Heigh-ho

Photographed with a Canon EOS 40D and an Auto Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens mounted via an M42 - EOS adapter. Shot in RAW and processed in Lightroom. The Japanese Tomioka company made this lens to a Planar design by Johannes Berger of Zeiss, which Zeiss never themselves used, having something similar which they considered superior.

I bought this lens still attached to a Chinon CX from an eBay seller. It is engraved ‘Auto Chinon’ but in all other respects is identical to 55mm f/1.4 lenses badged ‘Tomioka’ which Chinon were supplying before 1974 when there was a change of ownership at Tomioka. The company was taken over by Carl Zeiss in 1974 and the name Tomioka was removed from the front of lenses being supplied to camera manufacturers.

Tomioka was at one time the largest lens producer in Japan. It was more economical for Chinon, Mamiya Sekors, Ricoh, and others to buy from Tomioka than to manufacture their own lenses. In this they were not alone. Vivitar and Soligor, for example, never made lenses. They specified what they wanted, and various Japanese optical companies bid for the contracts.

When sold new in the UK by Dixons the f/1.4 lens was available as an option to the normal f/1.7 for an extra £10 over the £69.95 usual price (I quote from a 1976 advertisement in ‘Amateur Photographer’). That was quite a premium and as a result the f/1.4 version is relatively scarce. However, the more normal f/1.7 offering is also a very good performer and both plentiful and cheap. It is rumoured that Tomioka made it as well, and whilst the appearance is strikingly similar (for example, the focussing ring is covered with a rippled leatherette material in both cases), there was never a Tomioka-badged f/1.7 on a Chinon SLR.

Much as I enjoy using these vintage lenses, I would add a footnote that they are not in the Nikon league for contrast and sharpness. You won’t beat a 50mm Nikkor from this period, either optically or on quality of construction. Of course, they cost appreciably more, and were beyond the reach of all but the professionals and the well-heeled. Heigh-ho.