Takumar
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 brother Kumao Kajiwara founded Asahi Optical. 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.
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.
Contents
Asahiflex Lenses
This lenses had a preset aperture and some had irises with up to 20 blades.
M42 Lenses
Auto Takumar
Super-Takumar Lenses
Super Multi Coated (SMC) Lenses
Radioactive lenses
Legacy and notes
References
- Gerjan van Oosten, 2021, "The Definitive ASAHI PENTAX Collector's Guide 1952-1977". 2nd Edition
