I have inherited a Kiron 28-85 K-mount lens that has oil in one of internal elements as well as the aperture does not stop down. The glass is otherwise flawless. Any idea how much it might cost to repair it? Also, any suggestions of places where they might repair this would be nice.
Ordinary was any house brand lens. Kiron was one of the more highly respected third party lens makers.
Worth cleaning it? Probably not though.
I doubt that fiddling about with a zoom lens of any kind is a good introduction to repair.
Some of the Kirons I have seen with oily/stuck apertures have had the glass permanently etched by the oil that separated and migrated over.
You could check with Eric at pentaxs.com, he should be able to do the cleaning but whether it is cost-effective or not is up to you, especially given that it may have the etching/fogging of the elements surrounding the aperture mechanism.
Back in the day Kiron was a lot of bang for your buck. Today 3rd party lenses are just not worth much money. I agree about not putting any money into it and looking for another lens.
Thanks everyone for replying. I checked with Eric, and he said he would not be able to help with anything non-Pentax. That being said, as others suggested, I might just keep it for learning how to repair a lens.
Kiron ( Kino Precision) back in the 1980's made many of the Vivitar Series 1 Lenses, and were no way crap lens makers.
Vivitar ( formerly Ponder & Best ) were only importers who commissioned companies to manufacture photographic equipment to their specifications to sell under the Vivitar brand name they didn't make anything.