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Sears 55mm f1.4
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 9:11 pm    Post subject: Sears 55mm f1.4 Reply with quote
This lens seems to have high praise but somehow I didn't get wide open preformance as sharp as I expected. It is a good lens. Probably I got a different version?

The lens and some samples:



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hi.

Nice images.

Tipical of the mamiya 55 1,4 lens.

Old Cosina rendering. Isn't IT?

Thanks for sharing


PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Post 100% crop. Sometimes when lenses under perform they could have been dropped, been worked on or be defective from factory.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
papasito wrote:
Hi.

Nice images.

Tipical of the mamiya 55 1,4 lens.

Old Cosina rendering. Isn't IT?

Thanks for sharing


Thanks. This one is made by Mamiya? I heard there is another version by Tomioka?


PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 1:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
blotafton wrote:
Post 100% crop. Sometimes when lenses under perform they could have been dropped, been worked on or be defective from factory.


Thanks for the comments. My copy looks good, no traces of damage or having been worked on. Here are two 100% crops. They might be slightly out of focus.



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PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 4:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
papasito wrote:
Hi.

Nice images.

Tipical of the mamiya 55 1,4 lens.

Old Cosina rendering. Isn't IT?

Thanks for sharing


Thanks. This one is made by Mamiya? I heard there is another version by Tomioka?


Check the back element.
If it is completely flat, then it is likely a Tomioka design at least, if not made by them.
Keep using it, and you will probably find that it isn't as bad as you imagine.
Depth of field at f1.4 is so narrow up close, that it is easy to miss focus.
Images look like they show a very competent lens to me
Tom


PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Those 100% crops does look a bit disappointing. I don't have the same lens so I can't compare directly but my latest photos taken with a Domiplan 50mm are much sharper. And that is one of the lowest rated 50's ever made.

If it looks and feels good, the only check I forgot to mention is if rear element retaining ring is loose. It has happened on 2 or 3 of my lenses.

I'd probably replace it.


PostPosted: Sun Jun 16, 2019 2:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Could be Tomioka or Cosina. Depending on it's age. Lens formula is the same. I believe Cosina took over from Tomioka when Tomioka stopped making lenses for the consumer market.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oldhand wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:
papasito wrote:
Hi.

Nice images.

Tipical of the mamiya 55 1,4 lens.

Old Cosina rendering. Isn't IT?

Thanks for sharing


Thanks. This one is made by Mamiya? I heard there is another version by Tomioka?


Check the back element.
If it is completely flat, then it is likely a Tomioka design at least, if not made by them.
Keep using it, and you will probably find that it isn't as bad as you imagine.
Depth of field at f1.4 is so narrow up close, that it is easy to miss focus.
Images look like they show a very competent lens to me
Tom


Thanks, Tom. The rear element looks quite flat to me. Yes, I'll keep using it. Just a little bit surprise that the famous youtube guy highly praised this
lens by saying the wide open sharpness is very impressive and other users' comments agree.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
blotafton wrote:
Those 100% crops does look a bit disappointing. I don't have the same lens so I can't compare directly but my latest photos taken with a Domiplan 50mm are much sharper. And that is one of the lowest rated 50's ever made.

If it looks and feels good, the only check I forgot to mention is if rear element retaining ring is loose. It has happened on 2 or 3 of my lenses.

I'd probably replace it.


Thanks. I'll take a look. Maybe I'll get another copy. Smile


PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
D1N0 wrote:
Could be Tomioka or Cosina. Depending on it's age. Lens formula is the same. I believe Cosina took over from Tomioka when Tomioka stopped making lenses for the consumer market.


Thanks for the information! I once was interested in Cosina made Vivitar's. Now I am very interested in their lenses. Smile


PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
D1N0 wrote:
Could be Tomioka or Cosina. Depending on it's age. Lens formula is the same. I believe Cosina took over from Tomioka when Tomioka stopped making lenses for the consumer market.


Thanks for the information! I once was interested in Cosina made Vivitar's. Now I am very interested in their lenses. Smile


There is a Cosina made 55mm f1.2 that wears the Revuenon name.
It is simply superb and comes in PK mount.
Of course Cosina are still making spectacular lenses - the Voightlander 58mm f1.4 SL Nokton being one such sought after lens, as it is reputed to be a copy of the famous RE Auto Topcor 58mm f1.4
Tom


PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
D1N0 wrote:
Could be Tomioka or Cosina. Depending on it's age. Lens formula is the same. I believe Cosina took over from Tomioka when Tomioka stopped making lenses for the consumer market.


Thanks for the information! I once was interested in Cosina made Vivitar's. Now I am very interested in their lenses. Smile


The m42 Cosinon 50mm 1.7/1.8 lenses are swirly as a a Helios 44 lens. In the eighties Cosina just made a load of cheapisch zooms.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 17, 2019 5:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
If it is the flat rear element, ostensibly cosina made, I have the Ricoh Rikenon labelled version. Its all metal and very rimeniscent of asahi pentax lenses of the era (ie smooth as silk and built like a tank!) Here is a shot I took with it a few years ago:

100% crop


This was taken with a Canon EOS 60D. (so crop sensor) an no post processing at all.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 2:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's hard to tell on the monitor, but those crops look pretty decent to me. Even the non-cropped version seems to display good contrast considering that you shot them at f1.4. It's easy enough to miss focus by a single millimeter at f1.4 by the way. I've seen plenty of old and new lenses that look a good deal worse wide open than these. Yours have a softness, but they do display pretty decent contrast and at normal un-cropped viewing they look as sharp as lots of lenses. No ghosting, no glow. Just a vintage softness but with pretty decent contrast.

I know it has a reputation, but vintage lenses wide open are not usually especially sharp or contrasty. I have a Tomioka made 55mm 1.4 lens and while not as good as the 8 element Takumar, it's absolutely a great lens. YMMV of course, and there can definitely be quality differences between individual lenses.

Steve


vivaldibow wrote:
blotafton wrote:
Post 100% crop. Sometimes when lenses under perform they could have been dropped, been worked on or be defective from factory.


Thanks for the comments. My copy looks good, no traces of damage or having been worked on. Here are two 100% crops. They might be slightly out of focus.



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PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 5:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Sears 55mm f1.4 Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
This lens seems to have high praise but somehow I didn't get wide open preformance as sharp as I expected. It is a good lens. Probably I got a different version?


i guess my understanding was that they're more renowned for their IQ and color rendering more than their sharpness, i found both to be pretty good on my crop-sensor camera, but haven't had a chance to try it with full-frame yet.. mine is i think a later model, auto sears / sekor sx 55mm f1.4, will have to check whether the back element is flat or not


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
Thanks. This one is made by Mamiya? I heard there is another version by Tomioka?


It's Tomioka. It's the same lens as the Auto Rikenon 55 1.4 (except it's not radioactive like the Rikenons). I've got one Sears and two Rikenon versions.

All three of mine fully live up to their reputation, fwiw. Superb lenses. They have particularly excellent color transitions in the bokeh - deep reds into pale greens, for example. They're unlike any other lenses I've tried.

I don't know that I can judge yours by the shots you've posted, but they do look less sharp than I would expect.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Sears 55mm f1.4 Reply with quote
benadamx wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:
This lens seems to have high praise but somehow I didn't get wide open preformance as sharp as I expected. It is a good lens. Probably I got a different version?


i guess my understanding was that they're more renowned for their IQ and color rendering more than their sharpness, i found both to be pretty good on my crop-sensor camera, but haven't had a chance to try it with full-frame yet.. mine is i think a later model, auto sears / sekor sx 55mm f1.4, will have to check whether the back element is flat or not


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Thanks for your contribution to this thread. I particularly like the 2nd photo. I'll have some comments regarding this lens in another post.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 18, 2019 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
KEO wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:
Thanks. This one is made by Mamiya? I heard there is another version by Tomioka?


It's Tomioka. It's the same lens as the Auto Rikenon 55 1.4 (except it's not radioactive like the Rikenons). I've got one Sears and two Rikenon versions.

All three of mine fully live up to their reputation, fwiw. Superb lenses. They have particularly excellent color transitions in the bokeh - deep reds into pale greens, for example. They're unlike any other lenses I've tried.

I don't know that I can judge yours by the shots you've posted, but they do look less sharp than I would expect.


Thanks for keeping adding information to this thread and your confirmation of the reputation of this lens. By searching ebay sold history, I noticed there are at least three versions of this lens.

One: Takumar like focus ring, sn starts with 2
Two: Takumar like focus ring, sn starts with 5 (my copy)
Three: Chinon like focus ring, sn starts with 1

May I know what number your Sears sn starts with? I suspect they are from different manufacturers, or mine suffers from part to part variation.

One thing I'd like to add to my thought of not-so-sharp performance at wide open: I have this observation not just from the photo itself, I notice it from my focusing process. I use the MF magnifier 11.7x on my Sony a7ii camera. By rotating the focus ring, the image will experience from oof, to in-focus to oof again. At in-focus, I can clearly tell if a lens is sharp or not. During the focusing process when using this Sears, I have the feeling that no matter how I rotate the focus ring, I can't seem to make the image sharp enough to my eyes. The image on the monitor proves this. Certainly, the less sharpness may have some contribution from oof, due to its thin DOF.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 20, 2019 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
May I know what number your Sears sn starts with?


Here's my Auto Sears and one of my Auto Rikenons. All three of mine look the same, except that the auto/manual switch is broken off on one - be careful with those switches; they're fragile.



PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 5:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
KEO wrote:
vivaldibow wrote:
May I know what number your Sears sn starts with?


Here's my Auto Sears and one of my Auto Rikenons. All three of mine look the same, except that the auto/manual switch is broken off on one - be careful with those switches; they're fragile.



Last edited by vivaldibow on Sun Aug 04, 2019 4:49 am; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
This is my Porst. I believe it to be Cosina made:

Porst Color Reflex 55mm 1.4 by The lens profile, on Flickr

Porst Color Reflex 55mm 1.4 by The lens profile, on Flickr

Here is a post with a Cosinon that looks exactly like my Porst except from a different focussing ring: https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/porst-and-cosina-55mm-f-1-4--m42--50205 The Porst in the posting must be Tomioka made I think.


PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 1:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have an Exaktar almost identical to your Porst.
This comes from a wrecked Exakta Twin TL made by Cosina.
So Cosina as the maker seems very likely.

I compared the innards vs a Sears, back when I had a couple of Sears, and they seemed close enough to replace elements between them.

The design and the maker are very likely to be the same, or very closely related.


PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
luisalegria wrote:
I have an Exaktar almost identical to your Porst.
This comes from a wrecked Exakta Twin TL made by Cosina.
So Cosina as the maker seems very likely.

I compared the innards vs a Sears, back when I had a couple of Sears, and they seemed close enough to replace elements between them.

The design and the maker are very likely to be the same, or very closely related.


Probably very closely related German store brands. Porst was/is a chain of camera stores.

I've got a Tomioka made Chinon 55mm 1.7
Auto Chinon 55mm 1:1.7 by The lens profile, on Flickr

The same diamond focus mark as the Porst in my link to the other forum.

So I think we can say diamond focus marks are Tomioka made and upside down lollipops are Cosina made.


PostPosted: Fri Jun 21, 2019 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
vivaldibow wrote:
Thanks for the photos. Now I am more inclined to believe I have a different version of this 55mm f/1.4.


You should post some pics of it. Sears put their brand on cameras and lenses from many different manufacturers.
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