The Takumar Lenses

Image quality was not great. I had 12 all bought new. Diaphragm was weak. I dropped more than one screwing on lenses and they fell on my bed from 18 inches.
Diaphragm immediately became sticky from perfect before.

Have Nikons now to mate with Leicas, both digital and film in each, and Nikons are much better and Leicas are far better.

My 35 2.8 fell from my coat pocket to cement and all it got was a small finish imperfection.

Guess Pentax needed a premium line which they came out with for more money, but my kit was sold off by then.
 
Above may be correct but I am continually amazed at the quality of both cameras and lenses from all major Japanese companies during the 60s and 70s. It seems to me to have been the golden age of cameras.
 
I agree - these lenses were still built as serious tools (even Takumars, which I have found to be impeccable).

charjohncarter said:
Above may be correct but I am continually amazed at the quality of both cameras and lenses from all major Japanese companies during the 60s and 70s. It seems to me to have been the golden age of cameras.
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Ronald M said:
Image quality was not great. I had 12 all bought new. Diaphragm was weak. I dropped more than one screwing on lenses and they fell on my bed from 18 inches.
Diaphragm immediately became sticky from perfect before.

Have Nikons now to mate with Leicas, both digital and film in each, and Nikons are much better and Leicas are far better.

My 35 2.8 fell from my coat pocket to cement and all it got was a small finish imperfection.

Guess Pentax needed a premium line which they came out with for more money, but my kit was sold off by then.
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My Nikkor P.C. 85/2 LTM is the most well-constructed lens that I own, but it trades off that solidity for weight. The Takumars are a happy medium between the Nikkor lenses and Olympus, for example, in regard to robust build quality, size, and weight. I love the Nikkors but the 135mm Nikkor pre-Ai f2.8 weighs almost as much as the camera that I mount it on.
 
Greyscale said:
My Nikkor P.C. 85/2 LTM is the most well-constructed lens that I own, but it trades off that solidity for weight. The Takumars are a happy medium between the Nikkor lenses and Olympus, for example, in regard to robust build quality, size, and weight. I love the Nikkors but the 135mm Nikkor pre-Ai f2.8 weighs almost as much as the camera that I mount it on.
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I found the Takumars to be the best constructed of the Japanese lenses, when compared to the Nikkors, Canons, Rokkors and Zuikos that I own.
 
xayraa33 said:
I found the Takumars to be the best constructed of the Japanese lenses, when compared to the Nikkors, Canons, Rokkors and Zuikos that I own.
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Agreed. Compared to every F mount Nikkor that I have used, Takumars always feel way smoother and nicer. I have only used these lenses in the last 8 years so they were all far from new, but I find this interesting from a build quality point of view as (in my admittedly limited experience) the Takumar lenses seem to have held up better than the Nikkor lenses. I haven't had the opportunity to use any LTM Nikkor lenses so can't really comment on them.
From what I have used of 60s and 70s Japanese made SLR lenses, the Takumar lenses (excluding the Takumar bayonet lenses) are every bit as well built (or better) than those from Canon, Nikon, Minolta, and Olympus.
 
charjohncarter said:
Above may be correct but I am continually amazed at the quality of both cameras and lenses from all major Japanese companies during the 60s and 70s. It seems to me to have been the golden age of cameras.
Click to expand...

Much is made of W. Edwards Demming (and other Americans) contribution to quality assurance and the improvements made in manufacturing in this regard in post-war Japan. (It's an interesting read if unfamiliar...) He is often credited with rise of the Japanese auto sector but I'm sure the focus on quality processes impacted the camera industry.
 
I've become seduced by these fine old cameras and lenses. The two lenses I've had for several years (with a 28/3.5), used with other bodies; the two bodies are new to me. The Spotmatic (SP) on the left was bought for me by my granddaughter recently. I liked the look of it when we saw it in a shop window, but really wanted an SV. But she said, "You like it, don't you and you're gonna have it, Grandad". There was no argument! The SV (right) is one I've been waiting for. I saw it for auction with a starting bid of $5. No-one else bid on it and it's the best bargain I've ever had. Only a couple of years older than the Spottie, I feel it's better made. The film wind is silky smooth and the shutter noticeably quieter. Both will get a CLA soon. (Phone pic.)
 

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Barry Kirsten said:
The SV (right) is one I've been waiting for. I saw it for auction with a starting bid of $5. No-one else bid on it and it's the best bargain I've ever had. Only a couple of years older than the Spottie, I feel it's better made. The film wind is silky smooth and the shutter noticeably quieter.
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Agreed. The early Asahi Optical Co SLRs are splendid works of art. Even the lowly Asahiflex IIb from 1954 has a wonderfully smooth shutter release and a build quality reminiscent of the screwmount Leicas.

Cheers!

Abbazz
 
Photon42 said:
Nice shot. I need to take out my 6x7 again. Freezing cold, grey/grey and too much work.
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Thanks for the kind words! Unfortunately, my winter shooting has slowed, too, even though I'm in sunny California. I did get a panoramic adapter from eBay a little while back, so I might be trying that in the 6x7 soon.
 
The 50mm f/1.4 eight-element lens (mounted on the black body in photo) is my personal favorite 50mm. It was so good that I never needed a 50mm for my Leica rangefinders and it delayed me for decades before I bought a 50mm for Nikon SLRs.



Pentax Spotmatics by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 
Decades ago when my first SLR broke (a Miranda Sensorex), I was loaned a Pentax Spotmatic with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. I eventually replaced my Sensorex with a Nikon but for years delayed buying a 50mm Nikon lens because I could not find one that had image quality as good as the Pentax. I discovered that the lens I had been using was the 8-element version of the m42 Asahi 50mm f/1.4 Super Takumar and had a reputation for being one of the best 50mm f/1.4 lenses ever made.

The 7-element Takumar is also a very good lens but is not as good as the 8-element version. One major problem with the 7-element lens is that it has a radioactive lens element that gradually turns yellow.

Other than the image quality, the two ways to tell the two lenses apart are:

a) The 8-element version has the infrared focus mark located to the right of the f/4 mark.

b) The diaphragm switch on the 8-element version is marked with “A” and “M.”

The 7-element version has:

a) The infrared focus mark located to the left of the f/4 mark.

b) The diaphragm switch on the 7-element version marked with “AUTO” and “Manual.”




m42 Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 lenses by Narsuitus, on Flickr
 
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