Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Fujinon 55mm f/2.2

Fuji Photo Film · Fujica ST + Fujica X · 1975

Known as “bubble bokeh Fujinon”

Also known as: Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 · FUJINON 1:2.2 f=55mm · Fujinon 55mm F2.2 M42 · X-Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 · X-FUJINON 1:2.2 f=55mm · Fuji Fujinon 55mm f2.2 · Fujica 55mm f2.2 · フジノン 55mm F2.2 · Xフジノン 55mm F2.2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Fujinon 55mm f/2.2, M42 (ST601 / ST605 / ST605N kit lens) Fujica ST 1975–1979 — —
X-Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 (STX-1 / AX-1 kit lens, X bayonet, not DM) Fujica X 1979–1982 — —
  1. Weight. Fuji's M42 table as read by Wikipedia gives 144 g and its X table 130 g; japb weighed an X lens at 141 g, Stephen Daugherty an M42 lens at 155 g, allphotolenses lists 155 g. 144 g is entered for the family and the spread is left open; the plastic-ringed M42 lens and the X lens may simply differ.
  2. Blades. Five on japb (X lens, straight) and on allphotolenses (M42). Fuji's tables do not count them.
  3. Optics shared across mounts is japb's statement; both Fuji tables give 4 components / 4 elements and the same 0.6 m close focus and 49 mm filter. The X lens is entered as the same optic.
  4. Date. japb and Wikipedia's ST601 material put the M42 lens at 1975 with the ST601; overland25 says 'around 1970', which is not supported by the ST701 or ST801 manuals, neither of which lists a 55mm f/2.2. 1975 is used.
  5. Price. None found for the lens. Paul Burrows (Digital Camera World) reviews the ST605 with this lens without a price.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Four air-spaced elements; five blades; 49 mm filter; 0.6 m close focus; f/16 minimum; no EBC on any version
  • Bakelite aperture and focusing rings on the M42 lens, frequently cracked; the X lens is the same optic behind a bayonet
  • The rendering itself: hard-edged 'soap bubble' highlights from the Unar layout, which is what most buyers now want it for

Fujinon 55mm f/2.2, M42 (ST601 / ST605 / ST605N kit lens):

  • Name ring FUJINON 1:2.2 f=55mm, no EBC; 42 mm thread with the Fujica aperture tab on the rear of the aperture ring (overland25 calls it an ST mount with a 'nail' that needs filing for other M42 bodies)
  • Plastic (bakelite) aperture and focusing rings and an aluminium rather than brass helicoid; the front edge of the focusing ring and the depth-of-field band are often cracked or missing (Aaron Brown; Stephen Daugherty's example had a broken DoF ring)
  • 144 g by Fuji's table as read by Wikipedia; 155 g on Stephen Daugherty's scale

X-Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 (STX-1 / AX-1 kit lens, X bayonet, not DM):

  • X-FUJINON 1:2.2 f=55mm on the name ring; Fujica X bayonet with a 65° clockwise lock (Wikipedia) and the aperture coupling lever on the mount face
  • No orange diamond on the aperture scale and no DM suffix: an FM-type lens, which gives full-aperture metering and aperture-priority AE on an AX body but not the AX-5's program or shutter-priority modes (AX-5 manual; japb)
  • No EBC; japb says it likely uses Fuji's older coating
  • 37.1 mm long, 141 g, five straight blades on japb's measured example

Specifications

Formula
4 elements in 4 groups, four air-spaced singlets; japb reads it as a modern Unar (Rudolph, Zeiss 1899)
Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2.2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
5
Min. focus
0.6 m
Dimensions
37.1 mm long
Weight
144 g
Filter
49 mm
Years manufactured
1975–1982
Country
Japan
Coating
single-coated on both the M42 and the X lens; never EBC

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Spherical aberration
bubble highlights
Distortion
not reported

History

The 55mm f/2.2 is the cheap standard lens Fuji put on its cheap bodies. It appeared in 1975 as the kit lens of the ST601 and went on to the ST605 and ST605N, and when the company moved to the X bayonet in 1979 the same four-element optic was rehoused as the X-Fujinon 55mm f/2.2, the standard lens of the STX-1 and one of three offered with the AX-1. Four air-spaced singlets, which japb identifies as a Unar, the layout Rudolph designed for Zeiss in 1899; five blades, a 49mm filter, 0.6m close focus, f/16 minimum, and no EBC on either version. Fuji’s tables give it 144g in M42 and 130g in the bayonet.

The M42 lens is a Fujica ST screw-thread lens and fits any M42 body, and it carries the Fujica aperture tab on the back of the aperture ring even though the stop-down-metering bodies it was sold with cannot use it. That tab fouls non-Fujica bodies and adapters whose flange is wider than about 54mm, and overland25 filed his to fit. The X-Fujinon lens has no orange diamond on its aperture scale and no DM suffix: on an AX body it gives full-aperture metering and aperture-priority automation but not the AX-5’s program or shutter-priority modes. Both versions are built down to a price. Aaron Brown found bakelite aperture and focusing rings on an aluminium helicoid, and the front lip of the focusing ring and the depth-of-field band are so often cracked or missing that an intact one is worth noting.

Nobody reviews it for sharpness. Stephen Daugherty says outright that the 55mm f/1.8 is faster, sharper and the same price. What the three reviewers here bought it for is the bokeh: the undercorrected Unar draws out-of-focus highlights as hard-rimmed discs, the soap-bubble look that the Meyer Trioplan made expensive, and Aaron Brown calls the lens a bokeh machine and Hiron says the bubbles have a sharper edge than a Super-Takumar 105’s. Stopped down to f/5.6 or f/8 it is an ordinary, contrasty lens with weak corners.

Buying one: check the plastic rings for cracks before anything else, then look for haze, which Hiron’s example had badly. Confirm the tab is present if it is going on a Fujica ST801/ST901/ST705/AZ-1, or budget to have it clear an adapter. The X lens has the mount that died with the AX Multi Program in 1985; adapters for mirrorless bodies need a control ring to stop it down and adapters for DSLRs need corrective glass because of the 43.5mm flange distance. Whether the X lens really is optically identical to the M42 one rests on japb’s statement and matching Fuji tables, and the two weights differ, so the point is left open in the table notes.

Expand Collapse

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 taken with the Fujinon 55mm f/2.2
Fujica ST605N with the Fujinon 1:2.2 f=55mm kit lens, circa 1978–80 (Joe Haupt) — Joe Haupt, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Fujinon 55mm f/2.2
Bubble bokeh from the Fujinon 55mm f/2.2 on a Pentax K-50 (AH AP) — AH AP, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Fujinon 55mm f/2.2? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $79 across 43 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-20 (middle half $50–$130). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 94 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-20. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: EBC Fujinon 50mm f/1.4 · Fujinon 55mm f/1.8 · X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.9 · X-Fujinon 50mm f/1.6 · Fujinon 35mm f/2.8

Sources (18)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.