Yesterday I spent some time at the “Toronto International Camera Show” at the Thornhill Community Centre, just north of Toronto. This show is basically a used camera fair that takes place several times per year. Dealers and hobbyists with too many cameras on their hands buy tables at this event and hawk their wares; other hobbyists pay $7 per person to get in and ogle old folding cameras, shiny Leicas and Hasselblads, overpriced medium-format rigs, 35mm by the dozens, and lots of other photographic miscellany. There are always oddities to behold — in this case, a huge Polaroid folding camera (the size of a computer monitor) that you can’t buy film for anymore. Overall, the prices seemed more reasonable at this show than at previous shows, but it might just be my imagination.
In any case, I couldn’t come home empty-handed, so I ended up getting a manual-focus Kiron 28mm f/2.0 lens in Nikon mount for a great price. Kiron is a brand I had long read about — they made the Vivitar Series I lenses in the 1970s, widely regarded as equal if not superior to the name-brand lenses — and so I jumped on this particular beast. It’s heavy, but not too big, and is very easy to focus (not surprising considering its fast speed).
I took it out for a spin this evening and will probably develop the test roll tomorrow. If things look good, I’ll probably sell my current early Vivitar 28mm f/2.5, which is also an excellent lens but not as fast or light as the Kiron. Any takers?