This fast normal lens existed in two "Super" productions as well as two productions with super-multi-coating.
The first "Super" version (introduced 1964) has 8 lens elements. Refer the separate entry for that lens. All subsequent versions (including K, M, F and FA versions) have 7 elements.
The 7 element Takumars have the infrared focusing mark to the left of the numeral '4' on the DOF scale. The 8 element version has the mark to the right. Thanks to Laurentiu Cristofor for pointing this out.
Variants:
1965: Super-Takumar 1:1.4/50 - late version, some have a white dot on the aperture ring at the f/2 position -- first photo
1971: Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR 1:1.4/50 -- second photo
1972: SMC TAKUMAR 1:1.4/50 - rubberized focusing ring. Open aperture metering on Spotmatic F, ES and ESII -- third photo
Registered: January, 2007
Posts: 3
Location: Brazil
Lens Review Date: January 9, 2007
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): N/A
| Rating: 9
Pros:
Sharpness, f/1.4, contrast, size.
Cons:
none
This is a great lens, with superb sharpness, specially at intermediate apertures. It's great for shooting portraits, due to it's apertures. Great lens, a must have for every Pentax user.
Registered: September, 2006
Posts: 1225
Location: West Chester, PA
Lens Review Date: January 10, 2007
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $40.00
| Rating: 8
Pros:
Wide aperture, build quality, bokeh
Cons:
SMC coatings slightly inferior to modern lenses
This is only for the SMC Takumar version of this lens:
The SMC Takumar 50/1.4 is the ancestor to the highly-reagarded FA 50/1.4 lens. It is very similar in all respects to its modern descendent, with only very subtle differences. Pentax has updated the SMC coating over time, evidenced by the slight reduction in flare of the FA version compared to the old M42 versions. The SMC version also exhibits slightly more CA and has subtly more bright-ring bokeh. Overall, I use my SMC Takumar in place of my FA version because it is so much nicer to focus and the image quality is nit-pickingly close.
Registered: September, 2006
Posts: 148
Location: Grand Junction Colorado
Lens Review Date: February 3, 2007
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $78.00
| Rating: 9
Pros:
very sharp and usable at all apertures
Cons:
yellowing
This is the 3rd and 4th versions of the 50mm f1.4. The S-M-C with the fluted focusing ring is of much better construction IMHO.
Both are very sharp, excellent BOKEH and produces images that are a cross between Leitz and Pentax's excellent A and FA lenses.
Subject to yellowing if stored but can be cleared by exposing to UV or sunlight.
I have purchased new for use when I was shooting professional basketball in the 70s.
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $35.00
| Rating: 9
Pros:
sharpness, speed, solid feel, compact size
Cons:
None
I have the Super-Takumar version of this lens, and it is the lens I use more than any other for both film and digital. Images are very sharp down to about f/2, but that extra stop at f/1.4 is indispensable for low-light, low ISO portraits; I haven't used the flash on my K100D since buying this lens. Moreover, this lens is simply a joy to have in the hand. The solid all-metal body and precise focus ring are sublime. The only problem is finding an adapter that allows focusing to infinity on a k-mount body...I'm still looking.
Registered: March, 2007
Posts: 362
Location: Ankara, Turkey
Lens Review Date: May 2, 2007
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $61.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Image quality, handling
Cons:
None (other than being screw mount)
The best lens I ever had. It is all the more unbelievable especially since it is almost 40 years old. Sharp, crisp, lively... Both the resolution and the contrast are high. There is nothing related to image quality which makes me say "I wish it was...". However, another copy I had was not this better and although it looked in better condition externally, it was not "magnificient". Try before you buy, if you can. It is better in every respect than the (otherwise fine) kit lens at 50mm; there is no question about it. Also, even after the recently increasing prices, the lens remains affordable and very pleasing to use.
Registered: September, 2007
Posts: 30
Location: Sydney
Lens Review Date: September 20, 2007
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): N/A
| Rating: 10
Pros:
It's Simply Beautiful
Cons:
Your'e Joking!,..Right?
Well, I have Owned a Couple of The "Super Takumar" '37800 and 37801 series, for quite a Long time.
The Later one, the Longest and it is Still to this Day, almost like Brand new.
I had Previously had an f2.0 55mm and had acquired an f1.8 55mm,..but when I first got the f1.4 and Looked through the Viewfinder, I was 'Hooked',..for Life it would seem!,..lol
There is just something about the 50mm f1.4's, in almost Any Version,..but personally, I think the Older, (they Can't build them like that anymore for that price), versions, ie; the Screw Mounts, are simply one of, if not THE Best 50mm Lens available.
As Noted, the Feel, and The Positive Focus of this lens, (Few if Any lenses bar Leica, can Boast of Focusing so smooth and accurate), let alone How images Look with this lens!!
It IS Different to the Other 'Standard' Takumars.
The earlier of my Two lenses i acquired recently via eBay, and is, to be Honest Even better than my original one !!
I am amazed!
It is Virtually unused.
This is quite simply, the Best Lens I own, or have ever used!
The other Difference, between The earlier and mid series f1.4's, were that they had 6 Diaphragm Blades, whereas, the later ones, including the SMC's, Have 8. Which Does make a difference to the background blurring.
As also noted, they have a slightly different version of the Multi coating.
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $25.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Sharpness perfection for me!
Cons:
they don't make them like this anymore.
Super-Takumar:
An auction house special and later, a project to remove fungus and a yellow hue too.
Ultraviolet bath and full disassembled CLA later, it is now a tremendous lens! I've not had a chance to run a lens test yet, but who needs to. It is a few notches better than my smc-M 50mm. Must get at least one for your collection. -Update: I've had quite a super bunch of super sharp prints. I'm now running it on a K20D and the first few tests were amazing! Bokeh-o-matic!
Registered: June, 2008
Posts: 71
Location: Valparaiso IN USA
Lens Review Date: June 11, 2008
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): N/A
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Superb Bokeh and smooth focusing.
Cons:
None that are not apparent or regarding the mount.
After reading the reviews already posted I saw that there was no real strong mention of a very important aspect of this lens when used on digital bodies for portrait work. The bokeh is really next to none. This lens never ceases to amaze me as far as the quality of images it captures in front of any camera. Some CA in really extreme contrast wide open, but this becomes negligible stopped down. I can't really think of anything bad to say about this lens, or the non super multi coated version. I have one of each.
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $40.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Built and image quality
Cons:
none
Have two of these. Brilliant lens in all aspects. Probably one of the best normal prime. The built quality is simply superb such as the pictures it can capture (both on digital and film). The only negatives: they do not make lenses like this any more, and it is becoming more and more rare and pricey.
Registered: November, 2008
Posts: 2
Location: London
Lens Review Date: June 8, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $80.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Everything
Cons:
My initial foray into photography and this was my most expensive lens purchase along with a K200d. My lens was in great nick with zero fungus. What can I say, this little beauty just keeps on taking photos. The sharpness is incredible. I don't like using the flash and thanks to F1.4, I have never had to. When my LBA took over, I bought other Takumars too such as the 28mm 3.5 and the 135mm 3.5, but nothing really beats the 50mm.
Registered: December, 2007
Posts: 660
Location: ROTTERDAM/Quito and anywhere in between
Lens Review Date: June 12, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $10.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Bokeh, size, build
Cons:
yellowing, sharpness
This lens is legendary, while a bit soft wide open it gives a very special quality and feel to the pictures
Great for portraits and indoors
With age it yellows a bit, but that is cured easily with the help of the sun.
Registered: May, 2008
Posts: 89
Location: Vancouver, BC.
Lens Review Date: July 1, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $40.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Sharp, sharp, sharp. Beautiful construction. Small size.
Cons:
None.
I've had this lens for almost a year, but only used it extensively in the last 2 months. The version I recieved (Super-Tak) was fairly yellowed, and still is slightly yellow after the "leave-lens-in-window" treatment, but I'm finding now that this adds extra dept to skin tone, and a nice warm Kodachrome-y look to landscapes.
Closed down, I would say this is the sharpest lens I own. Perhaps I have a good copy, but I feel I could use this lens as a 100mm at f/8 by cropping and still have enough detail to make a full-size print. It seems like DOF is so thin with this lens that I have to slightly front-focus at 1.4, and then stop down to try and catch the area I want in focus. This took me some practice.
Construction is superb, even for a Takumar. Holding this lens is akin to handling an artifact from a mysterious, long-lost civilization whose technology and craftsmanship far exceed our own...
Registered: October, 2008
Posts: 33
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Lens Review Date: July 7, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $80.00
| Rating: 8
Pros:
Light, good bohek very fast
Cons:
Soft beyond 2m
My copy has some fungus therefore the cons might not be the same for other copies.
Lens is light, very very good built. Focus ring is smooth but not loose generally better built than lenses from other manufacturer like helios. I really like the lens, it produce good sharp images within 2m. I found it's quite hard to focus but if you use a magnifier, it should not be a problem.
Lens is soft beyond 2m, need to stop down to f4 to get good sharpness. But this lens on a digital camera is really only for portrait so this should not be a problem.
I'm not extremely impressed with the contrast level of my copy I found that my CZ 50mm f2.8 produce better contrast.
Registered: August, 2009
Posts: 19
Location: Lexington, KY
Lens Review Date: September 4, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $30.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
Bokeh, sharpness, build quality
Cons:
Radioactive yellowing, sensor reflection
This reviews two copies: a Super and an SMC version, both in what could be called "minty" condition, on a Sony A350.
First, the SMC. The lens initially had the radioactive yellowing problem, with a color shift of R+13%, G+9%. The yellowing seems to increase contrast slightly, and I've heard some people say you should leave the tint for the warming effect it provides... no! It took about 3 days worth of direct exposure to a UV sanitizing light to remove nearly all of the yellow cast, and removing it yielded a very dramatic improvement in lens performance. In fact, before UV treatment, this lens was harder to focus (even confirming focus when it was slightly off), less consistently sharp across the frame, and let less light pass than my Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 -- but those issues are gone now!
The bokeh rival those of the Minolta/Sony STF, giving a nice round point spread function with a bright center and dark edge. No wonder people love this lens. The bokeh would be artistically perfect were it not for a soft, blurry, shape to the center of bokeh which looks like a reflection of the sensor's shape. The 10 rating is for the bokeh; otherwise, this lens is a 9 -- or an 8 before UV cleaning.
Sharpness seems very good wide open, but not quite on a par with my 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar and far worse than my Helios 44M-4. The f/1.8 just has very low contrast wide open, and the Helios just softens slightly at the edges, whereas this lens has some halos and other mild artifacts at f/1.4. However, it is still quite acceptable all the way to the edge of the APS-C frame. By f/5.6, this lens is out-resolving my 14MP sensor all across the the APS-C frame with even a bit more contrast than the f/1.8... a very different look from f/1.4.
Flare is minimal. Unlike my Super Takumar f/1.8, this SMC lens seems to be able to avoid the occasional whole-frame-contrast-destroying flare.
After UV cleaning, this lens gives brighter colors than the f/1.8.
Build quality is excellent (but my older Super Takumar 55mm f/1.8 is better).
Now the Super Takumar f/1.4: Not much different. This lens was even more yellow and seems harder to bleach clear using UV, but it's getting there. I suspect the level of yellowing reflects the radioactivity level, which can vary across copies because it is caused by natural contamination of the raw material used to make the glass... this is a hot one. The Super build quality may be slightly better than the SMC, but this particular copy isn't better in practice. Hard to tell them apart by looking at images. Not really any good reason to have both.
Registered: November, 2007
Posts: 78
Location: Maryland, USA
Lens Review Date: November 12, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $70.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
solid feel, smooth focus ring, bokeh and sharpness
Cons:
maybe a little heavy for some
This is my favorite lens. It is so smooth, both in focusing and bokeh that I keep it on my camera more often than any other lens, even though that means putting on an adapter.
Make sure you use a genuine Pentax adapter to allow infinity focus.
I am starting to look for more m42 lenses, since I'd rather leave the adapter in place.
A joy to use and still amazing despite being nearly 40 years old.
I would buy this lens again and again.
Registered: February, 2009
Posts: 2
Location: London
Lens Review Date: November 16, 2009
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $75.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
The images it produces are awesome
Cons:
Me and manual focusing
My version is a Super-Tak and is a touch yellowed as I still need to do the UV-scrub on it. I'm still learning how to use it (getting used to manual focusing) as I often use it in low light conditions and sometimes don't quite get it right. However, when I nail it I end up with shots that are simply not achievable without it and it reminds me why I take photos.
The build quality and image quality are awesome. I used to carry a bunch of lenses in my bag when I travelled but now I only carry the 50mm and a Super Tak 135mm f1:3.5 because of the quality of the images.
The sharpness, detail and contrast from f2 on is terrific and one sometimes forgets that f2 is quite fast anyway. Wide open it is a bit soft, but that is relative and not unpleasant.
The only thing in my bag better than this lens is the genuine Pentax M42 adaptor
I came across this lens completely by accident and bought it from its original owner, who acquired it brand new with his Spotmatic in Hong Kong back in 1969. This owner took meticulous care of his equipment, and everything appeared to be in brand new condition despite decades of use. He stopped using the camera over 15 years ago when the meter stopped functioning, so all his equipment had been in storage the whole time. I acquired the camera, 2 lenses and a 3x teleconverter, along with a bunch of other accessories for a low, low price.
The one I'm reviewing here is a Super Takumar, so it has no SMC. This lens is a gem, a true relic from a long-ago time. Barring the yellowed lens, it looked like it just came out of its packaging. A few hours under a black light cured it of most of its yellow tone. A day under bright sunshine removed the rest of the yellowing. Now it's crystal clear.
The focus ring is incredible. It's so smooth and responsive. There's no play in it at all, but it's just stiff enough that it won't turn unless you want it to. It has an excellent range, so finding the perfect focus is easy. My K-7 tends to confirm focus with this lens when I'm actually back-focused a bit, so I had to learn to ignore that and trust my eye more.
The aperture ring is also perfect, with positive clicks but gentle resistance. It's incredibly easy to set it exactly where I need it. It also has no play in it whatsoever. I can't believe how well they built these things 40+ years ago.
Learning to deal with the "Auto/Manual" switch for the aperture was a bit odd, but now I just leave it in Manual and do my metering based on the actual aperture opening.
At first I was disappointed with the pictures I got from this lens. The first shots I took were at F1.4, and they came out incredibly soft. Not necessarily blurry, but hazy. I suppose this "dream-like" quality might be appealing in some situations, but it's not what I was hoping for.
But stopping down the lens reveals a whole new dimension to its quality. By F2.8, this lens is so incredibly sharp, it blows away my brand new DA* 50-135mm. The colours are incredibly brilliant, everything looks breath-taking. I can honestly say that this lens has made me a better photographer.
Depth of field is very shallow, as expected. Portraits are great, but taking shots of larger subjects like cars requires a higher F-number to ensure that the whole thing is in focus. F4 works well most of the time, as long as I'm not too close.
Bokeh is super smooth. Even though there's only 6 aperture blades, they're slightly curved to help maintain a round opening.
My only real gripes so far are the softness at F1.4, and the 50mm focal length. Sure, 50mm was "normal" on a 35mm camera, but it makes for some noticeable magnification on an APS-C camera. I have to stand fairly far from my subjects to get them in frame, and I've been unable to take many pictures because of this limitation. It was especially frustrating at a car show. Whenever I stood far enough from my subject to get it in frame properly, a bunch of people would gather between me and the car (since there was so much room there). But this isn't the lens' fault, so I can't deduct any points for that.
Here are some shots I took with this lens shortly after I got it.
These were at the Montreal Auto Show, the day after I got the lens. It still had some yellowing left. This was my first time ever using this lens, and my first time dealing with manual focus. The F-number wasn't quite high enough to get the whole car in focus:
This was a couple days after I got the lens. These shots were in Burlington, VT. The yellowing is still somewhat present on the lens, but the white balance takes care of that:
And this is a prime example of what happens when you can't walk back far enough to get the whole subject in frame due to the 50mm focal length:
I can recommend the SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4: Yes |
Price (U.S. Dollars): $70.00
| Rating: 10
Pros:
dof, bokeh, sharpness, price, aperture
Cons:
none
I didn't realize how good of a lens I was buying until I used it. It has quickly become my favorite. I've been recently using it with a Raynox 150 for macro shots and couldn't be happier. The feel of the pictures this lens captures is awesome. Incomparable to my digital lenses. The white balance tends to be on the warm side, but it's of course easily compensated in the camera or in PP.
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