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The Limbo Connection

The Limbo Connection club

Posted: 06 Sep 2023

Taken: 06 Sep 2023

6 favorites     2 comments    139 visits

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*Italo-Byzantine Vacuity *Italo-Byzantine Vacuity

Manual Focus Lenses. Manual Focus Lenses.

The 50mm Group. The 50mm Group.

M42 M42

Still Life Still Life

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Keywords

still life •
fruit •
pears •
M42 •
Tomioka •
Fujifilm X-E1 •
Minolta Close-Up lens No.1 •
Chinon 55mm f.1.4 •

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Photographed using a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens on a Fuji camera via an adapter. This lens was an alternative to the more usual 55mm f/1.8 when Dixons were selling Chinon cameras during the early 1970s. They aren't that plentiful on the second-hand market so I guess not many customers paid the extra. After all, this was the budget-conscious end of the market. There is nothing wrong with the f/1.8 version, but the f/1.4 was definitely worth the extra.

Bob Taylor, John FitzGerald, tiabunna, Fred Fouarge and 2 other people have particularly liked this photo

Comments
 tiabunna
tiabunna club
There were some good lenses in those days, I've heard of the Chinon lenses but never used one (Minolta back then).
15 months ago.
The Limbo Connection club has replied to tiabunna club
You can get some mysterious and quirky results with old lenses, and the Chinon 55mm f/1.4 is not the most lauded in this respect - Helios has that distinction. The Japanese Tomioka company made this lens to a Planar design by Johannes Berger of Zeiss. Lens designers were striving for perfection and this is no exception. The Tomioka company provided several other big names with the same lens, but not necessarily with the same casing. The Chinon casing is unusual. It is exactly the same as Tomioka's own-badge version.
Striving with these vintage lenses is a bit hit-and-miss. Some are better than others: 50mm and 55mm is generally decent, also 135mm, but the 28mm specimens are a minefield.
Vintage glass is seldom pristine. Dirt, dust, mildew, scratches, seized-up mechanics, general out-of-adjustment faults - I wonder why we bother! I once bought an Optomax 35mm lens with a long eyelash trapped inside. It still made half-way decent pictures, but I didn't really like such close association with a previous owner.
15 months ago.

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