Data sheet: Miranda EC Auto 50 mm f/1.4

Pekka Buttler, 02/2026

Specifications

The table below summarises the lens’ key specifications (measurements based on pictured sample):

Brand:	Miranda	Lens name	1:1.4 f=50mm Auto EC
Focal length(s)1	50 mm	Angle-of-view2	47 °
Maximum Aperture	f/1.4	In Production	1974–76
Lens mount (this lens)	Miranda	Mount subtype	Auto aperture with aperture coupling in mount
Length3	45,3 mm	Diameter4	61,3 mm
Filter ring diameter	49 mm	Weight	278 grams
Lens element count	7	Lens group count	5
Aperture blades (S/R/C)5	6 S	Focus throw	270 °
Minimum focusing distance (indicated)	43 cms	Maximum magnification (calculated)	1:7
Has manual aperture ring	YES	Has Manual focus ring	YES
Aperture mechanism type	Automatic	Aperture click stops 6	1.4•2•2.8•4•5.6•8•11•16

Historical notes:

• Miranda was – in its heyday – an advanced Japanese camera manufacturer. You can read more about Miranda camera in the JAPB company profile on Miranda camera.
• Miranda had introduced its first f/1.4 lens in 1966 in tandem with its then flagship camera the Sensorex. The Sensorex supported open-aperture metering by using an external arm on the lens (coupled to a similar arm at the mount) for communicating the selected aperture value to the camera.
• In 1972 Miranda introduced the Auto Sensorex EE camera that introduced a new (for Miranda) way of communicating the lens’ selected aperture to the camera, using a lever in the lens’ base. This led to the redesign of the entire lens catalogue. The new lenses that communicated aperture information on the lens’ mount were launched as the ‘E’ series of lenses.
• Two years later in 1974 Miranda launched the dx-3 camera. With this camera Miranda adopted a new approach where some of those design principles that had governed Miranda design (such as interchangeable viewfinders) were replaced by a more compact (read: smaller) overall design. As part of this push to participate on the market of compact SLRs⁷ also many of the key lenses were redesigned for compactness and launched as the EC series of lenses.

• Importantly, Miranda was a camera manufacturer and not a lens manufacturer. This mean that from early on, Miranda cameras came equipped with various brands of lenses, including some rather prominent manufacturers such as Kowa and Zunow.
• Lenses branded as “Miranda” or “Soligor Miranda” were not manufactured by Miranda, but were sourced from other manufacturers and branded ‘Miranda’. Most often these lenses were sourced from Miranda’s long-time partner (and later: owner) Soligor (Allied Impex Corporation). Hence, the actual manufacturer of “Miranda” lenses is most often impossible to discern with certainty.

Further notes:
• This lens’ aperture stop-down is handled by a lever at the base of the mount and there is also a slide on the lens (near the mount) that facilitates stop-down for depth-of-field preview.
• Rather unconventionally (for a fast standard prime), the Miranda EC 50/1.4 features an integrated, pull-out lens hood. The hood extends by only 9 mm and therefore offers only limited aid against oblique rays. Also, because the hood is pushed in quite easily, it also does not protect the front lens element against physical trauma.

Versions/variants

Since 1966, there has been some progression in the ‘Miranda’ fast fifty lenses. The versions are enumerated below (with the current lens highligted).

	Years	Aperture stop-down	Supports open-aperture metering	Intended for use with	Optical recipe	Filter mm	MFD	Notes
Miranda Auto 50/1.4 for Sensorex	1966-72	lever in mount	With external aperture communication arm	automex, automex II, automex III, Sensorex, Sensorex-C, Sensorex II	8 elements in 6 groups	46	0,43
Miranda Auto 50/1.4 for Sensomat	1968-72	lever in mount	Not	F, FM, G / GT, Fv / FvT, Sensomat, Sensomat RE, Sensomat RS	8 elements in 6 groups	46	0,43	[data sheet]
Miranda E Auto 50/1.4	1972–?	lever in mount	With lever in mount	Auto Sensorex EE, dx-3, RE-2, EE-2	7 elements in 5 groups	52	0,43
Miranda Auto 50/1.4 for Sensorex	1972-?	lever in mount	With external aperture communication arm	automex, automex II, automex III, Sensorex, Sensorex-C, Sensorex II	7 elements in 5 groups	52	0,43	8
Miranda EC Auto 50/1.4	1974	lever in mount	With lever in mount	Auto Sensorex EE, dx-3, RE-2, EE-2	7 elements in 5 groups	49	0,43

Adapting

This lens cannot be used natively on any current SLR or dSLRs. To use it in its native environment, you will need a Miranda Camera film body. While this lens will mount on any Miranda camera that uses the Miranda mount, its automatic aperture stop-down will work only on Miranda bodies after the Miranda F (launched 1963) and its aperture can be read only by bodies launched after 1972.

Thanks to being a fully manual lens (manual aperture, manual focus), the lens can be adapted to all mirrorless cameras using a suitable adapter. However, Miranda adapters are not as easily available as adapters for many other legacy era camera mounts, nor is there a wide variety of specialist adapters.

Using Canon FD lenses on dSLRs is a theoretical possibility. Thanks to the relatively short flange focal distance of the Miranda mount (at 41,5 mm, clearly shorter than that of any full-frame dSLR mount), any adapter will necessitate some corrective optics to achieve infinity focus.

Footnotes

1. Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms, and not in Full-frame equivalent. For an understanding of whether the lens is wide/tele, see ‘Angle-of-view’. ↩︎
2. Picture angle is given in degrees and concerns the diagonal picture angle. Rule of thumb:
   > 90 ° ==> Ultra-wide-angle
   70–90 ° ==> Wide-angle
   50–70 ° ==> Moderate wide-angle
   40–50 ° ==> ‘Standard’ or ‘normal’ lens
   20–40 ° ==> Short tele lens
   10-20 ° ==> Tele lens
   5-10 ° ==> Long tele lens
   < 5 ° ==> Ultra-tele lens ↩︎
3. Length is given from the mount flange to the front of lens at its shortest. ↩︎
4. Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. ↩︎
5. S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures. ↩︎
6. Numbers equal aperture values on aperture ring; • intermediate click; – no intermediate click. ↩︎
7. A market prominently launched by the Olympus OM-1 a few years earlier. ↩︎
8. The “Miranda Auto 50/1.4 For Sensorex II” replaces its predecessor – the “Miranda Auto 50/1.4 For Sensorex” These lenses differ fundamentally in that the newer version has a different optical recipe (7e/5g instead of 8e/6g) and is also considerably lighter (345 grams vs. 450 grams) ↩︎