Are Takumar lenses any good?

The Super-Takumar is a good looking lens with excellent build and mechanical quality. Optically it has that vintage “character” that some like but others might not. I like its decent sharpness wide open (which becomes excellent stopped down), good CA resistance, and good bokeh.

What is super Takumar?

The Super Takumar is a 50mm f1. 4 lens that was released by the Asahi Optical Co. in the 1960s. It has garnered something of a legendary reputation online, and is known for its sharpness, bokeh, and propensity for flare.

What mount is super Takumar?

All the Super Takumars were M42, I think. SMC-Takumars (super multi coated) were M42 but with tabs for open aperture metering. I think there were SMC Taks made in K-mount, but they looked different. The M42 one all looked like that picture.

What are Takumar lenses?

The Takumar designation was used on lenses designed for Asahi’s 35 mm cameras, 6×7 cameras, and for other purposes too.

  • Takumar lenses were made in M37 screwmount for the original Asahiflex cameras and continued into the M42 period.
  • Auto-Takumar lenses were a type of preset lens.

Is Takumar a Pentax?

Pentax resurrected the Takumar name in the 1980s and 1990s for a budget line of zoom and prime lenses that lacked the Pentax “Super Multi-Coating” anti-reflective coating that reduces lens flare.

What is a radioactive lens?

Lenses with elements made of radioisotope-containing glass Some lenses of the 1960s, such as early Minolta Rokkor lenses, have elements to made of glass formulas which include small traces of radioactive rare-earth elements. Sometimes this incidental radioactivity causes a significant browning of these lens elements.

Is Takumar radioactive?

Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 (All 7-element variants contain Thorium – thoriated glass!, no 8-element variants contain thorium.) Some lenses have tested (moderately) radioactive, others have tested not radioactive: The hot ones…

Are radioactive lenses harmful?

In conclusion – no, you can’t get sick or die from radioactive lenses. You’d have to spend months in a room filled with 2 million of them in order to feel any consequences, and I believe no one’s collection is that big. So, if you have a couple of good ones, don’t be afraid to use them.

How can you tell if a lens is radioactive?

So if you are wanting to take apart vintage lenses, you might want to be aware of this. A Geiger counter will tell you if your lens is hot. However, if you don’t have one, you can look for yellowed glass. Radioactive decay could also cause hot spots on digital cameras.

Which Canon lenses are radioactive?

Camera lenses known to have contained thorium include:

  • Canon FL 58mm f1.
  • GAF Anscomatic 38mm f2. 8 (Anscomatic 726 camera)
  • Kodak Ektanar 38mm f2. 8 (Instamatic 804 camera)
  • Kodak Ektanon 46mm f3. 5 (Signet 40 camera)
  • Kodak Ektanon 50mm f3.
  • SMC Takumar 50mm f1.
  • Super Takumar 35mm f2.
  • Super Takumar 6×7 105mm f2.