[edom31]

For the past two-three weeks (give and take), I've been enamored with 3rd-party legacy lenses.

Recently, I acquired the Mamiya/Sekor 55/1.8 (silver one from the shots below). It really surprised me, and got me to acquire the 35/2.8 as I soon saw it available.

Here are both together (first two shots taken with M 100/4 Macro. Third shot with M 50/2):







I was in my office, and lacked the proper SMU; thus I improvised with what I had at hand (between a banana and a black plum, the plum prevailed):



I've been recently posting around the forums with these two lenses. Both are real great to handle, awesome Takumarish feel in hand.

The 55/1.8 I find super sharp and it might be my favorite 55mm to date. I do believe it could give me a third eye, as I see yellowing. Not sure whether that is a coating or thorium. I found info on the 55/1.4 about thorium, but there was no mention of the 55/1.8...

The 35/2.8 I just started to use. It is a bit bigger that other 35mms I've used. I see a slight bluish coating on the front element. Not as sharp as the 55/1.8, yet, upon night shooting use, I am also very impressed with the rendering it provides. Very natural. I think it has 8 blades. My copy came very dusty on the body, likely from the case it was stored in. The elements are immaculate, which is what matters to me.

If anyone is aware of a dedicated Mamiya/Sekor thread, or a 35mm thread for that matter, please link me up! I searched but did not find either.

[pepperberry farm]

For the past two-three weeks (give and take), I've been enamored with 3rd-party legacy lenses.

Recently, I acquired the Mamiya/Sekor 55/1.8 (silver one from the shots below). It really surprised me, and got me to acquire the 35/2.8 as I soon saw it available.

Here are both together (first two shots taken with M 100/4 Macro. Third shot with M 50/2):







I was in my office, and lacked the proper SMU; thus I improvised with what I had at hand (between a banana and a black plum, the plum prevailed):



I've been recently posting around the forums with these two lenses. Both are real great to handle, awesome Takumarish feel in hand.

The 55/1.8 I find super sharp and it might be my favorite 55mm to date. I do believe it could give me a third eye, as I see yellowing. Not sure whether that is a coating or thorium. I found info on the 55/1.4 about thorium, but there was no mention of the 55/1.8...

The 35/2.8 I just started to use. It is a bit bigger that other 35mms I've used. I see a slight bluish coating on the front element. Not as sharp as the 55/1.8, yet, upon night shooting use, I am also very impressed with the rendering it provides. Very natural. I think it has 8 blades. My copy came very dusty on the body, likely from the case it was stored in. The elements are immaculate, which is what matters to me.

If anyone is aware of a dedicated Mamiya/Sekor thread, or a 35mm thread for that matter, please link me up! I searched but did not find either.

awesome stuff, Ed.... but the replacement of SMU's with 'healthy' alternatives will not be tolerated....

as far as the Mamiya thread, I don't think there is one, not even an M42 thread.... but you could start one - maybe even an M42/3rd party lens thread....

[edom31]

but the replacement of SMU's with 'healthy' alternatives will not be tolerated

Thank you... I knew that plum would cause a stir within the community!

[boriscleto]

Nikon FM w/ Nikon E series 50/1.8 (second version)

[aslyfox]

. . . I was in my office, and lacked the proper SMU; thus I improvised with what I had at hand (between a banana and a black plum, the plum prevailed):

. . .

your acquisition certainly looks like a plum **

** = plum1 (plʌm)

n., adj. plum•mer, plum•mest. n.

. . . 8. an excellent or desirable thing

Plum - definition of plum by The Free Dictionary





but as was mentioned a plum is not a good smu due to variations alone

[timw4mail]

Nikon FM w/ Nikon E series 50/1.8 (second version)

Attachment 426871

I think I'd take the lens over the camera, looks-wise.

What's the difference between the 50/1.8 Series E variants?

[boriscleto]

I think I'd take the lens over the camera, looks-wise.

What's the difference between the 50/1.8 Series E variants?

The first version was all plastic and had a very narrow focusing ring (narrower than the aperture ring). The second version has a metal lens mount and a wider focusing ring.

Nikon Series E lenses - 28mm f2.8 & 35mm f2.5

My lighting setup needs to be improved...I only have one light at the moment and this photo was taken with just the florescent room lights...And brassing adds character according to the hipsters...

---

Last edited by boriscleto; 10-13-2018 at 02:42 PM.

[Marcus Rowland]

Two slightly flawed lenses:
A Lydith 30mm f3.5 with Exakta mount, optically good but the filter ring is badly damaged.
A Tamron Adaptall 2 70-210 3.8-4.0 with PK mount, unfortunately has slight fungus and a small ding in the filter mount, but I bought it mostly to get the PK mount anyway.
£12 the pair, hopefully I'll make some profit on them.

---------- Post added 10-13-18 at 04:09 PM ----------

The first version was all plastic and had a very narrow focusing ring (narrower than the aperture ring). The second version has a metal lens mount and a wider focusing ring.

Nikon Series E lenses - 28mm f2.8 & 35mm f2.5

My lighting setup needs to be improved...I only have one light at the moment and this photo was taken with just the florescent room lights...And brassing adds character according to the hipsters...

There were actually three versions of the Nikon series E - the first one is comparatively rare (about 500 made) and has metal prongs at the back of the lens to protect the rear element, the other two had a plastic ridge around the rear element; the first had the narrow focusing ring, the second was slightly wider. They're about a quarter of the way down this page

First version -

second version -

Nikon Lens Versions and Serial Nos

[DrMindbender]

A Sigma "Lambda II" MF 75-300mm f4.5-5.6. Some fungus and the aperture ring is a touch stiff. (Not that big of an issue with a KA lens.) I heard good things about the lens and figured it was a good candidate for an eBay "as is" repair gamble.

[edom31]

plum1 (plʌm)

n., adj. plum•mer, plum•mest. n.

. . . 8. an excellent or desirable thing

Thank you, Allen... after all yes it is what I have (speaking for myself), I do love those Mamiya lenses.

[Marcus Rowland]

If anyone is aware of a dedicated Mamiya/Sekor thread, or a 35mm thread for that matter, please link me up! I searched but did not find either.

Sorry, forgot to comment on this. They're nice lenses, but the ones I've seen used an open-aperture metering system which can give problems with other cameras. The linkage between the lens and the camera is a pin on the back of the lens about 5mm from the M42 mount, just outside the outer radius of the lens flange of the camera, which moves in an arc as the aperture is changed, and engages with the camera mechanism. It only sticks out a millimeter or so, but on bodies that have lens flanges that aren't designed for this system the pin can jam against the flange or body as the lens is screwed on, and you can only change aperture by loosening the lens a little, changing aperture, then tightening it up again. This unfortunately applies to most M42 adapters for other bodies. I'm pretty sure that the pin could be filed back a little, of course, if so it should work like any other M42 lens.

Re the Nikon lens thing, I forgot to post a picture of the rear of the limited-production early series E 50mm



It has a metal back plate with protruding prongs rather than the plastic back plate used for later versions, from the front the lens looks like the early series E I posted above.

[edom31]

a pin on the back of the lens about 5mm from the M42 mount

I think you might have had experienced the SX line from Mamiya... those have a "lip" that, based on some reading from other places, users either file off of disengage somehow.

[kevinWE]

I think you might have had experienced the SX line from Mamiya... those have a "lip" that, based on some reading from other places, users either file off of disengage somehow.

Yes, I have a version of the SX with that lip filed off. I bought the lens from my neighbor for 10.00 US, he did a hack job filing it down but the lens worked fine.

[cyberjunkie]

For the past two-three weeks (give and take), I've been enamored with 3rd-party legacy lenses.

Recently, I acquired the Mamiya/Sekor 55/1.8 (silver one from the shots below). It really surprised me, and got me to acquire the 35/2.8 as I soon saw it available.

The 55/1.8 I find super sharp and it might be my favorite 55mm to date.
.

These Tomioka designs are bokehlicious!
Sharpness is quite good too.
Some early Yashica lenses are almost the same as Mamiya Sekor ones. The chrome nose ones, I mean.
Like your 1.8/55mm, which seems very similar to a Yashica. While the 35mm reminds of German ones (Revuenon or Porst) and maybe a late Chinon.
It's very interesting to see that the coating has changed a lot from one generation to the other.
I'd love to have the early versions with good mechanic and a beautiful design of the barrel in PK mount.
M42 lenses are not so practical, especially if used together with PK ones.
This is my only (minor) complaint.
Even the humble 2/55mm has a beautiful rendering, on par with more celebrated optics.
I really like Tomioka made/designed fifties!
According to what I found online the 28mm and 135mm are not at the same level.
Never searched for info about the 35mm.
I'm curious to know how you like it after some testing.

[Cerebum]

For the past two-three weeks (give and take), I've been enamored with 3rd-party legacy lenses.

Recently, I acquired the Mamiya/Sekor 55/1.8 (silver one from the shots below). It really surprised me, and got me to acquire the 35/2.8 as I soon saw it available.

Here are both together (first two shots taken with M 100/4 Macro. Third shot with M 50/2):







I was in my office, and lacked the proper SMU; thus I improvised with what I had at hand (between a banana and a black plum, the plum prevailed):



I've been recently posting around the forums with these two lenses. Both are real great to handle, awesome Takumarish feel in hand.

The 55/1.8 I find super sharp and it might be my favorite 55mm to date. I do believe it could give me a third eye, as I see yellowing. Not sure whether that is a coating or thorium. I found info on the 55/1.4 about thorium, but there was no mention of the 55/1.8...

The 35/2.8 I just started to use. It is a bit bigger that other 35mms I've used. I see a slight bluish coating on the front element. Not as sharp as the 55/1.8, yet, upon night shooting use, I am also very impressed with the rendering it provides. Very natural. I think it has 8 blades. My copy came very dusty on the body, likely from the case it was stored in. The elements are immaculate, which is what matters to me.

If anyone is aware of a dedicated Mamiya/Sekor thread, or a 35mm thread for that matter, please link me up! I searched but did not find either.

I have the 50mm mamiya sekor and used it for the single in in august, it is insanely sharp. The 50 & 55mm are tomiokas as are the yashika auto yashinon& auto chinon 55 f1.7 & f1.4. I have two yashikas and they too are incredible. Not all tomiokas are fantastically sharp though by all accounts. I have the chinon 135mm that bears all the hallmarks of tamioka build but that is kit and miss. Maybe there is a tomioka thread. I will go and look

Edit Tomioka and hit and miss. The colour rendition and build quality of the chinon 135 are wonderful but sharpness is difficult to nail.