AUTO REVUENON MCF 1:1.4 f=50mm

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

I know most of the users know this lens is the same as Mamiya EF 50mm 1.4 (Mamiya maker and Mamiya EF mount, i have no clue if the Pentax version is the same lens, but i suppose it might be), but i think it deserves it´s own thread for the sake of the history lol.
Most of the times i was trying to get the Mamiya version, it wasn´t cheap , but this alternative might be interesting also.
In fact, i´ve bought this lens after viewing some sample shots taken by Caspert some time ago.
It´s probably the lightest 50mm 1.4 lens i have, so in terms of weight, might be one of the best choices.
Here are some samples taken with this lens, basically only exposure compensation applied to raw and converted to jpeg.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

Not the best time to shoot outside and i have no hood for this lens.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

this shot had some improvements

BrianSVP · Joined: 09 Jun 2023 Posts: 301 Location: Philadelphia

The PK mount Auto Revuenon 50mm f/1.4 is the same lens as the Auto Chinon Multi-Coated 50mm f/1.4 (the one with the orange and green trim ring text in the Chinon version), and is a different lens from the Mamiya.

It's a well-thought-of lens in its own right, although IMO the f/1.7 version, which also shows up as both a Chinon and Revuenon, is the better lens.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

BrianSVP · Joined: 09 Jun 2023 Posts: 301 Location: Philadelphia

Here in NA, at least, Chinon is a rather forgotten brand, but they did produce a number of nice lenses, and I've had fun shooting them. The 55mm macro (Actually an f/1.7) sells at a premium due to the curiosity factor of its being the largest-aperture 50ish macro available at the time of its release, as well as the fact that it was seen rebranded as an Alpa after Chinon acquired that brand. It's a fun lens and very petite for what it is, but not among the absolute best in image quality.

The regular PK mount 50mm f/1.7 MC I've found to be a superb lens and when I was shooting Pentax regularly, I actually preferred it to the OEM M and A series equivalents. Very sharp, with great microcontrast pop, the only downside being some fairly strong CA. I've heard they are prone to sample variation, but the few examples I've owned had have all been excellent. This lens is also occasionally seen rebranded as an Auto Sears.

Returning to the lens that's the subject at hand, excellent shots using this lens, of a beautiful part of the world. Is that Spain?

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

thank you again, it´s always very handfull to have someone to correct information on these oldies.
It was my first time on this little town of Daroca,Spain and only used the 50mm lens(not the smartest choice), lots of history behind it and still many treasures to discover reminding the past.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 2927 Location: The Netherlands

Great lens, and actually sharp wide open. Far sharper than any other vintage fast 50 I’ve ever tried, although i have no experience with very expensive lenses like the Summilux.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

You and Steve have had some nice comparison of this lens and others like Zeiss 1.4 but not Leica.
I wouldn´t be the one taking an expensive Leica for hiking (i don´t have any and no plans to get one), as i wouldn´t take my Topcor 1.4 neither (just to heavy). Indeed, this is a sharp lens, probably sharper than many others, it does suffer from color fringing wide open (red,purple and green), shooting against the sun it´s not the best for this lens, for bokeh i would definetely take topcor or other lenses. It´s my first time using a 50mm lens for the whole day (not easy task always for street shooting, but manageable in some cases. There is some distortion also, but overall, it is a very good lens especially for low money (Revuenon version might go cheaper sometimes).

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 2927 Location: The Netherlands

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 2927 Location: The Netherlands

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Hey Kiddo , very nice to see pictures from Spain, one of the picture I recognized Spanish landscape, but I wasn't sure I would like to ask about it after all I saw the flags Smile

This lens is pretty good in my opinion it has own charm, visible especially on close up shoot.

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

thank you Attila, the picture with the flags i believe it was shot wide open, just like so many others i took on purpose to see how does it handle where fast lenses are not dealing always the best (old lenses if i´m allowed); closing one step the improvements are very high , but to be honest, we all want a fast lens to be able to use it wide open(not only when low light available).
mFD is about 43cm, not bad at all, some time ago i took pictures of mushrooms from f2 most of the flaws are gone (i would consider it way to sharp for ladies portraits that prefer soft skin).
The flaws are manageable i guess, the bokeh is ok but it could get weird sometimes , so for portraits i prefer many others .
I still need a wide lens for this mount, i read nice things about 35mm (artaphot) , not so good about the 28mm and the 28-50mm zoom.
The good thing about this lens is the sharpness all over the image on most of the apertures, i cannot rely on the stops of the adapter clicks, but i do it counting the speed decrease when closing down the aperture.
Spain is a beautiful country to visit, especially the rural area where most of the tourism would not be really interested in.
Next picture is only a sign for the public phone , i guess some time ago they weren´t available everywhere around, it is amazing how the buildings were done before with no cement or concrete and they could last for so many years.

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

kiddo · Joined: 29 Jun 2018 Posts: 1123

thank you, it was around 4PM walking next to the old walls that used to surrender the old town; if you have a look at the landscape picture of the whole little town , on the left side there are some hills, so it was pretty easy to take the shot from there, avoiding the flares (In fact i did try to get some flares in the shot, but they were really bad).