Curious Chinon shape

biggles3 · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 61 Location: Crickhowell, Wales

A little while ago, I came across what, on the face of it, was a very boring, conventional short telephoto: a Chinon 135mm f2.8 in a M42 mount.

But its shape completely caught me out - it's conical. I'm sure some of you will know of others but until this one, I had not come across a 135mm lens with a conical barrel (and hood); indeed, I can't find any other such shaped optic among my 557 lenses. It is actually a very well-made piece of glass but I have no idea as to who actually manufactured it. Nearly all Chinon (inc. Auto Chinon) 135 f2.8s have a conventional shape and there are several versions of the type.

This one highlights its multicoating in the identification on the bezel and that works very nicely in controlling flare and helping to provide good contrast. I don't know its optical formula but it performs very nicely on digital cameras with few, if any, chroma issues. Images are very sharp in the centre and pretty impressive on the edges of the frame too.

This copy is attached to the rare version of the TL Electro X in black with the stylised Y logo, not to be confused with the TL Electro X ITS which only appeared in black and had the Electro roundel as its logo.
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RokkorDoctor · Expire: 2025-05-01

Not sure I see what is conical about the lens in the image shown above?

I do know there exists the Vivitar Series 1 135mm f/2.3 which has a conical focus grip:

http://makingnottaking.blogspot.com/2010/03/vivitar-series-1-135mm-f23.html

https://lens-db.com/vivitar-series-1-135mm-f23-vmc-auto-s-n-28xxxxxx-1973/

biggles3 · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 61 Location: Crickhowell, Wales

visualopsins · Expire: 2025-04-11

Quite an angle between the aperture and focus grips...lens diameter at aperture scale is larger then diameter above filter threads, a section of a cone missing the pointy tip.

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

This series of conical / tapered Chinon lenses are reputed to be Tamron optics in Chinon bodies. And every one I've had has been very good. Currently I have the 300 / 5.6 and 200 / 3.5 and they are both excellent lenses, I like the style and the build quality, and optically they are very good. I'm trying to build the full set , but they are getting hard to find, and I recently missed a 135: Rolling Eyes

I have a copy of the Chinon brochure saved which lists all the lenses in this series, but I can't find it... I think there's a 28 or a 35, a 50, the 135 you have and the 200 and 300 I have.

This is my 300 / 5.6 alongside my Tamron Auto Adaptamatic 870AU 300 / 5.6. They do look very different, but the optics and aperture do look the same

Lloydy · Expire: 2022-01-01

Here's a few pictures of tapered Chinons spotted in the wild, there's a 40-15 Zoom, and a 28 that is branded as 'Expert' . And I still can't find the brochure...

RokkorDoctor · Expire: 2025-05-01

biggles3 · Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Posts: 61 Location: Crickhowell, Wales

[quote="Lloydy"]Here's a few pictures of tapered Chinons spotted in the wild, there's a 40-15 Zoom, and a 28 that is branded as 'Expert' . And I still can't find the brochure...

quote]

Wow! Thank you very much for all the piccies of those lenses; I had no idea that Chinon produced an entire range with that unusual shape. There are a few there which could be rather tempting; that 300mm is quite a sight...