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In fact, there is very little information on the Chinon 55mm f1.7. It is only known that it was produced in Japan and has many clones (or is itself such) ...
Chinon 55mm f / 1.7 m42 story, clones
There is no documentary information confirming the manufacturer, so it makes no sense to argue. The lens could be manufactured by Tomioka by order of several companies at once, which sold them to the market under their own names (rebranding). Or, different Japanese companies produced the same licensed copy of some lens, under their own names ...
Lens for SLR cameras with M42 screw connection. This lens is installed on modern SLR and mirrorless cameras through the appropriate adapter. Read the article about adapters.
From my observations, I can note that the lens bodies are the same in several names - Tomioka, Chinon, Revuenon, Carenar, Hanimar, Carenar, Revuenon. In the same cases you can also find Mamiya \ Sekor, Fujinon, Porst Color Reflex, Yashinon, Tomioka, Cosinon, Petri, Tokina. Later variations include Ricoh, Sears, Miranda, Hanimex, and Kyocera. There are so many types and names of lenses that you can find out who produced a certain brand. lens, unrealistic. Canon and Nikon excelled at the same time, releasing only their lenses.
Regarding Revuenon, the brand itself is cloudy, since a lot of bad, and not very, lenses were produced under this name (Chinon, Cosina, Tomioka, Pentacon, Enna Werk and others were the manufacturers). Supplied by order, the German company Quelle. Revuenon auto 50mm f1.8 is generally a Pentacon lens (an updated copy of Pentacon auto 50mm f1.8).
Description and Application
A characteristic feature of all copies of the Chinon 55mm f / 1.7 m42 is a very strongly curved rear lens. Many people are afraid to install Chinon on full-frame DSLR cameras for this reason. I don’t know about full-frame cameras - but on cameras with a crop factor of 1,6 (Canon EOS 60D), the lens does not interfere with the mirror lift mechanism.
Focus ring u lens perceptibly raised above the main body, and covered with leatherette. The lens looks very interesting from the outside in perfect condition. The optical design is similar to the Zeiss Biotar (sic!). I got the most common option lens; pretty shabby, with a kotsany body, a slightly curved frame and a sprawling leatherette at the junction on the focusing ring.
Image quality
The lenses, in spite of their good condition, turned out to be not so good in practice (but only on an open aperture). Dispersion and hard chromatic aberrations were found on glare surfaces (especially noticeable on river waves). Thanks to this lens, I saw for the first time what dispersion looks like. If you slightly press down the aperture to f2 - 2.2, then the picture is quite decent. The focus and aperture rings rotate quite normally, the grease has not dried in many years. On the case lens there is a 5-blade diaphragm mode switch (auto-manual).
In general, the lens did not cause any emotions, except indignation. Interesting watercolor hips (sic!), fine depth of field on the open, nuts in the zone of confusion from f4, HA, dispersion. But now you also know what kind of glass it is. It will do for experiments, the more so that people manage to shoot masterpieces on it.
Using Chinon 55mm f / 1.7 m42 on modern cameras
To work on digital cameras, you will need an adapter from the M42x1. Easiest to install on cropped Canon EOS with bayonetohm EF-s, especially considering that adapters without chips on Canon cost mere pennies.
By ordering things from the links below, you help the project cover the costs of site maintenance and development. List of adapters, systems and bayonets (direct links for ordering)
- Canon EF / EF-S adapter M42-Canon EOS (without chip or with chip).
- Canon EF-M adapter M42-Canon EF-M.
- Nikon DX / FX as well as Fujifilm and Kodak with bayonetohm Nikon F adapter M42-Nikon F with lens и without.
- Nikon 1 adapter M42-Nikon 1.
- Pentax K adapter M42-Pentax K.
- Pentax Q adapter M42-Pentax Q.
- Sony / Minolta A adapter M42-Sony A (without chip or with chip).
- Sony NEX and Sony Alpha with bayonetohm E adapter M42-Sony E (M42-Sony Nex).
- Four Thirds, aka 4/3 (Olympus, Panasonic) adapter M42-4 / 3
- Micro Four Thirds - Olympus, Panasonic, Kodak, Xiaomi with bayonetohm Micro 4/3 (Micro 4: 3) adapter M42-Micro 4/3.
- For cameras with bayonetohm Fujifilm X adapter M42-Fuji X.
- Samsung NX adapter M42-Samsung NX.
- Leica M adapter M42-L / M.
- For bayonet Leica T adapter M42-L / T.
When ordering, it should be borne in mind that cheap adapters of poor quality with a lens on bayonetf Nikon F spoil the picture significantly. Adapters without a lens reduce the maximum focusing range (due to the difference in focal lengths). Adapters with chips come across poor quality, exposure metering and focus confirmation on some Canon EOS models may suffer from this.
Sample photos of Chinon 55mm f / 1.7 m42
The author condemns a good lens by testing a dead copy!
it will be great to hear an alternative opinion