Asahi Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 vintage lens review

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The first version of the Super-Takumar 50mm 1.4 was launched in 1964 with an 8 elements in 6 group configuration.

One year later it was updated to 7 elements in 6 groups with improved coatings that included thorium oxide so, yes, this is one of those radioactive lenses.

The lens is made of metal, it weights around 220g, it is 38 to 45mm long and it has an external diameter of 63mm, with a 49mm front thread.

The iris has 6 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f1.4 to f16 with half steps. On the side there is a switch for automatic aperture control for compatible cameras.

The focusing ring has pretty shallow textured dimples, it turns 200 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm.

It has an M42 mount with a flange distance of 45,46mm.

One minor design issue I have with this lens is that the dimples on the focus and aperture rings are spaced differently, so only two of them align at any given point and that triggers my ocd.

Other than that, in classic Asahi fashion, it is compact, lightweight and very well built.

Build quality is great, as we have come to expect from Asahi Pentax-M lenses.

Sharpness wide open is a bit lacking in the center and it falls off a bit more in the corners, with surprisingly close to no vignetting. By f8 it gets sharp all over the frame.

Chromatic aberration is visible in high contrast areas, and can be noticeable especially wide open.

Colors are fairly neutral and contrast and saturation are a bit muted.

Specular highlights have some hard edges, chromatic aberration and deform easily if not in the center of the frame. In the right conditions, backgrounds can show some swirliness.

While I haven’t had issues with ghosting, it is prone to flaring.

While I do understand the appeal of this lens, it doesn’t really speak to me, mainly because it is inconsistent.

It reminds me a lot of the Nikkor 50mm 1.4 I reviewed a year ago or so. Both of them swing from producing beautiful portraits, to being barely useable to shoot a landscape and I need my lenses to be reliable.



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