Cheap Lens - Part 2: OK I got my first cheap lens today in the mail. It was sold to me as an ASUNAMA, which was on the lens cap, but the lens face itself labeled it a SPIRATONE.

graybeard

OK I got my first cheap lens today in the mail. It was sold to me as an ASUNAMA, which was on the lens cap, but the lens face itself labeled it a SPIRATONE. Problem is, I also bought another Spiratone, probobly the same lens. The first one cost me $20 plus shipping, the second $6 plus shipping. The lens tube was loose where the front lens section met the rear lens section. Tiny screws were loose. Too tiny for any screwdriver I had, but an Xacto blade worked. The glass was dusty and hazy, inside and out. I tried lens fluid and rags, only partly successful. No fungus. I would appreciate any advice on cleaning. Since I have not yet received my T-mount I cannot connect it to my camera for a test shot. More later.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

graybeard wrote:

OK I got my first cheap lens today in the mail. It... (show quote)

Sounds like buying some decent precision screw drivers could be a good investment. Sometimes screws are loose, but sometimes they are really tight, and a decent screw driver can allow enough force to be applied without stripping the heads...

My 2 cents from experience. Good tools last a long time and pay for themselves relatively quickly.

Good luck!

graybeard

Peterff wrote:

Sounds like buying some decent precision screw drivers could be a good investment. Sometimes screws are loose, but sometimes they are really tight, and a decent screw driver can allow enough force to be applied without stripping the heads...

My 2 cents from experience. Good tools last a long time and pay for them selves relatively quickly.

Good luck!

Overall, the main negative about this transaction was that it was not accurately described. That can be true for anything you buy used and sight unseen. It annoys me that I am going to be getting a duplicate of this. Overall, the build quality seemed pretty good. We will just have to see how it works. I am going to trust my eyes more from now on. When 2 lenses look the same, I will consider them so regardless of brand name. I know some lenses are made for brand X by brand Y. I will look to overall profile, nature of focus ring, look of lens collar etc.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

graybeard wrote:

Overall, the main negative about this transaction ... (show quote)

Sounds like a good plan. If you are buying from ebay (not sure you are) 'not as described' is like a silver bullet. Possibly not worth the hassle for a few bucks, but for anything significant that usually results in a full refund. It does have to be defensible and justified however.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

graybeard wrote:

I will look to overall profile, nature of focus ring, look of lens collar etc.

If you haven't already done so, using Google and also searching UHH by brand name can be very helpful in identifying manufactures compared with badge label distributors and then finding reviews.

Currently Samyang makes some good glass, but is usually sold as Rokinon, Bower, and so on. Of course the badge label distributors often source from different manufacturers. It is quite a fun detective game at times, but can yield good results for good and inexpensive glass....

graybeard

Peterff wrote:

If you haven't already done so, using Google and also searching UHH by brand name can be very helpful in identifying manufactures compared with badge label distributors and then finding reviews.

Currently Samyang makes some good glass, but is usually sold as Rokinon, Bower, and so on. Of course the badge label distributors often source from different manufacturers. It is quite a fun detective game at times, but can yield good results for good and inexpensive glass....

Well I have already set my price cutoff way below the $100 or even $50 I started with. Now I am looking at $30 or less. It is feasible to buy at that price, but what you are buying is yet to be determined.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

graybeard wrote:

Well I have already set my price cutoff way below the $100 or even $50 I started with. Now I am looking at $30 or less. It is feasible to buy at that price, but what you are buying is yet to be determined.

Sure, but there is plenty of information out there about the brands that were prolific in the seventies etc., which can be extremely valuable guidance....

Take Vivitar as an example. Some of them were great, others "not so much". The web can help identify which specific things were good. Today, not everybody knows or does the research, which is where some true gems can be found.

And to your point, if I could get a very nice Canon FD 35 - 105 constant aperture zoom for $45 including shipping when others are typically asking twice that, so can you if you do the equivalent thing with research and patience. It does help to know what you are bidding on, what the going price is, whether people know what they have, and what you are willing to pay. Knowing when to make your bid also helps!

Good luck

graybeard

Peterff wrote:

Sure, but there is plenty of information out there... (show quote)

I have had pretty good luck with ebay, all things considered. The most frustrating thing I find is the skimpy descriptions, whether by ignorance (as most plead) or by design, knowing that what they don't say can't be held against them.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

graybeard wrote:

I have had pretty good luck with ebay, all things considered. The most frustrating thing I find is the skimpy descriptions, whether by ignorance (as most plead) or by design, knowing that what they don't say can't be held against them.

Aah, well that is the 'caveat emptor' thing isn't it? There are however frequently ways of finding out, but those are - shall we say-, some of the tricks of the trade, and we don't always give those away freely!

It is certainly harder to hold things left unsaid against people but it can be done. It is really other clues that expose the other things. I guess it comes down to knowing what to look for in either case.

graybeard

Peterff wrote:

Aah, well that is the 'caveat emptor' thing isn't it? There are however frequently ways of finding out, but those are - shall we say-, some of the tricks of the trade, and we don't always give those away freely!

It is certainly harder to hold things left unsaid against people but it can be done. It is really other clues that expose the other things. I guess it comes down to knowing what to look for in either case.

OK I now have a total of 3 lenses, and already, even before I have tried these out, there are problems. First lens ($20+sh) was described as an Asunama, but that was the lens cap! It is really a Spiratone 400mm 6.3. Also had a portion of the tube loose, and a foggy rear lens. Not as described. Second lens ($6+sh) was also a Spiratone !! I have 2 identical lenses ! Second one is in better shape, but rear lens also foggy. Third lens ($0+0sh) is a Vivitar 400mm 5.6. It is a real beaut. But it seems to not have a T-mount but rather some other rear end connection for a Nikon. As the connection is removable, I am thinking they made them for other brands too. I hope. Also no lens collar, so unless I can find a way to use one it will be very top heavy. As I still don't have my M42 T-mount coming on a slow boat from China, I can't do much more with it now except clean them up and try to figure out this Vivitar mount.

graybeard

Looks like I found out one answer. A TX/M42 Mount is what I need. A few camera companies (Vivitar included) used this instead of T-mounts. Cost a lot more. This project is getting more complicated than I would have wished. But I am also learning things. Until you take your last breath, you never stop learning. Heck, maybe even after your last breath you will still have new things to learn.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Spiratone was a Sears Brand Name often associated with "phonographs"... They also used "Tower" which was my first 35mm interchangeable lens camera, 50mm and 200mm both prime. The actual mfg of the camera was Ricoh.

The camera bit the dust after the second foam on the mirror... perhaps neglected by the intro of digital. Service life was 1972-2000 with some diversion by my hated harts desire the Minolta 7000i that knew better than me how to set up a photo.... humph went back to using my brain and the Sears...

Lenses... the Minolta's are used on my Sony Alphas... the "Sears" are M-42 and face to face with an adapter to Sony used as 5:1 Macro. Advantage.. f and focus are manually adjustable which for Macro is needed.

Old lenses... bargains and often excellent glass. Congratulations on you adventure into vintage glass. They made things rugged back then aren't we!

jsmangis Loc: Peoria, IL

graybeard wrote:

OK I got my first cheap lens today in the mail. It... (show quote)

One of my favorite lenses is a 20mm f2.8 Spiratone in a Nikon F mount that I inherited from my father. It was a great lens for landscapes on my crop sensor D80 and produces really fun images on my FF D610. My father took excellent care of his equipment so my copy is clean and has no signs of abuse.

Soul Dr. Loc: Beautiful Shenandoah Valley

graybeard wrote:

I have had pretty good luck with ebay, all things considered. The most frustrating thing I find is the skimpy descriptions, whether by ignorance (as most plead) or by design, knowing that what they don't say can't be held against them.

Ebay gives you the ability to ask the seller about the item they have put up for sale. I have done this numerous times when I wanted more info about an item I wanted to bid on. If I can't get the answers I want, I don't bid on it.

will

houdel Loc: Chase, Michigan USA

dpullum wrote:

Spiratone was a Sears Brand Name

While Sears may have sold Spiratone, it was not a Sears brand name. Spiratone was an importer of low cost photographic equipment founded by Fred Spira in New York in 1941. While Spiratone did have retail stores, they dealt largely in mail order. Spiratone closed in 1990.