EBC Fujinon Macro 55mm f/3.5
Fuji Photo Film · Fujica ST + Fujica X · 1972
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: EBC Fujinon Macro 55mm f/3.5 · EBC Fujinon-M 55mm F3.5 · EBC FUJINON·MACRO 1:3.5 f=55mm · Fujinon Macro 55mm F3.5 M42 · Fuji EBC 55mm 3.5 Macro M42 · X-Fujinon Macro 55mm f/3.5 DM · EBC X-Fujinon-M 55mm F3.5 DM · X-FUJINON·MACRO 1:3.5 f=55mm DM · EBC フジノン マクロ 55mm F3.5 · Xフジノン マクロ 55mm F3.5 · フジノン 55mm F3.5 マクロ M42
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBC Fujinon·M (Macro) 55mm f/3.5, M42 with Fujica coupling tab | Fujica ST | 1972 | — | — |
| EBC X-Fujinon·M (Macro) 55mm f/3.5 DM, X bayonet | Fujica X | 1980–1985 | — | — |
- Whether the X lens uses the same glass as the M42 lens is not stated by Fuji. Both are 5 elements in 4 groups at 43°; the X lens stops at f/22 rather than f/32 and weighs 202g. The two mounts are one family on the matching counts.
- Weight. Fuji's AZ-1 manual gives 205g and its US brochure 8.82 oz (250g) for the same M42 lens; the X lens is 202g and the two databases consulted give 202–205g. 205g is used and the brochure figure left as it stands.
- Magnification. Fuji's tables give close focus only. That the lens reaches 1:2 on its own and 1:1 with the matching tube, 27mm flange to flange, comes from one MFlenses member who owns the set. The single-source badge applies to it and to the five-blade count, which is allphotolenses' alone.
- Dates. 1972 is Fujifilm's own date for the first EBC lens; 1980 is the AX brochure listing the DM lens; 1985 the end of X-mount lenses per camera-wiki. No end date for the M42 lens is given.
- No launch price and no serial ranges have been found.
How to tell them apart
- A thread with a tab on the aperture ring is the M42 lens; a bayonet with DM is the X lens. Both are EBC FUJINON·MACRO 1:3.5 f=55mm on the front, 49mm filter, 5 elements in 4 groups
- The M42 lens stops down to f/32, the X lens to f/22
EBC Fujinon·M (Macro) 55mm f/3.5, M42 with Fujica coupling tab:
- EBC in green and FUJINON·MACRO 1:3.5 f=55mm on the front; Fuji's tables call it Fujinon·M
- 42mm thread with the Fujica tab on the aperture ring and the lock notch on the flange; no A/M switch, so it stays wide open on an adapter that does not press the pin
- Stops to f/32, 0.22m close focus (0.241m in the AZ-1 manual), 49mm filter, screw-in hood; 2 1/2 x 2 1/32 in (about 63.5 x 52mm)
- Weight disputed between Fuji's own documents: 205g in the AZ-1 manual, 8.82 oz (250g) in the US brochure²
- Half life-size on its own helicoid; a matching Fujinon extension tube takes it to 1:1³
EBC X-Fujinon·M (Macro) 55mm f/3.5 DM, X bayonet:
- Fujica X bayonet with the DM engraving for the AX-5's program and shutter-priority modes
- Same 5 elements in 4 groups and 43°; stops to f/22 instead of f/32, 0.24m close focus, 202g, 61.5mm across and 53.5mm long, no hood supplied, 49mm filter
- EBC Fujinon·M (Macro) 55mm f/3.5, M42 with Fujica coupling tab: The first lens Fuji sold with Electron Beam Coating, in 1972, by Fujifilm's own history and Wikipedia. In the US brochure as code P5535 and in the AZ-1 manual; the ST801 manual's accessory list does not illustrate it.
- EBC X-Fujinon·M (Macro) 55mm f/3.5 DM, X bayonet: In the 1980 AX brochure and the AX-3 manual. The X system's Extension Tubes X (25mm and 50mm) are the close-up accessories listed with it. Whether the glass is the M42 lens's is not stated by Fuji¹.
Specifications
- Formula
- 5 elements in 4 groups (Fuji: 4 components, 5 elements) on both the M42 and the X bayonet version
- Construction
- 5 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5–f/32
- Diaphragm blades
- 5
- Min. focus
- 0.22 m
- Dimensions
- 63.5 × 52 mm
- Weight
- 205 g
- Filter
- 49 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1972–1985
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- EBC multicoating from the start: the first EBC Fujinon, 1972
What reviewers say
- WolverineX (MFlenses forum), testing my lenses part 10 (blog) — Sharp enough that a wasp crop settled the question; shot with and without the matching Fujinon tube on an Olympus E-M5; the warning that on an M42 adapter which does not press the pin "you can use it only wide open", which he fixed with a metal ring in the adapter.
- Smoli4 (MFlenses forum), samples at 1:2 to 1:1 (blog) — "A wonder lens in my opinion, especially when it comes to sharpness and flare resistance", holding contrast where his Tamron SP 90mm f/2.5 did not; smooth, gentle colour and a homogeneous background, all with the extension tube between 1:2 and 1:1 at f/3.5–8.
- MFlenses forum thread, EBC Fujinon Macro 55 f/3.5 (blog) — Owners' consensus that it is a quality macro at a higher price than its rivals; wide-open results praised; compared with the Nikkor 55mm f/3.5, both native 1:2 lenses needing their tubes for 1:1, "both are excellent lenses".
History
The 55mm f/3.5 macro is where EBC began. Fujifilm’s own history says the Fujinon F3.5/55mm Macro of 1972 was the first camera lens to carry Electron Beam Coating, with 14 layers laid down by electron beam, and that the process won the 25th Motion Picture and Television Engineering award in Japan; Fuji’s contemporary brochure described it as up to 11 coatings of materials like zirconium oxide that ordinary evaporation could not handle, taking reflection below 0.2 per cent per surface. The coating spread across the Fujica range from the ST801 of the same year, and this lens is the reason EBC is the first thing written on the front of them.
The lens itself is a plain 5-element, 4-group macro: 43°, f/3.5 to f/32, 0.22m close focus, 49mm filter, screw-in hood, 63.5mm across and about 52mm long. On its own helicoid it reaches half life-size and the matching Fujinon tube, 27mm flange to flange by one owner’s measurement, takes it to 1:1. Fuji’s documents disagree on its weight, 205g in the AZ-1 manual against 250g in the US brochure. It is an M42 screw-thread lens and works on any M42 body, with the Fujica tab on the aperture ring and the lock notch on the flange for open-aperture metering on the ST801, ST901 and AZ-1; the tab can foul other bodies and adapters and is often found filed off, and since there is no A/M switch the lens is wide open on an adapter without a flange to press the pin, which for a macro is a real limitation. The X bayonet version, EBC X-Fujinon·M 55mm f/3.5 DM of 1980, keeps the 5-in-4 layout at 202g, focuses to 0.24m and stops at f/22 rather than f/32; the X system offered 25mm and 50mm tubes. Fuji never said whether the glass changed.
The reviews are all by owners on MFlenses, and they agree. WolverineX, who owns it and the Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 and tests them separately, calls both excellent and lets a wasp crop speak for the Fujinon’s sharpness; Smoli4 calls it a wonder lens for sharpness and flare resistance, better in contrast than his Tamron SP 90 into the light, with smooth colour and a homogeneous background at 1:2 to 1:1; the group thread’s verdict is a quality macro that costs more than its rivals. Nobody has published a comparison of the two mounts, or a proper test at infinity.
Buying: the tube, which is worth having and often missing; the tab; a diaphragm that closes to f/32 cleanly; and the usual haze check, which on a five-element lens is quick. The X lens adapts to mirrorless bodies plainly but to an SLR only with corrective optics, and Fujica X adapters are scarcer than most. The five-blade count and the 1:2 figure each rest on one source, and no launch price or serial ranges have been found.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a EBC Fujinon Macro 55mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
- Fuji Fujica Fujifilm EBC X-FUJINON Macro 55mm f/3.5 DM Lens #413
- Fujica AX-3 35mm SLR Camera EBC X-Fujinon Macro 55mm f/3.5 Lens Boxes Manuals
- Fuji EBC Fujinon Macro 55mm f/3.5 M42 Lens Japan
Listings updated 2026-09-20. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.