spotmatic body back from Eric so that I could shooooooottttttttt

stevebrot · 09-03-2008, 11:04 PM

I could have posted this on the Soviet club or in the Fisheye club, but I decided to post it here. The Zenitar 16/2 is a popular lens, but positive comments are almost always qualified by the phrase "for the price". This last weekend I took some tripod-mounted shots with the Zenitar and was a little shocked when I reviewed the pictures at 100%.

Here is the full frame taken at f/5.6, 1/15 reduced to 508 x 800 pixels for this forum:

Full frame

Here is a 100% crop:

Now, that is pretty good..."for the price"...

Steve

dws1117 · 09-10-2008, 06:40 AM

I can finally join this club. Here's a few shots from my Rokinon MC 80-200 Macro f4.5.

Click on the image to view it in a larger size

Arjay Bee · 09-10-2008, 09:12 AM

In as much as tokina doesn't as yet have it's own thread it only leaves this thread to post these Sunbird pics taken today.
Tokina AT-X 80-400 25% cropped off edges and processed in SilkyPix