Difference between revisions of "Takumar"
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| − | These lenses were introduced with the Pentax K camera and have a semi-automatic aperture system, consisting of 2 rings. One sets the aperture and the other is a spring loaded ring that keeps the aperture fully open for focusing. When pressing the shutter halfway, the camera pushes a pin on the rear of the lens closing the iris to the set aperture and have DOF check, then fully pressing the shutter takes the picture. The lens remains closed until the shutter is cocked for the next exposure.<ref | + | These lenses were introduced with the Pentax K camera and have a semi-automatic aperture system, consisting of 2 rings. One sets the aperture and the other is a spring loaded ring that keeps the aperture fully open for focusing. When pressing the shutter halfway, the camera pushes a pin on the rear of the lens closing the iris to the set aperture and have DOF check, then fully pressing the shutter takes the picture. The lens remains closed until the shutter is cocked for the next exposure.<ref>Early PENTAX TAKUMAR Lenses by Frank Mechelhoff 2005 at Classic Camera.de" | http://www.klassik-cameras.de/Pentax_Takumar_e.html</ref> |
===Super-Takumar Lenses=== | ===Super-Takumar Lenses=== | ||
Revision as of 16:07, 25 June 2021
Takumar refers to a line of high quality photographic lenses produced by Asahi Optical Co beginning in the 1940s. The name was derived from Takuma Kajiwara (Kajiwara Takuma)[1], a well known Japanese-American photographer, whose nephew Kumao Kajiwara founded Asahi Kōgaku Kōgyō G.K. (Asahi Optical Corp). The name Takumar was used in lenses for SLRs until 1975, when K-mount replaced M42 and Pentax replaced Asahi, from then on lenses were badged mostly SMC Pentax, even though a few still had the name Takumar. Late in the 1980s Takumar was used for budget lenses for Pentax mount.
Asahi Optical is one of the oldest lens manufacturers, with complete capabilites of design, melting, and polishing several types of glass and mechanical engineers for the focusing mechanism, as such they made lenses for their own cameras, as well as some other companies. The first appearance of the Takumar name was in lenses used in the Asahiflex camera, which used the 37mm screw mount (1952). Takumar was carried over to the M42 cameras and went through a series of iterations as build quality and coatings were developed with names such as Super-Takumar, Super-Multi-Coated Takumar, and SMC Takumar. All lenses were provided in a leather case and a custom lens hood, except those that came as standard lenses with camera bodies. Filter sizes were also standardized by Asahi in order to help cutomers, being 49mm and 58mm for most lenses.
These lenses are highly regarded among photographers, with some achieving cult-like status such as the Takumar 50mm f/1.4 and 35mm f/2.0. The build and image quality are superb and the easiness to adapt M42 mount to new camera mounts has transcended the use in new digital SLRs and mirrorless cameras.
Contents
Asahiflex Lenses
The Asahiflex was a unique camera with a 37x1 mm screw lens mount. All these lenses were made in silver finished brass, with a few black trimmings in some late examples. Back caps were made in aluminum and front caps are aluminmum with black lacquer.
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| TAKUMAR 135MM F3.5 image by Adrian Gee (Image rights) |
These Takumars have some other interesting quirks. The aperture is pre-set and made up of 20 (!) blades giving a nice round lens opening. [2]
No wide angle lenses were made, because of the presence of the mirror in the light path until retro-focus was discovered by Angenieux in the late 50s.
It's also of note that Asahi kept producing lenses for the Asahiflex after moving to M42 mount, retrofitting M42 lenses for the M37 mount as marked in the list.
- Standard lenses:
- Takumar 50mm f/3.5 (3 different versions)
- Takumar 58mm f/2.4
- Telephotos:
- Takumar 83mm f/1.9 (both in Asahiflex and M42 with adapter mount)
- Takumar 100mm f/3.5
- Tele-Takumar 135mm f/3.5
- Takumar 135mm f/3.5 (M42 with adapter)
- Takumar 500mm f/5.0
M42 Lenses
Asahi adopted the M42x1mm lens mount, which was originally developed by Contax, for their SLR cameras in 1958, with the introduction of the Asahi Pentax S and K (Tower 29) cameras.
Auto Takumar
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| AUTO-TAKUMAR 35MM F3.5 image by Adrian Gee (Image rights) |
These lenses were introduced with the Pentax K camera and have a semi-automatic aperture system, consisting of 2 rings. One sets the aperture and the other is a spring loaded ring that keeps the aperture fully open for focusing. When pressing the shutter halfway, the camera pushes a pin on the rear of the lens closing the iris to the set aperture and have DOF check, then fully pressing the shutter takes the picture. The lens remains closed until the shutter is cocked for the next exposure.[3]
Super-Takumar Lenses
Super Multi Coated (SMC) Lenses
List of known M42 Lenses
- type 0: Takumar preset: Succeeds the older 37mm version of the Takumar
- type I: Auto-Takumar: A lever is added to allow for full aperture focusing
- type II: Super-Takumar: Fully-automatic diaphragm that does not needs to be cocked manually, single layer of coating, however some later versions are multi coated as Asahi's coating technology was improving
- type III: Super-Multi-Coated Takumar: A 7 layer coating was applied for these lenses, the best available at the time, with improvements in contrast and color rendition. Extra pin for open aperture metering with the Spotmatic-F/ES/ES-II
- type IV: SMC Takumar: newer version that uses a rubberized instead of the metal focusing ring
The lenses are listed, with the types known to exist for sure:
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Legacy and notes
A note on Radioactive lenses
The Super Takumar 50/1.4
References
- Gerjan van Oosten, 2021, "The Definitive ASAHI PENTAX Collector's Guide 1952-1977". 2nd Edition
