The Limbo Connection's photos with the keyword: 55mm lens

Photographed with a Canon EOS 40D and a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens rescued from a Chinon CX camera.

A picture of some pretty daisies to brighten up the dark dank days as we approach the winter solstice. Photographed with a Chinon 55mm f/1.4 lens on a Canon EOS digital camera.

Johannes Berger of Zeiss invented a 55mm f/1.4 Planar lens in 1957. But the design wasn't used for Zeiss lenses, because Erhard Glatzel invented a 50mm f/1.4 Planar lens, which was better. Berger's Planar, an asymmetrical double-Gauss scheme, similar to Nikon’s Nikkor-S Auto 50mm f/1.4 lens of 1961, was licensed to other manufacturers. Amongst these was Tomioka, a Japanese glass manufacturer. Chinon, who made cameras but not lenses, went to Tomioka for a standard fast lens. They got the 55mm f/1.4 (there was also a 55mm f/1.2 supplied in smaller numbers). In appearance, the 55mm f/1.4 closely resembles the more usual offering of a 55mm f/1.7 lens which came with Chinons of that period. Notably, the barrel is all-metal with a strip of thin leather glued on for a focussing grip. The standard of construction is good without equalling Leitz or Nikon quality. Because of the similarity in appearance, some suspect that the f/1.7 version was also a Tomioka product, but that is not proven, whereas the Tomioka involvement in the 1.4 55mm lens is undisputed. Some of them even have the Tomioka name engraved at the front. Others are identical except for the absence of that information. The versions with the Tomioka name are appreciably more expensive to buy secondhand. In this photograph of an advertisement for a Chinon CX from a magazine published in 1976 (the CX was made from 1974 and succeeded by the CX II about two years later) you can see the difference in price between the usual f/1.7 lens and the premium f/1.4. Keep in mind that another £10 was 12.5% extra, and quite a lot of money relative to the overall price - though it would have been a better investment than £10.95 for the ever-ready case, in my opinion. Fast standard lenses tend to be expensive. Even the Tomioka 55mm f/1.4 doesn’t come ‘cheap as chips’ like a lot of vintage M42 stuff. Is it worth the extra investment? The image in the viewfinder ought to be brighter wide open, and even half a stop more light can make a difference in a dark room. But that is theory and I have yet to experience the anticipated superiority of the Tomioka-made 55mm f/1.4 Chinon lens.