AUTO CHINON MC 50/1.4 PK vs EBC FUJINON 50/1.4 M42

Yahvel · Joined: 12 Oct 2012 Posts: 243 Location: USA

I wanted to compare these two. Is it safe for me to say that the Chinon is just as good as the Fujinon or is it not ? What do you think ? They were all shot on a 5D MIII at f/2.8 except the last ones that were shot wide open.

These were shot wide-open in low lights

AstroZon · Joined: 13 Jul 2014 Posts: 172 Location: Colorado Springs

Chinon made some very nice lenses in their day. Most were made in house and varied in quality. I have a Chinon 50mm, f1.7 that I really like.

Fuji made most, but not all, of its lenses. Some later Fujinons were made by Cosina and others were subbed out to the regular plethora of Japanese lens manufactures. They too varied in quality. I have an m42 Fujinon 55mm, f1.8 that is excellent for flowers and portraits because it's just a tad soft.

Of your photos, it appears that the Chinon has slightly better color resolution, and the Fujinon has better detail. Overall, I like the Fujinon.

Yahvel · Joined: 12 Oct 2012 Posts: 243 Location: USA

Tedat · Joined: 08 Nov 2011 Posts: 800 Location: Berlin/Germany

the Chinon isn't very good wide open... stop down a bit and both lenses are at least equal. But after F5.6 the Chinon gets worse again.. at least my copy does.

radissimo77 · Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 111 Location: Glasgow

I tested twin of the Chinon- Revuenon MC 50/1.4 (verion with 8 blades) agains Fujinon EBC and my impressiosn were:

Revuenon- sharper, better bokeh at f4 (due blades), smaller, less CA, only thing worse tha Fujinon EBC was a flare resistance...
YMMV
Cheers,
Rado

marcusBMG · Joined: 07 Dec 2012 Posts: 1305 Location: Conwy N Wales

Nice test , nice lenses - but it's difficult to discriminate if the overall determining factor for resolution and contrast is the ambient light (lack of).

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

Nice comparison. PK Chinon 1.4/50mm is fine, flat rear type lens. It was a portrait lens of choice for AGFA Selectronic SLR cameras. I think it is quite younger then Fujinon M42.

StillSanj · Joined: 21 Apr 2015 Posts: 412 Location: United States

Chinon holds it's own in picture quality, but I much prefer the look of the fujinon.

WNG555 · Joined: 18 Dec 2014 Posts: 784 Location: Arrid-Zone-A, USA

Both look excellent in your samples. I prefer the EBC Fujinon, and from the looks of these, typical EBC vs. non-EBC appearance.
The output matches my 55mm f/1.8 EBC. I did a personal comparison between EBC and non-EBC versions of the 55mm f/1.8 and resulted in similar outcome. The EBC was always brighter and cleaner (in similar low lighting) than the same lens with Fuji's conventional coating tech.
I guess there is something to their claim of higher efficiency of light transmission with micro coatings offered by EBC.

Chinon:

It was my understanding that Chinon had Tomioka supply their lenses, not in-house. Anyone care to comment?

TrueLoveOne · Expire: 2013-12-24

From what i have always read/heard: Chinon is, like Vivitar, not a lens manufacturer, they buy and re-brand them with their own name.
They did produce camera bodies though, even for other brands.

One other thing: i get the feeling some people are mixing up 2 quite different lenses: the well-known 55mm f/1.4 Chinon aka Revuenon, Porst and so on, and the less known 50mm f/1.4 with PK mount, which is a very different lens and much smaller and lighter than the 55mm lens.
This is the 50mm (pic from Alf Sigaro):

Auto Revuenon MC 1.4/50 mm by Alfred, on Flickr

radissimo77 · Joined: 20 May 2011 Posts: 111 Location: Glasgow

TrueLoveOne · Expire: 2013-12-24

Yes, i remember that thread/topic. I did some testshots back then with the 50mm in the pic above... pity they are gone.....

I do still have the lens though.

Cheers, Ren�!

Tedat · Joined: 08 Nov 2011 Posts: 800 Location: Berlin/Germany

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

Tedat · Joined: 08 Nov 2011 Posts: 800 Location: Berlin/Germany

good to know... I heard that rumor but never had a Mamiya Sekor EF or Revuenon MCF.

Another myth busted Laughing

D1N0 · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 2495

The Chinon is a bit front focussed in samples. 3 and 5 That gives the appearance the Fujinon has better detail. In fact the focus is different.

Fujinonuser · Joined: 06 Jan 2011 Posts: 128 Location: Germany

My personal opinion from practical experience: Traditionally, Chinon was a manufacturer of lens barrels and camera bodies. Chinon cameras were first sold with M42 thread-mount and later with Pentax PK bayonet. While the design and glass of their M42 lenses were sourced from Tomioka, Tokina, Sun, Cosina and possibly other lens makers, the Pentax PK lenses were lenses designed and sold by Tamron, Cosina, and Cimko (Topcon) under their own brand names, but also re-labelled as Chinon, Revuenon and Agfa with Pentax PK bayonet. The Chinon f/1.4 55mm and the Chinon f/1.4 50mm lenses are totally different. The Chinon f/1.4 50mm lens features excellent sharpness and high overall contrast, but it has been found to be optimized for a narrower aperture and distance range than other high-priced f/1.4 lenses. In practice, you will hardly notice this limitation. Its overall contrast is impressive, and the colors have a strong dynamic of their own. As to the Fujinons, most were designed by Fujifilm and manufactured by Fuji in Odawara south of Yokohama. Some very few Fujinons were outsourced or re-labelled lenses. Fuji's design philosophy was to render as many subtle color shades as possible. The basic colors are strong and clear just like with Zeiss lenses. While there may be sharper lenses at the expense of a busy background, Fujinon lenses are sharp, unless you happen to get a lens that has suffered from age or bad treatment. The f/1.8 55mm lens has been rated as perhaps the sharpest Japanese 55m lens built in that age. If it's not sharp, you got a bad copy or missed the point. There is not much difference between the EBC-coated and the non-coated versions. EBC is a little better protected against flare and ghost and therefore the colors may turn out more impressive. There are two basic versions of the f/1.4 50mm Fujinon. The early version used Lanthan glass. The design of the second version pursues a strategy different from the f/1.8 lens. It is optimized for available light and will render painterly creamy backgrounds to subdue shadow noise. It is a high-quality lens within its range of application with somewhat less overall contrast than the Cosinon-Chinon-Revuenon-Agfa lens. In the opinion of many photographers, the Fujinon lenses are a class of their own although the range of focal lengths available was limited if compared to the "big names" like Canon, Nikon, etc.

tb_a · Expire: 2019-08-28