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on Mar 7, 2022 14:53:42 GMT
Posted: Mar 7, 2022 14:53:42 GMT
Has anyone ever heard of Kotaishi lenses? From what I can tell, Kotaishi means "Imperial" or something like that. All I've seen so far are a 80-200mm and a 35-200mm lens. Seems odd, so I assume they are made by someone else.
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on Mar 7, 2022 19:58:32 GMT
Posted: Mar 7, 2022 19:58:32 GMT
Has anyone ever heard of Kotaishi lenses? From what I can tell, Kotaishi means "Imperial" or something like that. All I've seen so far are a 80-200mm and a 35-200mm lens. Seems odd, so I assume they are made by someone else. Hi xkaes, It's certainly an uncommon brand but they did market their zooms with a C/Y mount. I know they also produced a 28mm f2.8 and auxiliary lenses for Nikon and Canon. I have seen a reference to them being a manufacturer but with such a paltry range of glass I doubt that they would have stayed around for very long. The company remains an enigma to me; I have no idea as to the quality of their equipment. Incidentally, Kotaishi means Crown Prince, i.e. next in line for the Throne.
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on Mar 8, 2022 0:17:39 GMT
Posted: Mar 8, 2022 0:17:39 GMT
Given that they made lenses with the C/Y mount and the Minolta MD mount, it means that they were produced in the late 70's / early 80's -- an odd time to jump into the bloated Japanese lens market. The few that I have seen all have very low serial numbers like "100250", but appear well-made -- all metal, good multi-coating, and very heavy. I have not done any nose-to-nose comparisons with other brands.
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on Mar 8, 2022 9:56:25 GMT
Posted: Mar 8, 2022 9:56:25 GMT
Given that they made lenses with the C/Y mount and the Minolta MD mount, it means that they were produced in the late 70's / early 80's -- an odd time to jump into the bloated Japanese lens market. The few that I have seen all have very low serial numbers like "100250", but appear well-made -- all metal, good multi-coating, and very heavy. I have not done any nose-to-nose comparisons with other brands. Totally agree. The highest serial number I've seen is 101872 and that was on their most popular lens, the 80-200 f4.5. Their 80-300mm was, it seems, a decent performer even at the 300mm end which was always the soft spot for long zooms, and the lens was produced in a C/Y mount. Their 35-70 was their final zoom offering and for the 35-200, 80-300 and 35-70 I have not seen serial numbers above 100300. As you suggest, it looks like they were a bit late to the party and were not around for more than a couple of years, if that. It's a pity as, if they were good performers, you could use just two lenses to cover everything between 35mm and 300mm. You may know more, but they offered a decent range of popular mounts: Canon, Nikon (AI and AIs), C/Y, Minolta, Konica, Pentax K and m42.
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on Mar 8, 2022 22:49:59 GMT
Posted: Mar 8, 2022 22:49:59 GMT
I've found out all I need to know about Kotaishi lenses. As I suspected, while it's possible that they actually manufactured some lenses, they definitely sold lenses made by other companies -- and rebadged them as "Kotaishi". The 35-200mm f3.5-4.8 was also sold under the Soligor C/D, Promaster Spectrum 7, Sakar, and Kalimar labels. Perhaps others. The Soligor C/D version has a serial # starting with "6" meaning "KOMINE".
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on Sept 4, 2022 12:03:57 GMT
Posted: Sept 4, 2022 12:03:57 GMT
I wasn't looking for a Kotaishi lens, but yesterday at the local GOODWILL thrift store, they had a Kotaishi lens -- looks like new, in the box, marked "for Olympus", even though it has a Minolta MD lens mount -- for $10. It is a one-touch, 35-70mm f3.4/4.5 with a "macro" setting and a serial # 101174. Too good to pass up. I'll report back on results ASAP. Seems very well made, but by WHOM? ?
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