In praise of old lenses #9 Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC (reversed)

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In praise of old lenses #9 Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC (reversed)

Postby peterr » Sun May 10, 2020 8:02 pm

Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC (reversed)

The Miranda Camera Company was one of the leading Japanese camera manufacturers during the 1950 and 1960s, being at the very forefront of 35mm SLR camera development. All Miranda cameras of this era featured interchangeable viewfinders and they were close to rivalling Nikon in terms of popularity in the USA. They were, and are still to this day, the only 35mm SLR cameras to offer two lens fittings within the camera body – a four claw bayonet fitting and a 44mm screw fitting. However, by the late 1960s the company had been taken over by their American importer and sales were starting to wane, a situation which probably wasn’t helped by issues with compatibility of lenses and viewfinders across the range. By 1976, the American importer had gone into liquidation and the company had ceased to trade. The remaining stock of cameras and the Miranda name were purchased by Dixons. Dixons went on to market a new range of cameras bearing the Miranda name during the 1980s, but these were K mount cameras manufactured by Cosina with nothing in common with the originals.

My Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC lens is the standard lens on the Miranda dx3 camera, one of the very last of the Miranda models. There are no adapters to fit it on to my Pentax K1, and even if there were I would lose infinity focus, so the only way I can use the lens on my full frame digital camera is to use a reversing ring. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as the use of a reversing ring to mount a 50mm lens backwards is still acknowledged as being a good and inexpensive way to take close up pictures, although nowadays most people go straight for the additional expense and flexibility offered by a dedicated macro lens. As electrical coupling to the lens is lost, old lenses like my Miranda lens are best for this purpose as they offer manual control of the aperture setting.

A few years ago, I experimented with a reversing ring and a range of my 50mm lenses on my Pentax K5 and found that the Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC gave the most pleasing results. Looking at the results with it fitted on my Pentax K1, I am still very pleased with how it performs. The image below of the Chive flower head was taken with the aperture set at F11.
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Re: In praise of old lenses #9 Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC (reverse

Postby billf » Mon May 11, 2020 9:58 am

A fascinating story, I like the image, the separation from the background is excellent.

It takes knowledge and perseverance to get the best out of these lenses but it can be a bit of fun.

Cheers

Bill
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Re: In praise of old lenses #9 Miranda 50mm F1.8 EC (reverse

Postby peterr » Tue May 12, 2020 8:48 pm

Yes, Miranda were a fascinating company. When the Miranda T was marketed circa 1954 it was the very first Japanese 35mm SLR to feature a pentaprism along with a mirror box. It is only now, some 66 years later, and with the advances in mirrorless systems, that we are predicting the eventual disappearance of cameras with these features.

It's great to breath some new life into old lenses.
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