Is the Kalimar 28-85 zoom macro fd lens worth $70. I have no expirence or knowledge about these lenses. Thanks!

Lee

-- Lee G. (Spenserr@aug.com), May 12, 2001

Answers

Lee,

Might be... but I'd start the bidding at $25. For my 75 it should be mint. There's a bazillion of these distributor branded lenses on the market. Somebody will tell you they are made by the same manufacturer as a "famous brand". Unless it has a manufacturers name on it (Tokina, Sigma, Tamron, Kiron, Komura) it probably doesn't get much in the way of quality assurance. It's also 15 years old now. I've had to return two similar used zooms (One Promaster and one Tokina) because the iris mechanism didn't work. As lenses age, sometimes oil will migrate onto the aperture blades and the lens won't stop down. This requires dissassembly and cleaning, usually 35 to fifty dollars. Hope that helps. Good Luck.

Bill

-- Bill Salati (wsalati@hotmail.com), May 13, 2001.