Auto Sears 55mm F/2.8 (Cosina)

drjs · Joined: 25 Feb 2013 Posts: 484 Location: USA

Picked up a badly dinged Sears SL11 with 3 lens for $25. Only 1 keeper, an Auto Sears 55mm F/2.8. Looks pretty beat up from the outside but lens is still in decent shapes. I opened and cleaned all of elements and took a few quick shots. Surprisingly sharp even at 2.8. I think it is made by Ricoh or Cosina as observed by luisalegria from this thread: http://forum.mflenses.com/auto-sears-ricoh-55-2-8-unique-design-thanks-andy-t10402.html . Looks likely one of the many Tessar 55 clones.

In camera JPG resized only.

Front View

Back View

Side View

F/2.8

F/4
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F/5.6

Ultron · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 60 Location: Amsterdam

I recently picked this up in a thrift store.
Mine is labeled auto rikenon 50/2.8. I would have preferred a 55 with the knurled focus ring but this is what I got.

It is now mounted on my new old 5D classic, but I haven't taken it out yet, only took a few test photos.
It seems sharp but I see something strange. It seems almost distortion free at close distances, then with slight barrel distortion at three meters, then distortion free from 5 meters and up.
Does anyone know if this is possible? I didn't shoot brick walls, just some straight objects, maybe my eyes are deceiving me.

If you have a weatherproof camera, this front cell focusing lens could be a cheap way to weatherproof the lens too, because the back of the lens is closed. And front cell focusing tessars can be pretty good, I'm thinking of the 35/2.8 minotar now.

Ultron · Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 60 Location: Amsterdam

I found some nice walls for testing the sharpness and distortion. I hope you like them because I almost got arrested for shooting these walls! I saved my ass by pretending to delete the images.
I fought the law and I won Twisted Evil