Here are a few quick shots with a recently acquired 135/2.5 Super Tak. I got (2) 28/3.5 w/ bags and hoods, 135/2.5 w/ bag and hood, 300/6.3 Tele-Tak w/ bag, tripod mount, and hood, and a Vivitar 135/2.8 Komine M42 w/ bag, all in a leather Samsonite bag for $100 at a antique shop. I am still finding time to try them all out, but now I have a total of $175 in (2) 28, 35, 55, 135, 200, and 300 Super Tak lenses. The Vivitar is actually really good as well, it really surprised me! This 135/2.5 is one of the sharpest 135 lenses I have ever used when stopped down to 5.6 or 8. I wil try to find some time to do some people photos with this lens soon.
All at 5.6 to mostly test resolution as I had heard before that this lens is REALLY sharp. I must say I agree... It really has a tremendous amount of resolution for such an old lens!
Marcel VanEerd wrote:
Not too much interest in the Takumar thread it seems - come on.. There's gotta be more T-love out there!
Here's two with the super-multi-coated Takumar 200mm/f4 from my collection. It hardly ever gets used, but when the light seems right, I take it off the shelf. Not sure about the apertures, but I'm pretty sure the portrait of the girl is wide open (see insets for details), while I seem to remember the cat shot was stopped down to 5.6
I dig the cat - and thanks again for the 100% snips! I think that really helps for people looking at various threads and wondering if "lens X" is worth trying.
"Takumars are great, but they have a real issue with infinity focus smacking the mirrors on 5D and 5DII (the 24, 28, 35 (3.5 and 2.0) and 50 F 1.4)."
Very strange about this is I have had three 50/1.4 and they all had clearance issues on my 5D and one 35 /3.5 and two 28 that did. I now have a 35/3.5 that has no mirror issues, so I'm guessing that it does depend on the lens and the mirror box .
PeaktoPeek wrote:
I had the 135/3.5 and it was one sharp lens wide open, and that was edge to edge. Of course, now Marcel has it and seems to like it
Paul
Yep, the S-M-C-Tak 135/3.5 is one of the sharpest lenses I have ever owned, but I sold it...
I didn't like the bokeh, but I managed to get a few decent portraits from it if I was strategic about camera/subject/background distances (I just didn't like having to think about it that much):
Here's the SMC Takumar 55mm 1.8 - as recorded via the GH1 and basically unprocessed RAW conversions:
25%
50%
100%
The Leaf CA Test
The Leaf CA Test at 100%
A Mall With A Pretty Girl.
100%
BIF (Bee In Flight... )
Parked Bee
Parked Bee 100%
My Takumars aren't as sharp as my Nikon Ai and Ai-S's are but they do impress. They seem to have an edge-flare property to them that is pleasantly appealing.
I know i've posted it before, but it warrants a place here, I think.
Super Takumar 150/4, which doesn't get a whole lot of love on FM it seems.
Not the sharpest lens in the bag, but I like it's rendering for the most part.
^ That nifty-ONE-fifty suprised me as well. (Posted some shots with it earlier in thread)
^^ As for my 135 - yeah, just did some testing against 4 other 135's I have (one called Tasei Kogaku; the Komine-made Vivater that has been mentioned in this thread; an old silver coloured solid brass Asahi Kogaku; and the CZJ MC 135), and its my fave of the bunch. Not the best for MFD, the CZJ gets quite a bit closer, but for overall feel, handling and built it is the clear winner.
No samples to show here of the testing - it was a boring wall shot, bokeh, and CA test. Sharp wide open, and ZERO CA.
I'd like to see some samples of the super-multi-coated Takumar 35mm f2.0 - I see them pop up now and then, and they demand a fairly steep price I think, but are they worth it? If you can give me a comparison with the CZJ Flektogon 35mm f2.4, I'd be very happy.
Marcel VanEerd wrote:
^ That nifty-ONE-fifty suprised me as well. (Posted some shots with it earlier in thread)
^^ As for my 135 - yeah, just did some testing against 4 other 135's I have (one called Tasei Kogaku; the Komine-made Vivater that has been mentioned in this thread; an old silver coloured solid brass Asahi Kogaku; and the CZJ MC 135), and its my fave of the bunch. Not the best for MFD, the CZJ gets quite a bit closer, but for overall feel, handling and built it is the clear winner.
No samples to show here of the testing - it was a boring wall shot, bokeh, and CA test. Sharp wide open, and ZERO CA.
I'd like to see some samples of the super-multi-coated Takumar 35mm f2.0 - I see them pop up now and then, and they demand a fairly steep price I think, but are they worth it? If you can give me a comparison with the CZJ Flektogon 35mm f2.4, I'd be very happy....Show more →
I've had the Tak 2/35 and sold it. Flektogon was better...
Some pics here
Bif: Bee shots are gorgeous! Remember I was always shooting the Super 55/1.8? Love that lens! Try your AC filters on it - will be shocked how sharp it is!
Have you got just Takumar or Super or SMC?
Bluetsunami: Love the shots. The flower shot is favourite. Obviously, the bokeh is softer and more pleasing on the Super Tak, at a cost of sharpness...I got oldest 135/3.5 version and I love its bokeh to bits, thought it's not a sharpest tool in the shed...
Krosavcheg wrote:
Bif: Bee shots are gorgeous! Remember I was always shooting the Super 55/1.8? Love that lens! Try your AC filters on it - will be shocked how sharp it is!
Have you got just Takumar or Super or SMC?
Of the one's I've found and dug out of storage so far there's the:
What does it all mean anyway? SMC is Super Multi Coated so Super is single coated? And what's the non-super and non-smc? The quartz one is for UV photography in case anyone was wondering.
What does it all mean anyway? SMC is Super Multi Coated so Super is single coated? And what's the non-super and non-smc? The quartz one is for UV photography in case anyone was wondering.
shoenberg3,
I dig that grazing horses shot BTW! Very kewl!
There are Takumars, Auto-Takumars, Super-Takumars and SMC-Takumars.
Takumars are the originals. Preset lenses with single-coating
Auto Takumars add the auto-aperture stop-down pin and the A/M switch
Super Takumars add better 'single coating', really very basic multi-coating (3-4 layers, as most late-60's 'single-coated' lenses have). They also introduce most of the classic Takumar designs.
SMC Takumars add SMC coating (true multi-coating, 7+ layers) and open-aperture metering lugs for the ES and F series Spotmatics.
There's also a few specialist designs like Tele-Takumars, NC-Takumars (for the Nocta IR camera)) and that Quartz-Takumar.
One more question. What's a metering lug? Do you mean the protruding aperture post that radially twists to open and close the aperture? Or something else?
One more question. What's a metering lug? Do you mean the protruding aperture post that radially twists to open and close the aperture? Or something else?
It's a lug which engages the aperture coupling on Spotmatic ES and F bodies to communicate set aperture to the camera meter. It moves radially with the aperture ring but doesn't actuate the aperture, that is done by the aperture stop-down pin on M42.
Ah, OK, I know the thing you're talking about. That's called a "metering lug" huh?! Awesome, I learned something - not that that's difficult given my extremely limited knowledge but it's very appreciated! Thanks!
The quartz one is for UV photography in case anyone was wondering.
Thanks!