Marco Aries

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...

 Amongst vintage lenses, Takumar is one of the iconic names, but are they really that good or is it just internet hype? I’ve been meaning to try them for years, but they are a bit rare here in Italy and due to their reputation prices are often inflated. Last year I was finally able to buy three of them and I’ve been using them on and off since then. Today’s subject is the 35mm 3.5, built sometime between 1971 and 1980 The lens is made of metal, it weights around 150g, it is 34 to 37mm long and it has an external diameter of 58mm, with a 49mm front thread. The iris has 5 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f3.5 to f16. On the side there’s the auto-manual selector for compatible camera bodies. The focusing ring is textured, it turns 150 degrees and minimum focusing distance is 45cm. As we can see on the front element, this was the first series of lenses produced by Asahi with multicoating. The M42 mount has a flange distance of 45,46mm. Get your adapter: Global: https://...

Takumar lenses are well known and praised for their quality in the vintage lenses community, to the point that they have achieved almost an iconic status and prices in recent years have risen like a cake in the oven. But not all Takumar were created equal; somewhere in between the 80s and 90s, Asahi Optical produced a sort of obscure line under the name Takumar Bayonet and the lens we’re talking about today is one of those. Unlike previous lines with the same name, these more recent lenses lack the Super-Multi-Coating, have bayonet mounts, from which their name, and they look just like the Pentax-M series. Allegedly, they were intended as a budget option, so let’s take a closer look and see for ourselves. The Takumar is made out of metal, it weights around 390g, it is 78mm long when focused to infinity and 97mm when fully extended, with a 52mm front thread. It also has a built-in sunhood. The iris has 8 blades, the aperture is clicked and it goes from f2.5 to f22 with half steps. The f...