| Author: | | Showing Reviews 1-15 of 41 | |
Junior Member Registered: October, 2010 Location: Dublin Posts: 42 | |
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Site Supporter Registered: March, 2010 Posts: 37 | | Lens Review Date: April 1, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, nice bokeh, solid | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I like this lens a lot. Build quality is great, it will probably last forever 
It's very smooth to focus and it has a nice, smooth bokeh. I have some example photos here:
http://hem.passagen.se/siamthai/Taku...al3547371.html | |
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New Member Registered: October, 2011 Posts: 3 | | Lens Review Date: March 22, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Solid construction, great sharpness and rendering | | Cons: | none really | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Olympus E-PL1
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I have the SMC version with rubber focus ring. Managed to get a good deal on the big auction site after some hunting. I am using it adapted on a Micro Four-Thirds camera so it has an effective 100mm focal length. On m4/3 it's an excellent portrait lens, but I keep it on the camera a lot for general walkabout shooting.
The construction and physical quality of this lens is absolutely fantastic, it is a real joy to use. It is a bit soft wide open, so I generally shoot at f/2 where it is already quite sharp and the bokeh is still smooth.
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New Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 7 | | Lens Review Date: February 25, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Pretty sharp, fairly compact, neat focusing and aperture ring, great build, buttery bokeh, fine colors, cheap | | Cons: | Soft at 1.4 and 2, outdated | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
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Sharpness
In well-light conditions, with the aperture stopped down and ISO set at 80, this glass delivers crispy sharpness through out the whole cropped DSLR's frame. But when it's wide open, it's pretty soft. I could see so much halo. I heard softness is the way to go for portrait, so by keeping that in mind, this glass isn't exactly useless on that f/stop.
Abberations
Existent but minimal. It could be better, but it handles it pretty well already. And it should, because it doesn't exactly have a lens profile to fix these. (Unlike modern lenses which have readily available corrections profiles to make them disappear.)
Bokeh
Smooth, buttery and round. It's pretty good.
Handling
For something that's manual everything, it better handle well. And to be honest, handling this lens is easier than I needed it to be. The grips on the aperture and focus ring is well made, excellent. The aperture stops precisely.
Value
For 100 dollars, I get a lens with optical and build quality that beats many of today's expensive lenses. Ask yourself if you can live without automatic focusing, exposure metering and aperture EXIF data. If you can, then this one is definitely a bargain.
will show samples later
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New Member Registered: January, 2011 Location: The Earth Posts: 4 | | Lens Review Date: January 26, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $130.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build Quality, Real colours & contrast, f 1.4, size, weight.... | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
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I use this lens with a Canon EOS 7d using one EMF AF Confirm adapter. I sell the Canon 1.4 the day after to test the Tak.
It could be rival for my Canon 24-70L in sharpness, contrast and vivid colours.
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New Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: Oslo Posts: 7 | | Lens Review Date: January 22, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $20.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Color rendition, bokeh, sharpness, smooth focus ring | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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The lens I have is SMC takumar 50mm 1.4, my copy of this lens has stiff aperture blades but I dont see it as a problem so I didnt do anything to it and slapped it on the m42->ef adapter and right into my 5d2.
It's sharpness, color rendition and bokeh is pretty amazing, probably the best 50mm I have and used. It's so good that I'm even considering a backup copy of it just incase.
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New Member Registered: December, 2011 Posts: 1 | | Lens Review Date: December 26, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharp, amazing color, f1.4 is very fast, gets amazing bokeh and depth, works well on both film and dslr, build (metal, this baby will last forever) | | Cons: | needs adaptor to use on modern cameras | | Sharpness: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
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Originally I used this lens with my Spotmatic, which it came with, but now I also use it on my k-x with an adaptor. This lens gets superb results on both film and digital. With f1.4 you get a very narrow depth of field and beautiful bokeh, plus it's very fast and you can use it to shoot indoors without a flash or very high iso. Some people complain about the yellowing effect, but of all the lenses I have used I find that this one has the best and I love it. The contrast and sharpness are also excellent, and I find that the build is superior to anything made later. Focusing is very smooth. Easily my favorite lens.
With a Pentax Spotmatic:
   
With a k-x and a screw mount > k mount adaptor:
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Senior Member Registered: April, 2010 Location: California Posts: 206 | | Lens Review Date: December 22, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $65.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | everything | | Cons: | nothing | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I have the Super-Takumar version, but I find the flare resistance to be pretty good even without the SMC designation. Mine does show some yellowing that I haven't bothered to get rid of so far. I find it sharp even wide open with a somewhat diminished contrast that's easily dealt with in post-processing. This lens is just a pure joy to use. Very highly recommended!
Pigtails by Ludger Solbach, on Flickr
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Forum Member Registered: October, 2010 Posts: 55 | | Lens Review Date: November 19, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $80.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Color, bokeh, sharpness at f2 | | Cons: | like most of the lenses the sharpness wide open is not as good as that when stopped down | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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Mine is the SMC version with rubberized focusing ring. A few things to note while using this lens on a Pentax dSLR
1. Always use a proper hood.
2. The depth of field can be very shallow at f1.4 and f2, so try to get precise focus
3. Underexpose a little while shooting wide open, the results are very likely to be better
Keeping certain things in mind like I mentioned will help you to extract the best out of it.
Many people say that the wide open sharpness of takumar 55/1.8 and K mount 50/1.7 is better than that of this lens. I do not disagree. But this lens is very very sharp at f2. Both the color and the contrast are great. The out of focus rendering is so pleasing. Overall at f2 the images produced by this lens look better than the images produced by the other two lenses at f2, at f1.8 and at f1.7. So if you can manage the 1/2 stop speed difference from 1.7 to 2, you get better pictures from this lens compared to the other two. Use it wide open only when you have to, otherwise stopping down a bit doesn't let you down.
No lens is perfect. But please try to understand the positives and negatives of any lens before making a judgement.
If you don't have one buy one soon, because what you miss is one of the most celebrated Pentax lenses  .
All photos are at f2
The below one may be seen only in India
This one I should have underexposed a bit more
The focus is not perfect in the following image
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New Member Registered: April, 2009 Location: New York Posts: 1 | | Lens Review Date: November 10, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $145.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small, Sharp and Beauty | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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Never think that so small 50mm can be better than 50 1.2L from Canon or Contax 50 1.4.
Smooth focusing and superb bokeh, sharp enough for portraits wide open and super sharp from F2.
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Veteran Member Registered: January, 2011 Location: Minahasa, North Celebes (Sulawesi) Posts: 392 | | Lens Review Date: September 11, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $140.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Better than M 50/1.4 | | Cons: | Original M42-PK adapter rare and expensive | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 9
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Mine is the "SMC" version with rubber focus grip. Got a minty copy with original metal cap, no yellowing so no sun bathing Loose focusing mechanism though, but a 15 minutes fixing of a loose screw under the filter ring solved the problem.
This is my first lens of the dubbed "Blue Blood" Takumars line. Better than M 50/1.4 especially in term of sharpness and color rendering. Less flare issue shooting under direct sun. I love the "cat eye" bokeh I fail to see on the M 50/1.4.
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New Member Registered: July, 2011 Posts: 2 | | Lens Review Date: August 18, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Color, Sharpness, Speed | | Cons: | ???! | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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This is my first post to Pentaxforums.com. My father passed down to me his Spotmatic and associated lenses he collected in the 60s and used for the next 20 years. I had just purchased an E-P1 Pen and picked up an M42-M4/3 adapter to fit the Pentax glass. I've never taken it off since. I cannot describe just how spectacular this lens has performed. The autofocusing kit lens sits collecting dust and will rarely be used again.
This 50mm is constantly producing breathtaking shots with rich color and sharpness. As mentioned in another review there's a bit of a foggy look wide open but it's gone when stopped down one or two clicks. Wide open is not unusable - it can provide a bit of art. I've made some nice dreamy looking night shots at f/1.4. Other wide selections create shots with great DOF, and if notched down just a bit the results are razor sharp.
My lens was significantly yellowed (as seen through the rear element) but the purchase of a compact florescent black light at a local hardware store resolved that issue. The glass seemed clear with 3 days of exposure and I gave it a few more for good measure. Clearing the yellowing definitely lets more light through. I'd recommend using this method rather than sunlight as there's no heat involved and it goes a lot faster.
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Site Supporter Registered: May, 2010 Location: Hong Kong / Irvine, CA Posts: 256 | | Lens Review Date: July 24, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, fast | | Cons: | | |
I have a Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 1:1.4/50
I think this is one of the best. The other one is A 50/1.7.
SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4
Tessar Carl Zeiss Jena DDR 50mm/2.8
M 50mm f/2
M 50mm f/1.7
A 50mm f/1.7
FA 50mm f/1.4
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Site Supporter Registered: June, 2010 Posts: 557 | | Lens Review Date: July 15, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | beautifully crafted, f1.4, cheap | | Cons: | very soft wide open, can't focus on infinity with k10d | |
I had two : Super Takumar 50/1.4 and S-M-C Takumar 50/1.4.
Mechanically one of the most beautiful lenses I've ever had, Pentax limiteds are nowhere close to build of this Takumar. Somewhere I read that those Takumars were from time when Pentax was competing with Zeiss for dominance and every 50mm 1.4 Takumar company produced was actually made with loss.
Focusing with this lens is like dream...perfect. Downside is that you have to use adapter and i couldn't make lens to focus properly on distances longer than maybe 5-6 meters even with original m42-pk adapter. Maybe the focusing helicoid was adjusted and maybe because of that my focus was improper all the time causing the soft looking photos. Because of that my rating is only 7.
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Site Supporter Registered: March, 2009 Location: North East Ohio, USA/ India Posts: 341 | | Lens Review Date: May 31, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | IQ, contrast | | Cons: | none | |
This is my favorite 50 from Pentax. This lens hardly needs any post processing - the colours and contrast are terrific. I love this so much that I got rid of the FA 50 1.4 and chose to have this manual focus prime at this focal length.
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