[romansolar]

This is my first manual lens, i cant compare results with other manual lenses yet but i am very pleased with IQ and sharpness. I uploaded few images, unedited one and 100% crop as second image. You can inspect quality by yourself. Cropped image created from center of original image.

AutoRevuenon50mm - roman solar photography

- images taken with Pentax K-r and Revuenon 50mm f1.4
- color balance set to cloudy (within camera before shooting)
- Contrast and sharpness value within camera set to 2
- raw images opened with photoshop, no editing, no sharpening applied
- 100% crop created from original image and saved as jpeg quality level 11
- original image finally resized down to 1000px longest side and saved as jpeg quality level 11
- All images taken handheld
- Jenaer Glaswerk 49mm Cpl Filter used
- Use smugloupe for detailed inspection
- Click on photo to see it larger
- Sadly i did not write down F values during shooting. I used something between f2-f8. So not wide open










more images with exif info HERE

[Vindemiatrix]

i wanted to buy this lens but I already have the takumar 50 1.4 so I couldn't justify it. Takumars are pretty good imo.

[52mm]

I'd say it's pretty hard to go wrong with a decent 50mm. I have three (Rikenon P 50/1.7, Rikenon XR 50/1.4 and said Auto Revuenon 50/1.4, which is a rebadged Chinon(*) ), and while differences do exist, ultimately all of them are competent lenses. My favorite is the P 50/1.7, which has the best corner sharpness at f/8 and is the smallest and lightest of the three. I wish obtaining a 28 or 135 nearly as good were that easy.

EDIT:
*) At least they usually are - the focus grip and distance indicator are telling. Apparently the version with 6 aperture blades was a kit lens while that with 8 was sold separately. You'll also find Cosina lenses badged Revuenon. But that's about it as far as PK mount goes.

[romansolar]

thanks for reply!

i also bought recently 28mm 2.8 tokina and awaiting 135mm Revuenon all from ebay.

[52mm]

The older RMC Tokina 28s are supposed to be pretty good... I wonder whether one of those would finally edge out the lowly 18-55 kit lens, something which so far none of my 28s has managed. (Even though the AGFA-branded Chinon 28/2.8 is reasonably usable wide open already, so I guess that one would give me about an extra stop when needed. This can't be the Auto Chinon reviewed here, it looks like a typical ca. 1980 Chinon lens including ribbed focus grip and thin-O-shape focus indicator.) I would have loved to try out the K 28 3.5 that was on the 'bay recently, but its end price proved a little too rich for my cheapskate self.

What kind of 135mm Revuenon did you get? The Chinon? I've got an AGFA-branded one, overall quite similar to an equivalent RMC Tokina (plus or minus some differences in color rendering, contrast and fringing). Decent enough lenses, but neither really blew me away (a boring modern-day Sigma 70-300 DG OS zoom is at least as sharp when stopped down, though it seems to lose a good bit of blues and obviously is much bigger). I would love to see what a modern design could pull off here.

[romansolar]

hi
i dont know
i see on lens: auto revuenon 2.8 f=135mm multicoated 357785
today received, looks fully functional, clean glass and photos seemed ok to me looking forward to do some shooting outdoor

[drawbar]

Congrats for your new manual 50mm. It seems to be good also on longer ranges. Nice bug

[romansolar]

thank you! i am also looking forward to learn more about shooting with manual much more fun then auto focus

[52mm]

i see on lens: auto revuenon 2.8 f=135mm multicoated 357785

Since Chinons usually have their serial number on the lens barrel rather than the front lens ring, I'd guess this one is a Cosina. Those also commonly exhibit an irregular aperture shape when heavily stopped down. A 55mm filter thread would also be a strong indication (Chinon only had ones with 52mm AFAIK, while Cosina made 55mm, 52mm and 49mm versions; btw, I bet the 49mm isn't a true f/2.8, since you'd need at least a 135mm/2.8 = 48mm front lens diameter for that). Chinon OEM'd lenses from this time also have a rather distinctive-looking rubber grip.

BTW, I recently examined my lenses for transmission loss, brownish/greenish tint in particular, and it turns out that my Auto Revuenon MC 50/1.4 (Chinon) has quite a lot of that, especially for a prime. It does no better than a Tokina 75-150 zoom of similar vintage that has several more glass/air surfaces, and is way outclassed by an XR Rikenon 50/1.4, or most any other lens in my collection for that matter. Not sure why that is. Now in the shots shown above, this would only aid the desired effect, but if you wanted an "honest" rendering of blue sky this lens may not be ideal even with WB adjustments.

(Surprisingly, my Chinon 135/2.8 edges out its Tokina counterpart by a hair in this discipline, though honestly, both of them are among the clearest I have and you can't really spot the difference by eye when looking through them, only on pictures with same WB setting. Like most generic 135/2.8s, they're only 4 elements in 4 groups, so there's not an awful lot that can go wrong in terms of light transmission even with old "generic" multicoating. Sharpness is another matter though.)