Some of you may know that Zeiss, for a very short time, worked in cooperation with Asahi Optical Co. from Japan. One of the products of this cooperation is the design of the Pentax K mount. But the companies also worked together in optical lens design. The cooperation did not last long; Zeiss quickly went to Yashica and the result (the Contax RTS with the excellent series of Zeiss lenses) is history.
Now, I'm also sure that some of you know of famous Zeiss lens designer Erhard Glatzel's 28mm f/2 Distagon (also nicknamed "Hollywood"). In the early stage of their cooperation, Asahi used the design of the Distagon in its SMC Pentax 1:2/28. The lens was a 1:1 copy of the Distagon. So, the SMC Pentax 1:2/28 IS technically speaking a Distagon, with its floating element.
Dr. Erhard Glatzel
Now, why did I mention the "Poor man's Distagon"? Well, because tonight I bought the SMC Pentax 1:2/28 with its original case for 190 euros. It's only missing its front lens cap and it has a small nick on the front ring (absolutely nothing serious) but the rest of the lens is easily Excellent++. It's a great price becausse usually this lens is not seen for years. It's very rare... And I'm delighted to have saved it for future generations.
Some results (partly shot on the way back home):
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And finally...
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Last edited by Asahiflex; 05-12-2009 at 02:12 PM.