Pekka Buttler, 12/2023
Specifications
The table below summarises the lens’ key specifications (measurements based on pictured sample):
| Brand: | Fuji Photo Film Co | Lens name | EBC Fujinon 1:1.8/55 |
| Focal length(s)1 | 55 mm | Angle-of-view2 | ≈43 ° |
| Maximum Aperture | f/1.8 | In Production | ≈1970–80 (all versions) |
| Lens mount | m42 | Subfamily (if applicable) | Fujica m42 |
| Length3 | 42,6 mm | Diameter4 | 59,2 mm |
| Filter ring diameter | 49 mm | Weight | 189 grams |
| Lens element count | 6 | Lens group count | 4 |
| Aperture blades (S/R/C)5 | 6 S | Focus throw | ≈180 ° |
| Minimum focusing distance | 45 cms | Maximum magnification | 1:6,0 |
| Has manual aperture ring | YES | Has Manual focus ring | YES |
Further notes:
• Some version of this lens was the default kit lens for the entire lineup of m42 mount Fujica cameras. That said, it was never the rock-bottom offering (that dubious honour went to the 55 mm f/2.2 lens).
• Aperture click stops: 1.8 2.8 4 5,6 8 11 16
• For further details, see Versions
History
Fuji Photo Film (nowadays: Fujifilm) was founded in 1934 under the name Fuji Shashin Film, as a spinoff of Dai-Nippon Celluloid K.K. The company’s name was chosen in honour of Mt. Fuji. Initially the company concentrated on manufacturing photographic film, but diversified into optics in the early 1940s (as part of the war effort) and into cameras in 1948 (as part of the reconstruction of Japanese manufacturing). From early on, Fuji lenses have been sold under the ‘Fujinon’ moniker, and during the 1950s Fujinon lenses were made for both Leica thread mount and Nikon S mount.
While Fuji had become a major player in photographic gear already earlier, Fuji entered the interchangeable lens SLR business relatively late (with the 1970 introduction of the Fujica ST701). Originally Fujica SLR cameras and Fujinon SLR lenses used a vanilla m42 thread mount (with aperture stop-down) but with the 1972 introduction of the Fujica ST802 Fuji also introduced its proprietary extension of the M42 mount. Thereafter Fujinon m42 mount lenses could only be used on Fujica cameras, while Fujica cameras were able to use almost all other m42 lenses (See details of Fuji’s extension to the m42 mount here).
In the end, even Fuji abandoned the m42 mount for the Fujica-X mount (a proprietary bayonet mount). When Fuji abandoned the m42 mount, it was the last6 major manufacturer to do so
Fuji has long been known for its high quality lenses – both in SLR’s compacts and medium and large format lenses – and it would have been interesting to see what Fuji Photo Film’s lineup of 35 mm lenses would have developed into. Alas, in the mid-1980s, Fuji Photo Film decided to withdraw from SLR manufacture and focused instead on both compacts and larger film formats. Whether that withdrawal was caused by disappointing sales of the Fujica X line, or due to the advent of autofocus SLR’s, I can only speculate.
Versions
There are a number of cosmetically different versions manufactured of this lens. While there certainly is a difference in coatings, I have no information to indicate that any changes were made to the optical recipe. Importantly, serial numbers are no trustworthy indication of which version a lens is.
Type I
Vanilla m42, silver aperture ring, metal focusing ring. Single-coated.
Name ring text: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO [SERIAL] LENS-JAPAN FUJINON 1:1.8/55
Serial number location: name ring
Serial number range (among 200+ samples on eBay): 185238–568516
Type II
Fujica M42 (proprietary), black metal aperture ring, rubberized diamond-patterned focus ring. Single-coated.
Name ring text: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO Lens-Japan FUJINON 1:1.8 f=55m
Serial number location: rear, downside of barrel (above aperture ring)
Serial number range (among 200+ samples on eBay): 537060–807378
Type III
Fujica M42 (proprietary), black metal aperture ring, rubberized diamond-patterned focus ring. Multicoated.
Name ring text: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO Lens-Japan EBC FUJINON 1:1.8 f=55mm
Serial number location: rear, downside of barrel (above aperture ring)
Serial number range (among 200+ samples on eBay): 381634–806908
Type IIIb [this lens]
Fujica M42 (proprietary), black metal aperture ring, rubberized ribbed-patterned focus ring. Multicoated.
Name ring text: FUJI PHOTO FILM CO [SERIAL] Lens-Japan EBC FUJINON 1:1.8/55
Serial number location: name ring
Serial number range (among 200+ samples on eBay): 856758–9066977
Adapting
If you want to natively mount this lens you need to find a functioning Fujica m42 mount film camera. Luckily that should be relatively easy as Fujica m42 bodies were produced in copious numbers and most of them lack features that are especially likely to have deteriorated to the point of making the entire camera inoperable.
Adapting this lens to a mirrorless, full-frame digital camera is easy, assuming you find a suitable dumb adapter. Thanks to being a Fujica-variant of the m42 mount, that adapter needs to 1) make room for the aperture setting tab and 2) depress the aperture stop-down pin (otherwise the lens is permanently wide-open). But assuming you have such an adapter, thanks to the lens having full manual controls (aperture ring, focus ring), no further hassle should be expected.
Due to the medium flange focal distance used by the m42 mount (45,46 mm), whether you can adapt this lens to dSLR/SLR mounts depends on which dSLR mount: Canon EF, Four Thirds, Minolta/Sony A and Pentax K can mount m42 lenses using a simple adapter ring (but it needs to make space for the Fujica-m42 tab and depress the aperture stop-down pin). Nikon F on the other hand is not as problem-free, and – to retain anything near infinity focus – the adapter will necessitate corrective optics. In all cases, your camera will work only in stop-down metering.
Footnotes
1 Focal length is (unless stated otherwise) given in absolute terms (not in Full-frame equivalent), and according to the manufacturer’s naming practice (which does not always reflect the lens’ actual field of view). 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 infinity. Measured unless stated otherwise.
4 Diameter excludes protrusions such as rabbit ears or stop-down levers. Measured unless stated otherwise.
5 S=straight; R=rounded; C=(almost)circular at all apertures.
6 Even Pentacon of East Germany – the company that can be said to have popularised the m42 mount – had shifted it focus on the Praktica B mount (introduced 1978), even though they never stopped offering m42 cameras and lenses.
7 Plus – as an absolute outlier, a lens that perfectly corresponds to the characteristics of a Type IIIb, but with the very different serial number of 586569