Does Anyone Know The Reputation & Quality of a certain lens manufacturer? Are any of you familiar with Araxfoto.com based in Kiev, Ukraine? I've been looking over their tilt/shift lens...

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

Are any of you familiar with Araxfoto.com based in Kiev, Ukraine? I've been looking over their tilt/shift lens offerings, but I know nothing of their reputation regarding good business practices nor of the quality & reliability of their lenses. I've already done an Internet search on two different engines w/o success.

Thank you,
lev29

gmb3 Loc: Coastal CenCal

At those prices, you could take a chance and report back.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Once upon a time Ukraine had a thriving reputable camera/lens production industry. It was destroyed during WWII and never seen again until recently.

The current quality? If they want to be seen as a potential player it should be at least equal to above mid range optic producer and priced well below their true market value.

I found only links on Ukraine camera history linking it to Russia but it was existing long before the soviet era.

Edit: German camera made in Ukraine

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

lev29 wrote:

Are any of you familiar with Araxfoto.com based in Kiev, Ukraine? I've been looking over their tilt/shift lens offerings, but I know nothing of their reputation regarding good business practices nor of the quality & reliability of their lenses. ...

There is another way to look at it:
The only reason to use a tilt/shift is to improve the image so you will need a prime lens of at least $650.
Another $300 for the mount/electronics and you are at $950 for the package.
How much is Araxfoto asking?

Actually i didn't see any shift or electronics on their adapter.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/TILT-ADAPTER-Kiev-60-Arax-Pentacon-Six-P-Six-Lens-to-NIKON-Camera-Warranty-/270854127673

Rongnongno Loc: FL

http://araxfoto.com/

BebuLamar

I see only the adapter. I think to use the tilt shift feature the lens has to have the image circle larger than the sensor. So for the FF camera you would have to adapt it to a MF or view camera lens.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

BebuLamar wrote:

I see only the adapter. I think to use the tilt shift feature the lens has to have the image circle larger than the sensor. So for the FF camera you would have to adapt it to a MF or view camera lens.

Whose statement are you commenting on or replying? Without the statement, I'm unable to make sense of whatever point you're making.

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

BebuLamar wrote:

I see only the adapter. I think to use the tilt shift feature the lens has to have the image circle larger than the sensor. So for the FF camera you would have to adapt it to a MF or view camera lens.

A wide angle penticon 6 medium format lens will bolt up for around $250 and still allow infinity focus.
Don't forget the crop factor.

JPL

lev29 wrote:

Are any of you familiar with Araxfoto.com based in Kiev, Ukraine? I've been looking over their tilt/shift lens offerings, but I know nothing of their reputation regarding good business practices nor of the quality & reliability of their lenses. I've already done an Internet search on two different engines w/o success.

Thank you,
lev29

there are some reviews online
http://vnm.fi/~ttv/oldies/TS_Review/
http://www.dyxum.com/reviews/lenses/Arax-MC-35mm-F2.8-Tilt--Shift_review260.html
http://www.amazon.com/Arsat-Photex-Shift-Nikon-Camera/product-reviews/B0052NTX8U

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

JPL wrote:

there are some reviews online

Thank you so much, JPL! I just looked all three reviews over and they help give me a better feel for the quality & limitations regarding some of Arax's T/S lenses. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

A study of Ukrainian lenses will probably parallel the pitfalls of many Soviet-bloc and/or Communist countries. While they are capable of making excellent products, the quality control is so poor that many items that should have been rejected (in some factories 80-90%) find their way to the market. Kiev and Fed are two products that suffer this fault. There are samples out there that are outstanding, but you take a chance every time you buy one. One company, KievUSA, used to buy a lot of cameras and lenses, tear them down and build sound products from the good arts and closely controlled quality. I doubt they are still in business, but their approach to a difficult problem provided a unique and high quality solution.

melismus Loc: Chesapeake Bay Country

All lenses of this type that I have seen do not allow tilt and shift on different axes. This is a serious limitation.

zaidy

[quote=Rongnongno]Once upon a time Ukraine had a thriving reputable camera/lens production industry. It was destroyed during WWII and never seen again until recently.

Fortunately, the reality wasn't so grim. At the beginning of the war factories in Kiev and Kharkov were evacuated. After the war they came back and resumed production.
"FED" factory in Kharkov produced several models of 35 mm rangefinders cameras (FED-2, FED-3, etc.). Now this factory doesn't produce cameras.
"Arsenal Factory" in Kiev produced variety of rangefinders cameras (Kiev-2, Kiev-3, etc.), 35 mm SLR (Kiev-10, Kiev-15), and medium format SLR (Kiev-6C, Kiev-60, Salut, Kiev-88, etc.). In 2009 "Arsenal Factory" was closed.

lev29 Loc: Born and living in MA.

melismus wrote:

All lenses of this type that I have seen do not allow tilt and shift on different axes. This is a serious limitation.

Of "what" type? Those manufactured by Arax, by Ukrainians, by anyone? Please recall that my original question pertains to Arax. If your statement pertains to ALL Manufacturers, then it's irrelevant to this discussion. But thank you for participating.

lev29😐

houdel Loc: Chase, Michigan USA

oldtigger wrote:

There is another way to look at it:
The only reason to use a tilt/shift is to improve the image so you will need a prime lens of at least $650.
Another $300 for the mount/electronics and you are at $950 for the package.

I don't get what mount/electronics you are talking about tig. Who sells a lens without a mount? What electronics in a tilt/shift lens? Pretty much impossible to do, AFAIK Nikon T/S don't even autofocus. And it looks like you didn't look deep enough into the ARAX website, they have several T/S lenses in Canon/Nikon mounts. Here is the 35mm f/2.8 for $605. I believe that includes a mount...
http://araxfoto.com/specials/tilt-shift-35/