Also sold as Ricoh and some of the M42 Voigtlander and Rollei lenses, although these two aren't worth paying the extra premium for and I don't think they had the manual/auto switch.

The M42 (and even the K) 50/52mm lenses weren't quite up to the high standard of the M and A Series link

Personally I've always preferred the Tomioka 55mm f1.4's almost as good as the Tomioka 55mm f1.2 which is quite expensive. Sold under different names such as Yashica, Chinon, Porst, Revuenon, Sears etc.

This link is a recent test on the Chinon version. Centre sharpness is Exc. from f/2 and only improves slightly stopping down.

Reviewer states: "comparable to the best of the best."


Ignore what he says about "Fairly dark at f/1.4, not much extra light than at f/2, not a full stop for sure." That's the case for all digital cameras and lenses wider than about f/2.4 unless you fit a special Canon screen made for wide aperture lenses.

The lens has excellent bokeh, which is it's main selling point.
The 50mm versions aren't anything special in the bokeh dept.

Samples
http://www.flickriver.com/search/Tomioka+55mm+f1.4/

Sticky apertures could be a problem with film cameras, but not with digital, because the lens is used stopped down.

Gateway once successfully sued another company over making
a stretch computer cover which had B&W COW markings and spots
which Gateway had trade-marked. link

Where would this leave photographs of say an orange???
or even an apple??

Is it only the hair on a gooseberry that keeps it from
becoming a grape?

.
.
.
.
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(Spike Milligan)

.

This is nonsense... the two photos are nothing like
each other and colouring a bus red is hardly original.
I'm sure that a childs colouring book will have been
released in the past with a bus crossing this bridge

However looking on the bright side they always claim that
copyright infringement cases save jobs! ???

This was Bailey's ES used in a Pentax advert. He sanded the
black off to show the brass link

Ha! Ha! the film was 1962 and the Spotty came out in 1964 link
He did say in the NY street shots that it was an S3 which came out
in 1960

S3 here for £30 with lens link

Your results are probably reaching the limit for the 6M sensor.

Both lenses are top notch anyway and my copy of the 35mm f/2.4
is slighty softer wide open, but pin sharp from f2.8 upwards
on a K-5 at 100ISO.

I would expect the kit lens to be slightly softer than the 35mm
in the corners and hardly anything between the two in the centres,
but I suspect that these lenses are probably sharper than the
K-5 sensor.

Hope all goes well Barrie