Data sheet: Miranda Auto 25 mm f/2.8

Pekka Buttler, 03/2026

Pictured: Auto Miranda 25 mm f/2.8

Specifications

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

Brand:MirandaLens name1:2.8 f=25mm Auto
Focal length(s)125 mmAngle-of-view282 °
Maximum Aperturef/2.8In Production1970–76 (all versions)
1970–74 (this version)
Lens mount (this lens)MirandaMount subtypeAuto aperture and external
aperture coupling arm
Length357,1 mmDiameter459,2 mm
Filter ring diameter52 mmWeight274 grams
Lens element count8Lens group count7
Aperture blades (S/R/C)56 SFocus throw150 °
Minimum focusing distance
(indicated)
25 cmsMaximum magnification
(calculated )
1:8
Has manual aperture ringYESHas Manual focus ringYES
Aperture mechanism typeAutomaticAperture click stops 6none

Further 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.
• This lens was (at the time of its introduction) the widest Miranda lens.
• At this stage Miranda was offering two families of technologies: lenses that used an external aperture coupling arm to communicate the selected aperture to a compatible body (automex series and sensorex series) and lenses that in no way communicated the selected aperture to the camera body that relied on stop-down metering (f-series, g-series and sensomat-series). In many sources these are abbreviated and called the ‘sensorex’ and ‘sensomat’ series respectively. This lens is of the later type.

• 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.

Versions/variants

The table below summarises the development of Miranda 25 mm f/2.8 lenses. (Data for this lens is based on measurements, whereas data for other versions is based on Miranda documentation.
For more information on generations of Miranda lenses, see the Miranda lens compendium.

Mainline specYearsGenerationRecipeMFDFilterLengthDiameterWeightNotes
25 mm f/2.81970–1974MEX-REX8e / 7g0,25m52mm57 mm59 mm274 g(this lens)
25 mm f/2.81970–1974F-G-MAT8e / 7g0,25 m52mm60mm59 mm300 g
25 mm f/2.81972–1976E8e / 7g0,25 m52mm60 mm59 mm300 g
25 mm f/2.81974–76DUAL8e / 7g0,25 m52mm57 mmunknown300 g

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). For the aperture communication arm to be able to communicate aperture values, this lens needs to be mounted on an Automex or Sensorex series body.

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. ↩︎

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