[Josslen]

SMC Takumar 50/1.4


Super Takumar 35/2.0 (67mm)


Super Takumar 135/2.5

[PenPusher]

I seem to have chosen to live in pretty much the perfect fungus growing conditions. Dartmoor itself is every bit as cold, wet, foggy, and marshy as you'd imagine it to be (and I wouldn't want it any other way). Then, to make the mouldy stuff even happier, I live in a little stone cottage of indeterminate age with nothing in the way of damp-proofing. On any day that I haven't got the windows open, I'll have dehumidifiers running constantly, but even that isn't enough to keep lenses fungus free. I used to have terrible trouble, especially in the winter, that meant that every one of my Takumars needed stripping down once a year for de-fungusing. But now that I've got my digitally-controlled dry cabinet, the problem has gone away completely. Arguably the best photographic investment I've made in years.

I would not have thought Dartmoor was that damp, misty though, making it difficult to escape from Her Majesty's Guest House and, if I remember correctly, it was an area of heavy population and agriculture in stone age times before some previous climate change occurred.

I live on the Atlantic coast of Ireland, 25mins downhill walk to the sea we get first choice in all the storms coming off the Atlantic and the salt they carry in the air can be detected 25 miles or more inland. In my 1960's house I have never noticed any problem with fungus in any lens from any maker and take no precautions to prevent it. You never go out without some kind of coat as Atlantic squalls arrive very quickly, there is rarely any cover and the clouds seem to glue themselves to our mountains.

I will admit that I have recently upgraded my kit lens to an 18/55 WR as a standby for when it decides to rain all day which seems to be getting more common lately, I don't like to rely on the seal between a screw mount lens with adapter and the camera electronics in rain which can be heavy at times, we never seemed to worry about film cameras and lenses in the rain and I don't remember any muttering about fungus from those times.

You can't always rely on getting sufficient clothes drying time between showers so you frequently find clothes on racks in the utility room and cooking pots occasionally steaming but the extra humidity has not so far caused any lens problem and I've had cameras and lenses in this part of the country since 1966.

CD

Where the Blennerville Canal now used by the Technical College Rowing Club meets the sea.
Super Takumar 55mm F2

[Dartmoor Dave]

SMC Takumar 50/1.4 Super Takumar 35/2.0 (67mm) Super Takumar 135/2.5

Beautiful photographs as always, Josslen. Your work is an inspiration.

I would not have thought Dartmoor was that damp, misty though, making it difficult to escape from Her Majesty's Guest House and, if I remember correctly, it was an area of heavy population and agriculture in stone age times before some previous climate change occurred. I live on the Atlantic coast of Ireland, 25mins downhill walk to the sea we get first choice in all the storms coming off the Atlantic and the salt they carry in the air can be detected 25 miles or more inland. In my 1960's house I have never noticed any problem with fungus in any lens from any maker and take no precautions to prevent it.

You've reminded me that I've never actually taken any photos of that big hotel up in Princetown where all the guests seem so desperate to leave. I'll have to get up there on a suitably gloomy day and case the joint. Good to hear that you've managed to avoid fungal issues. I think a 1960s house with an actual damp-proof course must help.

The green of the grass in your photo is just amazing, and I think Ireland really is the only place in the world where I've ever seen it like that. I used to visit Dublin often on business when I worked for a company with its head office there, and I was happy to discover last year after a certain referendum that I'm actually entitled to Irish citizenship thanks to my lovely Grandma.

[Dan James]

A few with my Samsung GX-1S (Pentax *ist DS2 clone) plus Auto-Takumar 35/3.5, which is tiny, light, gives lovely colours and possibly a more "film" like look on digital than any other Takumar I have. And arguably some of the most real and tactile looking photographs I've made with any lens.

But somehow I haven't quite bonded with it in the way I have my my favourite Taks. Yet.

All photographs shot RAW and export to JPEG in LightRoom, no other processing.

[Nuno Almeida]

Duck tales

SMC 135 3.5 at 3.5, 1/200 iso200 taken with Panasonic GX80

[paulh]

doggies on the trail...SMC Tak 55/1.8 on *ist D:

[PenPusher]

........ I was happy to discover last year after a certain referendum that I'm actually entitled to Irish citizenship thanks to my lovely Grandma.

The passport office has taken on about 200 or so extra staff to deal with the numbers of people who have discovered their Irish roots and suddenly need an Irish passport, not sure if there is a time limit on applications. OK so it might get you in and out of the EU if necessary but I have no idea what else it entitles you to, if anything.

There are a lot of UK and American companies who seem to be hedging their bets and opening offices here in various places to keep one foot in the EU, I suspect mostly on the grounds that English is spoken which is surprising in a way as judging by the tourists who come here many continental people have a pretty good command of it as well and on the continent you wouldn't have a sea crossing and possibly a hard border as well to contend with.

Of course English isn't spoken everywhere here there are areas where Irish is the native tongue. I was in a little cafe back in Dingle a couple of years ago and was amused by some perplexed American tourists watching two elderly ladies having a discussion over tea and cakes, one was talking Irish and the other English without any pause in the conversation, obviously each was speaking the tongue they were more comfortable in but the understanding between them was perfect.

CD

[jbinpg]

K-1 + STak 55/1.8 @ f/4. Floribunda rose and a dahlia.

[Josslen]

SMC Takumar 50/1.4




Super Takumar 135/2.5


JosslenB aka Takuman | Flickr

[Clarkey]

Hard to follow up these - great pictures.
Good walk tonight with the 50mm SMC Macro Takumar; absolutely still. In-camera converted:

F8

Sunset, Still by Aaron, on Flickr

F5.6ish

Mixed Colour by Aaron, on Flickr

F5.6

Red Fall by Aaron, on Flickr

F4

[OftheManor]

I suppose most of us have a copy of this lens. I have accumulated quite a number of them sufficient to do a type study. Unfortunately, I don't use them often enough so they remain on shelves, in bags, and on desk top.

This particular copy I picked up yesterday at a thrift store. It was marked down because it was broken. Just needed the little pin on the rear surface to be depressed to switch to manual. All was good.

Ran around the backyard sampling with it just before the rain started today. Shot wide open. Still good colours, decent out of focus areas, and good isolation.

[Andrew_Oid]

Still playing with the 35 f2. "Balance and Imbalance". Shot at f5.6. Cropped and PP'd.
I swapped out my adapter for a focus-assist one that will activate the focus indicator light in the viewfinder when focus is achieved at f5.6 and larger apertures. I'm curious to see how accurate it is with this lens at f2.

[paulh]

Here's a couple from a rainy walk in the woods back in June. Super Takumar 105/2.8 on *ist D:


This little guy is known as a "spitfire" (thanks, OzzRod!) - do not touch! Found him crawling on a bridge railing (heavy crop):

[Andrew_Oid]

I tested the focus confirmation feature of the adapter at f2, and shallow as the DOF is at f2 it works. The photo was taken focusing on the nose bridge of the glasses and relying on the adapter. The shot was cropped, but was given no other processing. Focus confirmation should make this lens much easier to use wide-open.

[Andrew_Oid]

Time to change lenses, but first a few more shots. The first two are taken at f2, the others at f9. My take on the lens is that it's a worthy Takumar. Focusing can be tricky wide-open and close up because the zone of focus is very narrow. It has some chromatic fringing but hardly noticeable unless the image is magnified quite a bit. And it doesn't seem as sharp at infinity as my 50's and 55's and 58's. The 3.5's may be sharper and free of CA, but they're a stop and a half slower. Anyway, the pictures speak for the quality of the lens.