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Miranda bayonet 50mm f1.8 E on Olympus EPL1
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:14 pm    Post subject: Miranda bayonet 50mm f1.8 E on Olympus EPL1 Reply with quote
Some time ago I picked up a Miranda bayonet 50mm f1.8 E lens for a trifling sum. Thanks to some time on my Uncle's lathe, I have now concocted a micro-4/3 adapter for it. The adapter is made from a Miranda bayonet teleconverter and a canon Fd to micro 4/3 adapter that was useless due to poor fit meaning the lens was not held securely.

The pictures below show the lens on my EPL1 and the adapter. I have plans to improve the adapter as I am really impressed with the lens performance. the lens has a lovely solid fell to it, though it is quite heavy. It looks like it is only single coated.





Note that I have put a 21mm diameter baffle in the back of the m4/3 adapter.





I usually find that the usability of old fast lenses wide open on 4/3 and m4/3 is marginal due to their tendency to give a significant amount of "haloing" or glowing around edges. Some lenses are particularly bad in this respect (the Konica 40mm f1.8 springs to mind) and really cannot be used wide open whilst others (e.g. the Zuiko 50mm f1.8 ) can be used in situations where there is no strong lighting. I was very surprised to find this lens gives probably the cleanest result of any 50mm f1.4 to f2 lens that I have tried when used wide open. The barbed wire on the pylon shown below can be relied upon to reveal any problems. The result with the Miranda is very good. You can see how the sharpness improves when stopping down and by comparison with the f5.6 result judge the amount of haloing in the f1.8 picture. The haloing is there, but is not serious.







Maybe the baffle I added to the adapter helps to give a clean result. I should mention all the shots in this report were taken with a small hood fitted.

Last edited by SXR_Mark on Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:46 pm; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here are some shots with the Miranda taken wide open. Sharpness is good but not exceptional. The bokeh is a bit odd.











PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Good job and seems like an excellent lens! I have one Miranda lens that was sold to me as M42 but it seems like a 44mm screw mount...


PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
These were all taken at f5.6 or f8. The lens is very sharp when stopped down. No post processing other than resizing has been applied to any of these pictures. The lens seems to result in intense but not especially vivid colours.







PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Riku wrote:
Good job and seems like an excellent lens! I have one Miranda lens that was sold to me as M42 but it seems like a 44mm screw mount...


Yes, prior to the bayonet, Miranda used a 44mm screw thread which is often mistaken for 42mm. The throat of the bayonet mounts are threaded to take the older lenses.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
After another 4 hours (!) machining, the adapter is now visually much improved. Very Happy







The offset of the aperture indicator away from vertical is deliberate as I found it the most convenient position for gripping the "ears" of the aperture ring.


PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My admiration - that's seriously good work there. And a great cat. These old Miranda lenses are nothing to sneeze at.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nesster wrote:
My admiration - that's seriously good work there.


Thanks! Very Happy (I have to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of my Uncle, without whom this would not have been possible, and the use of his workshop).

Nesster wrote:
And a great cat.


Yes, but not normally a very cooperative model Laughing

Last edited by SXR_Mark on Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:46 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I've just taken these. This Lily is African Queen.

What do people think of the bokeh? The f1.8 shots have a bit of "glow" around the edges, but it is not unpleasant. The first two shots are at f1.8, the last at f4. No post processing, just resized.







PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 11:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Shocked Wow that is the best painting like bokeh I think I have seen.


PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Mo took the words right out of my mouth! Matter of fact, you could do an all bokeh image and it would be an impressionist painting. Excellent result. I have to try my Miranda Soligor 50/1.9 like this, only on film.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I really like this lens, so I thought I'd post some more shots. Minimal PP (just a little contrast boost). Comments are welcome.

Mark

Taken at f2.8


Taken at f4 think (maybe f2.8 )


Taken at f2.8


Taken at f2.8


Taken at f4


Taken at f4


PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Those are wonderful samples.
I really like the colors and bokeh.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
What a great effort with regards the adapter! Looks like your patience has paid off, the old Miranda looks very good Smile


PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
std wrote:
Those are wonderful samples.
I really like the colors and bokeh.


Thanks. Yes, I agree about the bokeh and colours. The bokeh is somewhere between the completely smooth and very structured. It adds character without being distracting. The colours are intense without being vivid. The pictures don't leap out of the screen, but I like this.


PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
ManualFocus-G wrote:
What a great effort with regards the adapter! Looks like your patience has paid off, the old Miranda looks very good Smile


Thanks.

What impressed me with the Miranda is that it works well wide open. I find that old 35mm lenses of f2 or faster give very diffuse results when used wide open (on my Oly EP3 and EPL1). For example, I would not use the OM Zuiko 50mm f1.8 wide open except in low light conditions. The Konica 40mm f1.8 is terrible wide open, but superb at f2.8 and beyond. The Miranda certainly has some glow wide open, but it is still fully useable if sharpness is not a priority. And this is with a (I think) single coated lens.

Mark


PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Riku wrote:
Good job and seems like an excellent lens! I have one Miranda lens that was sold to me as M42 but it seems like a 44mm screw mount...


Is it the 5cm f2.8? That's a really great lens. Most common of the screw mount miranda lenses.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 10:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Interestingly, I just picked one on these up in M42 mount branded as an Auto Soligor. This must have been from the period when AIC owned both brands.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 8:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I need to add this lens to the list of Miranda lenses I'm going to buy. Very nice Bokeh. Smile I wish I had access to a lathe. Very nice job on the adapter you made.
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