Kiron 28-105mm f3.2-4.5 Review

Kiron,  a company formed from ex-Nikon engineers,  was the first 'off brand' company to offer high quality wide-tele zoom lenses.  The 28-105. 28-85 and 28-200 were excellent lenses.  Perhaps too good, because when they refused to produce lower quality lenses, they couldn't compete with the cheaper plastic lenses being offered by major mfg's, and went out of business.   In fact, Kiron lenses cost almost as much as lenses from the major brands.   

     The Kiron 28-105mm f3.2-4.5 is sharp wide open at 28mm and still sharp at 105mm. 

     Contrast is good and shadow detail is excellent.    Contrast is consistent thru the entire range.

     Color rendition is excellent.   Fringing is very low.  Distortion and vignetting are absent on the sub frame T2i.   

     Bokeh fringing is subdued and monochromatic.  It is unlikely that it will be noticeable in real world shots.

     Focus is well dampened but there is a long slow turn to reach infinity.  This is expected because the lens is full time macro.   Focusing on the T2i is not easy.   One touch zooms are typically difficult to manage on D-SLR's.   If you are able to comfortably use this lens it will produce excellent images.