[boriscleto]

Auto Takumar 55/1.8, K55/1.8, SMC Takumar 55/1.8, & Sears 55/1.4. Who can tell which is which? There is no PP, all are shot at ISO 400...

Wide Open













F2.8













F8

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Last edited by boriscleto; 03-02-2013 at 12:42 PM.

[axl]

I'll bite.
With the wide openseries:
1 - 55/1.4
2 -either K or SMC T
3 - auto T
4 - either K or SMC T

[Anvh]

There is certainly a difference between them all but i don't know the lenses so can't make a guess.

[tuco]

The warmer ones look like the SMC Tak is the best I can say.

[JonPB]

#3 has more coma than the others, and more corrected behind-focus spherical aberration, so I'll call that the Sears.

#1 has lower contrast, so I'll call that the Auto-Takumar.

The SMC Tak and SMC-K have the same optics, and indeed I can't tell the difference. I'll guess that #2 is SMC-K, and #4 is SMC Tak, but that's due to what's most likely a placebo effect in looking for difference in saturation.

[icywindow]

1. Auto Tak
2. SMC Tak
3. Sears
4. K

That's my guess. The auto Tak is less vibrant, and the Sears lens has a notably blue color cast. I remember the SMC Tak having a yellowish cast to it as well.

[stevebrot]

Interesting series. Too bad the tripod was moved in between lens changes.

Were you using the M42 Auto Sears 55/1.4*? If so, I have the same lens with Ricoh label. Based on my experience with that lens, I would have to place the Sears as the first in the grouping (it sucks wide open and lags my Pentax lenses overall). I also own the Pentax-K. I place it one of the two middle entries. That leaves the Auto-Tak at the end...placed there due to slightly lower contrast. I own that lens as well, though with Super-Tak labeling (yes, it has the reverse direction focus). This is tough since all three of the Pentax lenses share a common design and should differ only in their coatings.

My guess is:

• Sears 55/1.4
• SMC Tak 55/1.8
• Pentax-K 55/1.8
• Auto-Tak 55/1.8

It was tempting to cast the Sears as the "warm" entry. My copy has a distinct yellow cast to the glass, but no way does it perform as well as any of the warmer samples above


Steve

*Figured it out by looking through your photostream. Yep, same lens. That is a nice black Sears TLS too.

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Last edited by stevebrot; 03-02-2013 at 02:02 PM.

[Jean Poitiers]

I'll bite.
With the wide openseries:
1 - 55/1.4
2 -either K or SMC T
3 - auto T
4 - either K or SMC T

I will vote the same as above ... when do we get the results?! J

[boriscleto]

Icywindow win's the prize. #1 is the Auto Takumar 55/1.8 second version, #2 is the SMC Takumar 55/1.8, #3 is the Auto Sears 55/1.4, and #4 is the SMC K 55/1.8. I picked up the K to see why it is rated so much higher than the Tak, and why it costs so much more on eBay. The only difference I can see is that the Tak is somewhat warmer...

[stevebrot]

Wow...you got me. Your Sears apparently is much better than mine!

[ryan s]

Yeah, I had the Sears also pegged as #1 (wide open, especially). Looking at the pics after seeing the identities, the less-pronounced "bokeh balls" of the third wide open sample is definitely the Sears.

It was a great lens, just too large and heavy...

Also, we need more of these challenges!

[stevebrot]

...Also, we need more of these challenges!

Yep, they tend to dispel a few misconceptions we might have about various lenses and also allows for some consideration of sample variation. In this case there were just enough variations in setup (focus point for one) between the lenses that made it difficult to do a point-by-point comparison.

It may make me curious enough to run my Auto-Rikenon 55/1.4 (same as the Sears) against my first model reverse focus Super-Tak 55/1.8 and maybe throw the K 55/1.8 and/or last version Super-Tak 55/1.8 into the mix as well.


Steve

[Anvh]

The only difference I can see is that the Tak is somewhat warmer...

There is a slight contrast differnces as well but with colours like green and red you also quite easily see a slight shift in tint when looking side by side.

[icywindow]

Woo! Lucky guess. What's the prize?
I should pick up some more fifties, they're fun to shoot with.

[boriscleto]

Woo! Lucky guess. What's the prize?
I should pick up some more fifties, they're fun to shoot with.

An old sweat stained camera strap and a Skylight 1A filter?