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Super Takumar 55mm Pentax lens

Published on January 31, 2010 in Photography

The Takumar is the name of a wonderful lens, that the previously Asahi Optical and now Pentax, gave to its lenses.

I bought one for 3000 yen ($33) in a shop in Akihabara (Techno district of Tokyo) that sells junk stuff. The glass is in perfect conditions and the big aperture plus the good ISO performance of the Pentax K-X makes a good combination for nocturne urban photography.

manubrio


The lens started to be manufactured in 1962, based on the data in this database. It uses the old but popular M42 mount. Basically it’s just has a screw and you have to turn it until it got fixed into the camera body. In fact it’s not practical, it takes some time to change lenses. Actual Pentax K-X and other models don’t use that mount system anymore but there are adapters for them. I used an adapter that cost me the same as the lens!

super takumar

This is the lens mounted on the Pentax K-X

Super Takumar

I love the retro fashion of the lens :)

Super Takumar

It’s not so big. Anyway it’s a little bit odd to see that lens in a new camera. When I see it, remembers me to see an old lady dressed as a teenager…

I love the bokeh and quality of this lens. It has a finest and soft bokeh, much better than the 50mm 1.4F for example. The aperture is manual and it’s better to use it in manual, because the camera automatic settings will get confused with no aperture control. When you use it in manual, changing the aperture and the focus, reminds me of a time where all those automatic capabilities was just science fiction. Changing manually the aperture and the focus, for some reason makes me feel a Leica experience. I just have to worry about few settings and I need an understanding of those settings as if they was part of myself. Just set the aperture, speed, focus and shot.

super takumar bokeh

super takumar bokeh

Look at the soft bokeh in the leaves.

Pentax takumar lens bokeh

Don’t worry to buy old lenses. Just keep in mind that you maybe need to use only manual settings. It’s important to check carefully the lens, anyway. Scratches, malfunctioning or humidity could be there, hidden for an inexperienced eye, so if you still have no experience with this stuff, try to go to the shop with a friend that could advise you.
Soon I will publish a post about who to check the quality of used lenses.

 
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18 Comments  comments 
  • http://www.focx.de/ Christoph

    A good place for old lenses are camera fairs where you can find plenty of them! One thing I was afraid of was getting the wrong mount, so I made sure by asking the vendor ;) I got a SMC Takumar 55/1.8 and a SMC Takumar 28/3.5 (as a 50mm aequivalent for my cropfactor 2 Olympus E-620. Have fun with your lens!

  • http://www.focx.de Christoph

    A good place for old lenses are camera fairs where you can find plenty of them! One thing I was afraid of was getting the wrong mount, so I made sure by asking the vendor ;) I got a SMC Takumar 55/1.8 and a SMC Takumar 28/3.5 (as a 50mm aequivalent for my cropfactor 2 Olympus E-620. Have fun with your lens!

  • http://alafista.com/ alafista

    The retro design of the lens looks great on the new K-X. How I wish we could use the old lense on Canon systems.

  • http://alafista.com alafista

    The retro design of the lens looks great on the new K-X. How I wish we could use the old lense on Canon systems.

  • http://www.zuco.org/ zuco

    There are some adapters for Canon as well. You should maybe check that possibility.
    Anyway, Canon has great cheap prime lenses. Maybe it’s not a good deal to take an old 50mm Canon one.

  • http://www.zuco.org zuco

    There are some adapters for Canon as well. You should maybe check that possibility.
    Anyway, Canon has great cheap prime lenses. Maybe it’s not a good deal to take an old 50mm Canon one.

  • http://diyphotos.blogspot.com/ Daniele

    heyyy!
    nice lens!!!…so nice that i just surfed on ebay to find a cheap one so that i can see which one i like the most with my Helios 44-2 f/2 58mm!
    Ah, i read that u paied really much for adapters…here in Bologna they asked me like 40€ for M42->Sony adapter too!So, i can advice you to buy them from ebay, from china sellers!i got 3 of them and they work really nice (they allow infinite focus)!the nice thing is that i paied them just 10 euros (3€ each one) included shipment cost!!
    ^^hope it can help u 4 ur next m42 lens!

    (….scrivo in inglese dato che mi trovo nella versione inglese ;P)

  • http://diyphotos.blogspot.com/ Daniele

    heyyy!
    nice lens!!!…so nice that i just surfed on ebay to find a cheap one so that i can see which one i like the most with my Helios 44-2 f/2 58mm!
    Ah, i read that u paied really much for adapters…here in Bologna they asked me like 40€ for M42->Sony adapter too!So, i can advice you to buy them from ebay, from china sellers!i got 3 of them and they work really nice (they allow infinite focus)!the nice thing is that i paied them just 10 euros (3€ each one) included shipment cost!!
    ^^hope it can help u 4 ur next m42 lens!

    (….scrivo in inglese dato che mi trovo nella versione inglese ;P)

  • http://www.zuco.org/ zuco

    @Daniele

    Grazie per la info. I commenti sono benvenuti anche in italiano :)
    La prossima volta farò un giro sulla rete per vedere se trovo prezzi così interessanti.
    Per il momento penso che non comprerò altre lenti M42 per la Pentax :)

  • http://www.zuco.org zuco

    @Daniele

    Grazie per la info. I commenti sono benvenuti anche in italiano :)
    La prossima volta farò un giro sulla rete per vedere se trovo prezzi così interessanti.
    Per il momento penso che non comprerò altre lenti M42 per la Pentax :)

  • http://diyphotos.blogspot.com/ Daniele

    @zuco

    Sisi, comprarli nei negozi è solo una spesa inutile!
    niente più lenti M42?come mai?
    Sinceramente le preferisco di gran lunga alle lenti moderne: sono più solide (e più pesanti), qualitativamente rendon tantissimo, aperture sensazionali e poco prezzo! e poi…hanno quel look retro che adoro tanto!
    ;p
    ————-
    http://twitter.com/MD_photography

  • http://diyphotos.blogspot.com/ Daniele

    @zuco

    Sisi, comprarli nei negozi è solo una spesa inutile!
    niente più lenti M42?come mai?
    Sinceramente le preferisco di gran lunga alle lenti moderne: sono più solide (e più pesanti), qualitativamente rendon tantissimo, aperture sensazionali e poco prezzo! e poi…hanno quel look retro che adoro tanto!
    ;p
    ————-
    http://twitter.com/MD_photography

  • Pingback: Colors in prison | Pietro Zuco

  • http://www.oyunmacerasi.com Oyun Macerasi

    thanks…

  • http://vimeo.com/user2950419/videos Ringo

    You can! Just buy an adapter.

  • http://twitter.com/andresmoreira Andres Moreira

    Hi zuco,
    Which adapter you have to use for this lens ? I’ve a Pentax k-x and I am about to buy a Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4, but first I have to check if worth without any adapter or with one. As I live in Uruguay, I have to buy the adapter in some place like Ebay, so better to check first :).

    Thanks a lot! And keep writing about Pentax and Lenses for it :)
    Andrés

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