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Mamiya Sekor SX 55mm 1.8 vs Fujinon 55mm 1.8
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:10 pm    Post subject: Mamiya Sekor SX 55mm 1.8 vs Fujinon 55mm 1.8 Reply with quote
I had an idea to test random but similar lenses side by side and compare.

On one side we have a early Fuji Photo Film Co. Fujinon 55mm 1.8.
Its opponent is an Auto mamiya/sekor SX 55mm 1.8



#1



#2



First off I immediately prefer the handling of the Fujinon. The focus ring is as smooth a Takumar. The Sekor is starting to stiffen up and would benefit from a relube.


More to come in post 2.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Both very good lenses.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Fujinon is and outstanding lens!


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Test them both at f/16 and see which one is sharper.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
KEO wrote:
Test them both at f/16 and see which one is sharper.


The most I stopped them down today was to f/8.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
KEO wrote:
Test them both at f/16 and see which one is sharper.


f/8 or maybe f/11 to avoid https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction-limited_system


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
No editing other than a brightness increase. The same amount on every pair.

The white balance is fixed to reveal any differences in color.

First a closeup.

(Tip, open at least two shots in new tabs and switch between them to see minute differences)


#1 Sekor @1.8


#2 Sekor @5.6


#3 Fujinon @1.8


#4 Fujinon @5.6


#5 Sekor @1.8


#6 Sekor @5.6


#7 Fujinon @1.8


#8 Fujinon @5.6



#9 Sekor @1.8 100% CA/flare



#10 Fujinon @1.8 100% CA/flare



#11 Sekor @8



#12 Fujinon @8



#13 Sekor 100%



#14 Fujinon 100%



#15 Sekor @1.8



#16 Fujinon @1.8



#17 Sekor @1.8 100% crop



#18 Fujinon @1.8 100% crop


Last edited by blotafton on Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:37 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Conclusion.

My copies of these two lenses generally preform similarly as expected.

However the Fujinon has a slight edge in sharpness towards the edges. And a bit better corrected.

The Fujinon has more barrel distortion. Note that it is only in comparison to the Sekor and not to a test chart.

The last observation is that the Fujinon has a slightly narrower field of view as if it was zoomed in by a 1/2mm perhaps. Best seen on the building shots.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, they are very close. In tests I did before, these two lenses turned out to be among my best standard lenses. That's why they were keepers, and I still have them in my collection. Other 'winners', at least in my tests, were the Mamiya E(F) 50mm f/1.7 and f/1.4. In fact, I still haven't encountered a vintage standard lens that I found better than the EF 50/1.4. Sharp wide open, great clarity and great for landscapes as well. They can be had for less than 100 euros (there's also a rebranded Revuenon version). It's an absolute steal. I haven't tested super expensive glass like the Summilux though.


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
caspert79 wrote:
Well, they are very close. In tests I did before, these two lenses turned out to be among my best standard lenses. That's why they were keepers, and I still have them in my collection. Other 'winners', at least in my tests, were the Mamiya E(F) 50mm f/1.7 and f/1.4. In fact, I still haven't encountered a vintage standard lens that I found better than the EF 50/1.4. Sharp wide open, great clarity and great for landscapes as well. They can be had for less than 100 euros (there's also a rebranded Revuenon version). It's an absolute steal. I haven't tested super expensive glass like the Summilux though.


It would be fun to test my Mamiya E lenses. I have a 50mm f1.7 and 35mm f2.8 after hearing so much good about them.

Have you compared the f/1.4 Mamiya against a MC Zuiko 50mm f1.4? That is the best 50mm f1.4 I have even though it looks like someone has dropped it from the second floor window..


PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
blotafton wrote:
Have you compared the f/1.4 Mamiya against a MC Zuiko 50mm f1.4? That is the best 50mm f1.4 I have even though it looks like someone has dropped it from the second floor window..


Nope, haven't tested the Zuiko.


PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2023 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
In the 100% crop of the roof tiles, the Mamiya looks crisper IMO. But, splitting hairs here. The Fujinon is probably better in the periphery like you say. And in earlier tests I did, the center sharpness of the Fujinon was already optimal @ f/2.8, which is remarkable.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 9:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
blotafton wrote:
caspert79 wrote:
Well, they are very close. In tests I did before, these two lenses turned out to be among my best standard lenses. That's why they were keepers, and I still have them in my collection. Other 'winners', at least in my tests, were the Mamiya E(F) 50mm f/1.7 and f/1.4. In fact, I still haven't encountered a vintage standard lens that I found better than the EF 50/1.4. Sharp wide open, great clarity and great for landscapes as well. They can be had for less than 100 euros (there's also a rebranded Revuenon version). It's an absolute steal. I haven't tested super expensive glass like the Summilux though.


It would be fun to test my Mamiya E lenses. I have a 50mm f1.7 and 35mm f2.8 after hearing so much good about them.

Have you compared the f/1.4 Mamiya against a MC Zuiko 50mm f1.4? That is the best 50mm f1.4 I have even though it looks like someone has dropped it from the second floor window..


Right now my favorite vintage landscape lenses are the Mamiya Sekor CS 35mm 2.8, the Olympus OM Zuiko 50mm 1.4, the Mamiya Sekor SX 55mm 1.8. All with smooth focusing after a CLA. The edges become excellent with the SX at 8.0, the other ones already at 5.6.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 1:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
caspert79 wrote:
blotafton wrote:
Have you compared the f/1.4 Mamiya against a MC Zuiko 50mm f1.4? That is the best 50mm f1.4 I have even though it looks like someone has dropped it from the second floor window..


Nope, haven't tested the Zuiko.


I just have been comparing the Mamiya Sekor EF 1.4/50mm and the Olympus Zuiko OM 1.4/50mm (silver nose) under less-than-ideal weather conditions (24 MP FF, infinitiy / landscape). Nonetheless it is clear that both lenses are performing similarly. At f3.5 the Olympus has even slightly less lateral CAs (pixel peeping, no practical significance). On 43 MP FF things may look slightly different. I'll post some images later when weather conditions are more suitable.

S


PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2023 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:
caspert79 wrote:
blotafton wrote:
Have you compared the f/1.4 Mamiya against a MC Zuiko 50mm f1.4? That is the best 50mm f1.4 I have even though it looks like someone has dropped it from the second floor window..


Nope, haven't tested the Zuiko.


I just have been comparing the Mamiya Sekor EF 1.4/50mm and the Olympus Zuiko OM 1.4/50mm (silver nose) under less-than-ideal weather conditions (24 MP FF, infinitiy / landscape). Nonetheless it is clear that both lenses are performing similarly. At f3.5 the Olympus has even slightly less lateral CAs (pixel peeping, no practical significance). On 43 MP FF things may look slightly different. I'll post some images later when weather conditions are more suitable.

S


It will probably be close. Even if it's an early early version of Zuiko.

In the name of science I should compare the silver nose and newer MC.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 1:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
caspert79 wrote:
It's an absolute steal. I haven't tested super expensive glass like the Summilux though.


I will save you the time. With the way testing is done on this forum the Summilux will not perform up to those standards. The exception is if you test a Summilux-M 50 Aspherical. Perhaps an E60 Summilux-R 50, but I have not tested one so I can't say. However, Type 2 and Type 3 Summilux-M as well as Summilux-R first version and E55 are all designed with a specific goal and that is not corner sharpness. For the testing done on this forum you should either test it against a Summicron-R 50 Version 2 or Elmarit-R 60.

The older Summilux's were designed for handheld night photography. They focus on coma correction, CA correction, and ghosting from strong sources of light. In exchange they sacrifice far corner sharpness. The coma correction is a big deal and a big problem for fast 50 even modern ones. Nikon designed the Noct 58 f/1.2 years later with coma correction as a design goal. They had to use a hand ground aspheric element and the lenses were very expensive and retain very high prices even today. The Noct, however, had much lower contrast compared to the Leica especially wide open. Then again it was also a f/1.2 lens and not a f/1.4. It didn't have great corner performance either.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 6:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ernst Dinkla wrote:

Right now my favorite vintage landscape lenses are the Mamiya Sekor CS 35mm 2.8,


How do you deal with the aperture in Mamiya CS lenses? The adapter that I have works fine with the E-series, but for CS-series I have to fix the aperture in the open position on the lens itself somehow for the aperture to work.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 7:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Manichaean wrote:
Ernst Dinkla wrote:

Right now my favorite vintage landscape lenses are the Mamiya Sekor CS 35mm 2.8,


How do you deal with the aperture in Mamiya CS lenses? The adapter that I have works fine with the E-series, but for CS-series I have to fix the aperture in the open position on the lens itself somehow for the aperture to work.


Like with more vintage SLR lenses I convert the CS mount to EF mount and remove the original camera<>aperture lever mechanism. Internally in the lens a spring on the aperture is anchored in another position so the aperture mechanism is pulled in the reversed direction. Aperture ring works correctly then. That is what I recall of the two CS lenses I converted.
On the EF mount I glue a programmable EMF chip so it transfers the focal length + max aperture through a smart EF<>FE Metabones IV adapter to a Sony A7RII. Makes it easier to add the correct lens data with Exiftool afterwards.


PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
You might as well consider these two lenses the same and put any differences down to copy variation.

I found the same thing when I compared the Takumar 1.8/55 to the Petri 1.8/55.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ernst Dinkla wrote:
Manichaean wrote:
Ernst Dinkla wrote:

Right now my favorite vintage landscape lenses are the Mamiya Sekor CS 35mm 2.8,


How do you deal with the aperture in Mamiya CS lenses? The adapter that I have works fine with the E-series, but for CS-series I have to fix the aperture in the open position on the lens itself somehow for the aperture to work.


Like with more vintage SLR lenses I convert the CS mount to EF mount and remove the original camera<>aperture lever mechanism.


In this case, it's not a solution acceptable for me. I generally avoid altering the original design of the lenses, especially in the permanent way. So, locking the button in the pressed position in CS lenses is still the only option for me.


PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
There are adapters for CS on Ebay, but they’re a bit pricey (around 60$ from US).


PostPosted: Sat Feb 11, 2023 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Manichaean wrote:
Ernst Dinkla wrote:

Right now my favorite vintage landscape lenses are the Mamiya Sekor CS 35mm 2.8,


How do you deal with the aperture in Mamiya CS lenses? The adapter that I have works fine with the E-series, but for CS-series I have to fix the aperture in the open position on the lens itself somehow for the aperture to work.


I have the Sekor E/EF => Sony E adapter from Fotodiox. Internally, I have added a rubber o-ring (about 40mm diameter) which pushes the aperture pin of the CS lenses downwards. Mounting the CS lenses on the adapter is a bit tricky, buth once they are in the correct position everything works fine. Might be a temporary solution for you as well.

S


PostPosted: Mon Feb 13, 2023 8:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:

I have the Sekor E/EF => Sony E adapter from Fotodiox. Internally, I have added a rubber o-ring (about 40mm diameter) which pushes the aperture pin of the CS lenses downwards. Mounting the CS lenses on the adapter is a bit tricky, buth once they are in the correct position everything works fine. Might be a temporary solution for you as well.
S


Thanks, I'll try this solution.
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