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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-15-2010, 09:04 PM
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I thought I'd update a bit: I took my Tak Bayonet 2.5 out in the bright today, to see what I could get for color with the deeper hood. (It's an S&W one like the one on the right that Douglas showed us) Anyway, here's a shot. :)
I think I may have been a bit generous on exposure, mostly, but let's see how this one looks. I'm still kind of sun-dazzled. :)
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Forum: Lens Clubs
05-09-2010, 01:01 PM
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I really love mine. Most of the 'takumar bayonet' series are much more-deserving of the bad rap than this 2.5, it's pretty well made (Doesn't feel cheap at all, actually) and I think performs well... the coatings really are a bit of a throwback, (I think this is more noticeable in brighter sunlight than I usually shoot a lot in, ...even the colors are nice, I think. A little less predictable, but I wanted to try and see what retro looks I might be able to get.
With the crop factor, it makes quite a fun lens. 135mm was never really a fave on film cameras for me, but for digital it's like having, well, a fast 200 in your pocket.
I've newly got a longer metal hood on mine, as of last month, (The built-in doesn't do much, I think: I'd been using one I'd had around a while for a more moderate improvement: this new one is a good inch and a half long, plus there's a step ring behind it. (I step as much as I can to 55mm for my best filters, ) This seems safe even for full frame, but should really improve contrast out there.
I don't make a ton of photos with this lens, but I've often been pleased. Has a bit of 'character,' but nothing embarrassing. Treat it like a single-coated lens, at least, and you'll probably be surprised. I got mine to have fun with, and it's been that. :)
Edit: Oh, and Douglas I believe that effect with the macro ring might be what we call 'halation.' It actually does make nice for soft-focus portraits. :)
And, Javier, Sakar's not a bad name for these, either. In 135s, a lot of the off-brands actually did pretty well, even if their zooms may not have been up to snuff. The 135 seems a pretty easy lens for them to make pretty well, and they were popular when people still expected a certain level of quality. I'm drawing a blank on any other brand connections Sakar may have had. I can almost remember. :) A store I worked in a long time ago had this crazy-quilt of third party 135s and 28s in stock, Some were much better than others. (Notably, the early Korean efforts were often terrible: if everything went right in assembly, they could be OK, but if not, they'd apparently take hammers and grinding tools to the works to make it look like a lens. ) Otherwise, you can actually do pretty well, even if it says JC Penney on there. :)
(The company's still around, i think they bought the Vivitar flash name. I don't know about their lens business.)
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