Description

Up for sale is a beautiful SERVICED example of a rare Kyoei-manufactured lens, the Kawanon 180mm f/3.5. This lens is was manufactured by the Legendary Kyoei corporation for Kawakami Seiki (Kawanon), and is optically identical to the Kyoei Acall lens of the same specs. It produces beautifully sharp images across all apertures and features a two-ring preset aperture with 12 blades for nice smooth bokeh and out of focus highlight rendition Lens is in gorgeous vintage condition with light handling wear onlyand includes matched metal hood. Glass is free of scratches/haze/fungus, and mechanics are in excellent shape. Additionally, this lens has been fully disassembled and CLAed (Cleaned/Lubed/Adjusted) with interior optical cleaning and helical and aperture relube for ultimate performance! This is NOT an easy lens to service, and this is likely the only CLAed example you'll come across any time soon! This lens features the exceptionally versatile T2 mount, and includes a T2 to Nikon F adapter, allowing it to be used natively on various Nikon SLRs and DSLRs (full manual mode only). Both mounts can also be easily adapted for use on most popular Film SLR, DSLR, and mirrorless formats with a glassless adapter (see chart below for digital compatibility). If you have any questions about whether this lens is adaptable to your camera system, please contact me before purchase. Digital mount compatibility chart Mount Adaptable? Glassless Infinity? Notes Canon EF DSLR Y Y* * Some lenses require minor modification for use with Full Frame Canon cameras. Nikon F DSLR Y N Pentax K DSLR Y Y Sony A DSLR Y Y Sony E Mirrorless Y Y Panasonic/Olympus 4/3 DSLR Y Y Canon EOS M Mirrorless Y Y Canon EOS R Mirrorless Y Y Fuji X Mirrorless Y Y Leica/Panasonic/Sigma L Y Y Panasonic/Olympus m4/3 Y Y Nikon 1 Mirrorless Y Y Nikon Z Mirrrorless Y Y Pentax Q Mirrorless Y Y CLA FAQs This lens has been completely disassembled and CLAed (Cleaned/Lubed/Adjusted), with cleaning of individual components aperture cleaning and total helical cleaning/relube for like-new performance! Q: Why buy a CLAed lens? Put quite simply, lenses get dirty over time. Many used vintage sold lenses here on eBay are described as “mint condition,” typically meaning they are free of obvious optical flaws like haze or fungus and have a clean-appearing exterior. However, opening them up tells a quite different story. While these lenses may appear tightly built, they nearly all use open designs, which allows substantial amounts of dust, dirt, and grit to enter the lens, where it settles into delicate precision components, adversely affecting the mechanical properties of the lens and leading to increased wear. Furthermore, even in unused samples, lubricants tend to degrade over time, leading to degraded focus action as grease dries out, or slow blades and soiled optics as oil migrates within the lens. Q: What services do you perform on the lens before sale? With the lens disassembled, I perform a full CLA (Clean Lube Adjust). This entails cleaning out any internal and external soiling, cleaning aperture blades of grease that can slowing, re-lubing the focus helical, and adjusting all components for tightness and accuracy. Where there is extensive dust or internal lens soiling, I will disassemble lens cells and clean off surfaces; however, it is my general philosophy to keep lens elements in their factory positions in assembled cells when at all possible to ensure optimum performance. Q: DUST? What do you mean DUST? A: All vintage lenses have dust in them. In fact, they had dust in them when they were brand new from the factory! This is because prior to the advent of very modern sealed designs, lenses were not put together in a clean room environment, and the natural static charge of the glass tends to attract dust particles. Coupled with the open designs used in these lenses, it is virtually impossible to find any vintage lens without some degree of dust particles visible when you look closely through the lens. All of my CLA lenses have at minimum the exterior and internal cell surfaces wiped with a dust-free, lab-grade optical tissue and then blown off with an air bulb prior to reassembly and thus have a significantly below average amount of dust for a vintage lens. b448