[Dartmoor Dave]

I got lucky on ebay and found a SMC Tak 24mm 3.5 for only $66.

That's a steal of a deal for a truly magnificent lens. If I had to live with only one lens on APS-C for the rest of my life, it would be my s-m-c Takumar 24mm/3.5.

[Jean Poitiers]

I got lucky on ebay and found a SMC Tak 24mm 3.5 for only $66.

That's an excellent acquisition at even a better price ... enjoy, J

[Nikonshooter]

That's a steal of a deal for a truly magnificent lens. If I had to live with only one lens on APS-C for the rest of my life, it would be my s-m-c Takumar 24mm/3.5.

I believe luck came through because the seller was selling a Pentax ES II with the lens. I am sure that the owner had no ideal the actual worth of those items were. I don't know about the ES II but the smc 24mm Tak is going for $200+.

[Mr Bassie]

Went out last night to see the Tuareg band Imarhan Timbuktu. I decided to use my 55 1.4 and 28 3.5 and I think the pics turned out pretty well. I used hyper focal focusing for a lot of the pics.

The Tuareg people live in the Sahara desert, hence their native outfits.

[tromboads]

That looks like a cool gig! :P

[Cloapex]

Cherry Blossom.
SMC Takumar 50 1.4.

[Dartmoor Dave]

Went out last night to see the Tuareg band Imarhan Timbuktu. I decided to use my 55 1.4 and 28 3.5 and I think the pics turned out pretty well.

That's a beautiful set of photographs. The sense of movement in the shot of the couple dancing is joyful.

Here's one with the s-m-c Takumar 24mm on Ektar 100.

[baro-nite]

Here's one with the s-m-c Takumar 24mm on Ektar 100.

What an incredibly wild scene -- I am really looking forward to getting my SMCT 24/3.5 back from the shop (slow blades). Looks great on film (extreme corners look soft).

[Dartmoor Dave]

What an incredibly wild scene -- I am really looking forward to getting my SMCT 24/3.5 back from the shop (slow blades). Looks great on film (extreme corners look soft).

On my copy the corners are definitely soft on film down to about f/8, and that shot was wide open as far as I can remember. No such problems on APS-C though (of course).

[wkraus]

I acquired a nice copy of the 8-element Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 a while ago. My first shots looked very promising. Today I ran a short comparison test with the FA 50mm f/1.4 on a K-5 II and what can I say... the Super Tak wins hands down.
It has less field curvature (almost none), less lateral CA, much better corner and slightly better center sharpness at the apertures I tested (2 and 2.8). Part of its character is that it is very soft towards the edges wide open (soft in the sense of low contrast), an effect that largely disappears by f/2.8. But even in the extreme corners details are very sharp behind the soft effect. Hard to explain in words. If you are interested I can post a few samples (I'm asking because my previous efforts of that kind did not seem to get a lot of attention).
Further observations: overall contrast is lower with the Super Tak (to be expected), colour is more greenish and a tiny bit cooler. Here the FA is nicer and more in line with other recent Pentax lenses but this is easily corrected in PP. Front bokeh is smoother with the Super Tak, back bokeh is smoother with the FA (also helped by the fact that its real focal length is longer). LoCA is quite similar, with perhaps also a slight edge to the Super Tak.

[hmirchev]

So I have a SuperTak 50/1.4, 55/1.8, 200/3.5 and I was wondering if I'd need to buy a hood for situations where the sun is shining brightly since the Taks are not SMC?

[jatrax]

So I have a SuperTak 50/1.4, 55/1.8, 200/3.5 and I was wondering if I'd need to buy a hood for situations where the sun is shining brightly since the Taks are not SMC?

Short answer is yes. All older lenses in my experience benefit from a hood because the coatings (SMC or not) are not as good as modern ones. One thing to be aware of is that the length of the original hood was designed for film cameras. You can use a longer hood on APS-C. No need to get the original if you don't want to, one of the folding rubber ones works just fine.

[hmirchev]

Short answer is yes. All older lenses in my experience benefit from a hood because the coatings (SMC or not) are not as good as modern ones. One thing to be aware of is that the length of the original hood was designed for film cameras. You can use a longer hood on APS-C. No need to get the original if you don't want to, one of the folding rubber ones works just fine.

thanks for the quick reply looks like i'll get one but i'd prefer metal to plastic hoods

[jatrax]

thanks for the quick reply looks like i'll get one but i'd prefer metal to plastic hoods

Metal is good, and the originals are really cool and well made, but make sure you get a length that works properly with your camera. Not always easy as the original lengths are not always published.

[tromboads]

I acquired a nice copy of the 8-element Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 a while ago. My first shots looked very promising. Today I ran a short comparison test with the FA 50mm f/1.4 on a K-5 II and what can I say... the Super Tak wins hands down.
It has less field curvature (almost none), less lateral CA, much better corner and slightly better center sharpness at the apertures I tested (2 and 2.8). Part of its character is that it is very soft towards the edges wide open (soft in the sense of low contrast), an effect that largely disappears by f/2.8. But even in the extreme corners details are very sharp behind the soft effect. Hard to explain in words. If you are interested I can post a few samples (I'm asking because my previous efforts of that kind did not seem to get a lot of attention).
Further observations: overall contrast is lower with the Super Tak (to be expected), colour is more greenish and a tiny bit cooler. Here the FA is nicer and more in line with other recent Pentax lenses but this is easily corrected in PP. Front bokeh is smoother with the Super Tak, back bokeh is smoother with the FA (also helped by the fact that its real focal length is longer). LoCA is quite similar, with perhaps also a slight edge to the Super Tak.

Yep. One gets a feeling those Early Tak's were made with no expense spared.

Stop talking me in to looking for an 8 element you mongrel :P