The Tominon E36 is an industrial lens made in Japan by Tomioka Optical in the 1980s that occasionally comes up for sale on the used market today. Optically the 48mm E36 is a step or two up from enlarging lenses, even those labeled as APO, at a fraction of the price. After running this test recommending the E36 Tominon is easy, but I think the hard part is going to be finding one.
Tomioka Optical made some excellent optics, see the Tominon 35mm f/4.5 vs Canon MP-E 65 test here: https://www.closeuphotography.com/tominon-35mm, also the Tominon 17mm f4 vs Canon MP-E 65 test, also here on Closeuphotography.com: https://www.closeuphotography.com/tominon-17mm. Even though the names Tomioka and Tominon are not known to the general photography public, most serious macro photographers are at least aware of the name and the reputation for excellent image quality.
Tominon E36 MC 48mm f/4 Lens
The scalloped ring design, now popular again on high-end optics like Voigtländer, not only makes the lens ring easy to grip, but also prevents the lens from rolling when placed on a flat surface!
LENS SPECIFICATIONS
Tomioka Optical Tominon E36 MC 48mm f/4 Lens
Lens type: Industrial printing lab machines
Year sold: 1980s
Aperture: f/4-f/8 in half stops, f/4, f/4.7, f/5.6, f/6.7, f/8.
Iris: 8 blade. E36 MC models include an iris, E36C models are pre-set with an aperture disk.
Focal length: 48mm
Working Distance: mm
Mounting Threads: Standard 39mm enlarger mount, Leica Thread Mount (LTM), or 39mm x 26 tpi.
Filter Mounting Threads: Non-standard approx. 37.5mm x 0.5
Forward or Reverse Mount: Reverse over 1x
Country of origin: Japan
Used Market Price: E36 lenses are not very well known so used market prices are very low, anywhere from $10 to $50. A 115mm Tominon E-type lens sold on eBay in June 2019 for $50. I was lucky to be able to pay $10 each for a set of 6 Tominon E-type lenses back in 2017.
Tominon E36 MC 48mm f/4 Lens
In 2017 I was very lucky to be able to pick up a set of six E36 lenses from the original owner in focal lengths from 48mm to 90mm. The seller told me that this entire group of lenses was used in a Noritsu mini-lab printing machine in the 1980s until being replaced by newer zoom optics. Thankfully the owner decided to place the outdated optics in storage, rather than discard them. Makes one wonder how many E36 lenses that ended up in trash dumpsters all across southern California when Noritsu updated the optics?
E36 and other Exxx type lenses branded Copal and Noritsu also show up on the used market occasionally. The Tominon branded lenses seem to be the best performers in my experience.
PROS AND CONS
What I really like:
Chromatic aberration control
Outstanding price/performance value
Small compact profile
Standard 39mm mount
All metal construction
What I dislike:
Non-standard filter threads
Availability on the used market
2x SAMPLE IMAGE
Click on the image below to view a 2500 pixel version in a Lightbox viewer or better yet, to open an image in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. Double check the URL, it should read 2500w at the end, if the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 2500 manually and press enter to bring up the 2500 pixel version.
For this test I ran a stack of images in 4 micron steps for each aperture. The sharpest frame was then chosen using Photoshop at 100% actual pixel view. Separate images were selected for center, edge, and corner if needed. Each image was processed in PS CC with identical settings with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out (true zero) and the same settings were used for all of the images.
Front lens: Tominon E36 MC 48mm f/4, mounted in reverse
Rear lens: Schneider Componon-S 5.6/100 normally mounted and focused at infinity
Stacked lens nominal aperture: f/4.5
Stacked lens effective aperture: f/9
Camera: Sony α6300, model # ILCE-6300, also known as: A6300
Sensor size: APS-C 23.5 × 15.6 mm. 28.21 mm diagonal. 3.92 micron sensor pitch
Flash: Godox TT350s wireless flash x 2 with one Godox X1s 2.4G wireless flash transmitter
Vertical stand: Nikon MM-11 with a Nikon focus block
2X SAMPLE CROPS AT 100% VIEW
The image quality of the three crop areas below are so close that I had to double-check to make an error by uploading copies of the same image!
Click on the image below to view a 2500 pixel version in a Lightbox viewer or better yet, to open an image in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. Double check the URL, it should read 2500w at the end, if the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 2500 manually and press enter to bring up the 2500 pixel version.
2x results
At 100% view the sharpness of the micro-lettering in the center is really impressive, I was a little surprised actually. But what really surprised me the most? The lack of CAs all the way to the corners. The Componon-S 5.6/100 lens, while not especially CA free, is producing a really clean image from center to corner here. It appears that the combination of the two lenses cancel out lateral CAs.
The image quality is excellent with the 48mm f/4 E36 at 2x, Tominon created another amazing performer that doesn’t cost a lot money. It’s also very consistent from center to corner, better than any other 40-50mm lens I have ever tested.
MOUNTING THE Tominon E36 MC 48mm f/4 Lens for this test
The E36 lens has an odd filter thread size so mounting the lens face to face on another lens won’t be easy. You can always glue on an adapter but mounting the lenses inside threaded 52mm/SM2 extension tubes is easier and cleaner. This way you are only using the rear 39mm mounting threads for installation. Thorlabs 52mm/SM2 extension tubes are threaded internally and are designed to mount optics.
You can see more about the 52mm/SM2 studio setup here on Closeuphotography.com: https://www.closeuphotography.com/52mm-setup
2.6X TEST: TOMINON E36 4/48 Lens VS COMPONON-S 2.8/50 VS LEICA PHOTAR 4/50
Camera: Sony α6300, model # ILCE-6300, also known as: A6300
Sensor size: APS-C 23.5 × 15.6 mm. 28.21 mm diagonal. 3.92 micron sensor pitch
Flash: Godox TT350s wireless flash x 2 with one Godox X1s 2.4G wireless flash transmitter
Vertical stand: Nikon MM-11 with a Nikon focus block
For this test I ran a stack of images in 4 micron steps for each aperture. The sharpest frame was then chosen using Photoshop at 100% actual pixel view. Separate images were selected for center, and corner for all of the lenses in this test. Each image was processed in PS CC with identical settings with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out (true zero) and the same settings were used for all of the images.
Tominon E36 MC 4/48 Lens
Lens reverse mounted using extension to focus.
Nominal aperture: f/4.5
Effective aperture: f/16
Schneider Kreuznach 2.8/50 Componon-S Lens
Lens reverse mounted using extension to focus.
Nominal aperture: f/4.5
Effective aperture: f/16
Leica Photar 4/50 Lens
Normally mounted using extension to focus.
Nominal aperture: f/5.6
Effective aperture: f/20
CROP IMAGES AT 100% VIEW
To see a larger of the crop image just click the image, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As to save and view the image full size.
Center Crop Images at 100% View in Photoshop
Click on the image below to view a 1500 pixel version in a Lightbox viewer or better yet, to open an image in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. Double check the URL, it should read 1500w at the end, if the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 1500 manually and press enter to bring up the 2500 pixel version.
In the center all the lenses are acceptable despite the small effective aperture due to long extension needed for 2.6x. The Photar is weakest, the Componon-S is better and the Tominon is clearly best. The Componon-S is one of one of the sharper enlarging lenses that I have tested, at least in the center.
Corner Crop Images at 100% View in Photoshop
Click on the image below to view a 1500 pixel version in a Lightbox viewer or better yet, to open an image in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. Double check the URL, it should read 1500w at the end, if the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 1500 manually and press enter to bring up the 2500 pixel version.
In the corner the results are similar, the Photar being weakest, the Componon-S better and the Tominon is slightly sharper.
CROP IMAGES AT 200% VIEW
To see a larger of the crop image just click the image, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. You can also right click, or two-finger press, and select Save Image As to save and view the image full size.
Center Crop at 200% View in Photoshop
Click on the image below to view a 1500 pixel version in a Lightbox viewer or better yet, to open an image in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. Double check the URL, it should read 1500w at the end, if the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 1500 manually and press enter to bring up the 2500 pixel version.
At 200% view in Photoshop any issues with lateral chromatic aberration control are really easy to see. The Photar is a little hazy with prominent red CAs. The Componon-S is showing blue CAs at the top of the lettering and red CAs in the lower half. The Tominon is showing good contrast with some small purple fringing around the lower sections of lettering.
Corner Crop at 200% View in Photoshop
Click on the image below to view a 1500 pixel version in a Lightbox viewer or better yet, to open an image in a new browser tab, right click, or two-finger press, and select Open in a New Tab or New Window from the menu. Double check the URL, it should read 1500w at the end, if the image size is anything smaller you can easily change the number to 1500 manually and press enter to bring up the 2500 pixel version.
In the corners all three lenses show a drop in image quality, this is completely normal with enlarger lenses. The Photar definitely has an issue with softness and red fringing around the letters. The SK lens is a little worse and sharpness suffers. The Tominon has the best contrast and sharpness with the least amount of CAs.
I had high hopes for the Photar but the performance of this lens is about the same as the other two versions that I have tested, the 25mm f2, and 25mm f2.5 (the same goes for the Minolta versions). Nice center sharpness but blue and red CAs are definitely a problem. The Photars do work much better in a stacked setup but even then they are not worth the premium you have to pay over other lenses.
2.6x Results
At 2.6x all of the lenses suffer from sharpness loss due to diffraction and the Photar seems to have suffered the most since it was sharp until f/5.6. The Componon-S and Tominon were best at f/4.5.
The Photar had the most issues with CAs. The Componon-S was about average, I own 2-3, maybe 4 copies of this lens and they are all the same. Great in the center and not so good towards the corners with average CA control. The Tominon is definitely the best performer, and the lowest cost lens but the image quality also suffers due to diffraction. For better image quality I would recommend a stacked setup over using extension only.
The Photar 4/50 is the weakest at this magnification even though 2.6x is well within the recommended magnification range of 1.1x to 3.1x. This is even more disappointing when you consider the premium price for these lenses. I would hate to see CAs from the faster and more expensive f/2.8 version of the lens if the f/4 version is this bad.
Other E-type Series Lenses to look out for
There are some other of the same type of lenses that you should keep an eye out for on eBay, the Noritsu 32mm f/4 A805451 lens, the Noritsu/Tominon 94.1mm E66 MC, and the Tominon 115mm E90 MC lens. Both the E66 and E90 are also seen in the C configuration without an iris and with an aperture disk.
The Noritsu 32mm f/4 was featured in a test here on Closeuphotography.com: https://www.closeuphotography.com/4x-lens-test-part-4 and is a very well corrected lens that works great at higher magnifications. There is one of these lenses available on eBay now as a matter of fact.
Tominon E36C 55mm, 80mm, 86mm, and 94.1mm lenses. These are the C type, with a preset aperture disk, without and iris.
THE HISTORY OF TOMINON lenses
Tominon lenses were made in Japan by Tomioka, which later became part of Yashica, and finally part of Kyocera. Tomioka is still around but they are now part of Kyocera-Optic Japan Co., Ltd. The original Tomioka plant is the same factory where Contax lenses, Zeiss’s flagship 35mm lenses, were manufactured under contract for Carl Zeiss Japan.
From the Kyocera-Optic company website:
Kyocera Optec, originally founded in 1949 as Tomioka Optical and Mechanical Manufacturing Co., Ltd in Ome City, Tokyo, has constantly developed leading-edge lens manufacturing technologies since its early days. In 1974, the Company started manufacturing Carl Zeiss Lenses for Contax cameras through technical support from the Carl Zeiss Foundation in Germany; which were regarded as being among the world's highest quality lenses. Since joining the Kyocera Group in 1983, the Company has diversified its product focus and brought new standards of excellence to a wide range of optical equipment manufacturing fields.
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tominon 35mm f/4.5 vs Canon MP-E 65 here on Closeuphotography.com: :https://www.closeuphotography.com/tominon-35mm
Tominon 17mm f4 vs Canon MP-E 65 also here on Closeuphotography.com: https://www.closeuphotography.com/tominon-17mm.
Another mini-lab printing machine lens, Noritsu 32mm, was featured in a test here on Closeuphotography.com:
https://www.closeuphotography.com/4x-lens-test-part-4
There is not much available via google but here are a couple of interesting links:
Ray Parkhurst’s 100mm shootout features some Tominon E36 lenses:
http://www.macrocoins.com/100mm-lens-shootout.html
Ray also has a 80mm shootout posted with Tominon E36 lenses: