Kiron Corporation was a subsidiary of Kino Precision Industries, Ltd., a Japanese manufacturer of photographic lenses. Kiron was based in Carson, California, operating in the 1980s primarily as the United States distributor of Kiron lenses, which were offered in a variety of mounts compatible with many popular 135 filmmanual focussingle-lens reflex camera systems. Kino Precision was founded in 1959 and by the time Kiron was organized in 1980, Kino Precision had gained experience manufacturing lenses sold by Vivitar, including several marketed under the latter company's premium "Series 1" line. After Kino Precision decided to market lenses directly, the Kiron name was adopted for the lenses and the distributor.
Kiron lenses enjoyed a fine reputation, driven by positive reviews and an award-winning advertising campaign led by Chiat/Day. After 1985, following the introduction and subsequent explosive popularity of autofocus SLRs, the market for manual focus lenses shrank, and Kiron concluded operations by 1988. Its parent, Kino, merged with Melles Griot in 1989.
History
The company was set up as a U.S. subsidiary of Kino Precision Industries Limited, which was a Japanese company based in Nerima, Tokyo, and the first use of the Kiron name was noted in late September 1979. A trademark for Kiron was applied for on January 25, 1980, and registered on July 7, 1981.[1] Kiron Corporation was founded to market manually focused film camera optical lenses to the United States. Kino Precision was founded in 1959 by Tatsuo Kataoka to manufacture lenses for 8mm movie cameras.
Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, manufactured by Kino Precision Industries
Starting in the early 1970s, Kino Precision manufactured some of the now-famous Series 1 manual focus lenses under contract for Vivitar, a U.S. lens distributor of after-market film lenses for 35mm cameras. These may be identified by serial number, as Vivitar assigned serial numbers starting with '22' to lenses made by Kino. The third, fourth, and fifth digits were used for the year and week of manufacture.[2] Vivitar continued to purchase some Kiron/Kino lens designs, and offered them for sale under the Vivitar brand. For example, the Kiron 105mm f/2.8 macro lens was re-labeled and sold as the Vivitar 100mm f/2.8 macro and the Vivitar 105mm f/2.5 (1:1) macro lenses.
The commercial success of Vivitar Series 1 lenses prompted Kino to directly market lenses to fit existing 35mm Japanese film cameras under their own brand, Kiron,[3] especially as Vivitar was using other manufacturers to produce Vivitar brand lenses. Kiron soon became known as one of the very few after-market lens manufacturers that could supply products equal to or even exceeding the optical and mechanical quality of the original manufacturer. In particular, the Kiron 28mm f/2.0, the 105mm f/2.8 1:1 macro,[4] the 28-210mm f/4.0~5.6 and the f/3.8~5.6 varifocal zoom, and the 28-85mm f/2.8~3.8 varifocal macro zoom lenses were praised in contemporary reviews of the day for their superb optical resolution and clarity, as well as mechanical quality.[5][6]
Kiron 70–150mm f/4.0
Although reasonably priced for the level of quality offered, Kiron manual focus lenses were never economy-level products; for example, in 1981, the 28–85mm f/2.8~3.8 varifocal lens had a list price of US$449(equivalent to $1,500 in 2023).[7] All Kiron lenses were made and assembled in Japan. As such, Kiron lenses had retail list prices comparable with lenses offered by the camera manufacturers themselves, although in practice, retailers offered Kiron lenses at substantially discounted prices comparable to Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and Vivitar equivalents.[8] In 1983, Chiat/Day won four excellence in advertising awards presented by The Advertising Club of New York, based on their advertisements for Kiron, Pioneer, Apple, and Allstate.[9]
The increasing cost of quality lens manufacture in Japan led to a loss of sales for Kiron, as the company could no longer offer its lenses at a cost less than that charged by the camera manufacturers, who had begun to offer economy-level lens designs as well as contracting lens assembly operations in lower-cost factories outside Japan. Additionally, the 35mm camera market was in flux by the late 1980s, and 35mm camera manufacturers were transitioning to autofocus lens designs. By 1988, the company decided to discontinue after-market 35mm camera lens production to concentrate on industrial and other markets.
In 1989 Kino Precision Industries merged with 'Melles Griot Japan' to form 'Kino-Melles Griot'.
In 1995 the firm has changed its name to 'Melles Griot Ltd', and subsequently became a member of CVI Melles Griot Group in 2007.
In June 2011 Illinois-based IDEX Corporation completed its $400 million acquisition of the laser and optical component maker CVI Melles Griot from its previous owner, the private equity firm Norwest Equity Partners.[11]
Lenses
Vivitar-branded lenses manufactured by Kino Precision
Kiron offered a service to change lens mounts at a cost of US$41.50(equivalent to $140 in 2023) per lens.[26]
Not part of the original range but some lenses (28-210 and 70-210mm f/4.5) were also made available in M42 lens mount in the late 1980s.
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↑ Zes Maal Rond De 100mm, FOTO (March 1985) pp. 16-20: In a review of 100mm focal length macro lenses, FOTO found the Kiron 105/2.8 macro outperformed both the Micro Nikkor 105mm/2.8 AIS and Tokina 90mm/2.5 macro lenses.
↑ "Kiron 28-85mm Varifocal Macro Zoom Review". Modern Photography. March 1981. In this test of the 28-85mm varifocal, published by Modern Photography, 34 out of 36 values for center and corner sharpness at 28, 50, and 85mm were reported as 'excellent', while the other two were both 'very good'. Contrast rated as all highs at 28mm, all but one high at 50mm, and mostly high at 85mm.
↑ Keppler, Herbert (June 1986). "Super Stretch Zooms, Do you Lose Picture Quality?". Modern Photography. pp.34–35, 74.
↑ Ortner, Everett H. (April 1981). "Through The Viewfinder: All-Range Zoom". Popular Science. pp.26–28. If you're not prepared to wait, the Kiron 28–85 will set you back (list price) $449.
↑ "B&H Photo 'The Professional's Source'". Popular Photography. December 1984. p.115. Retrieved 28 August 2024. Compare, for instance, the actual prices of 70–210mm zoom lenses sold by B&H Photo, as advertised in December 1984:
Kiron: $99
Sigma: $79.90
Tamron: $179.90 plus $17.95 for the appropriate mount
Tokina: $99
Manufacturer 70–210mm zoom lenses were offered contemporaneously by Canon ($149.90), Contax/Zeiss ($949), Minolta ($169), Nikon/E ($199), and Pentax ($169)
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