| Author: | | Site Supporter Registered: September, 2013 Location: Cuenca Posts: 647 | | Review Date: January 28, 2024 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharp, great colors and contrast, small, light, very affordable | | Cons: | vignettes with some filters | |
I have two copies of the Takumar 35mm f3.5, a Super and an Auto. I don't shoot with the Super. There's nothing wrong with it. I just prefer the auto-Taks. Because of no or minimal lens coatings they have a lower inherent contrast which renders subtle tonal gradations wonderfully. I lost my first copy when some gear was stolen, and I immediately replaced it. At first, I thought the replacement copy was defective but then discovered that the lens focuses past infinity, i.e. at the infinity stop images are unsharp. When adjusting for that the photos are impressively sharp. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, some very recent examples:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101244128@N07/53476968278/in/datetaken-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101244128@N07/53481336456/in/datetaken-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101244128@N07/53482168787/in/datetaken-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/101244128@N07/53492990546/in/datetaken-public/
Remember this lens is sixty or more years old.
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: December, 2007 Location: In the most populated state... state of denial Posts: 1,854
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 17, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Built, optics | | Cons: | f/3.5 - only 5 blades | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Spotmatic, K5-II
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This lens flew under my radar for a long time, until I got a SMC when my father in law passed on his M42 stuff to me. (I put $50 as price as that seems to be the norm)
I was pleasantly surprised with this lens,
* I always preferred 28mm over 35mm focal, the field of view is less than 28mm but feels more natural
* Distorsion is well controlled
* Sharpness it has plenty
* Colors are vibrant
* Images feel different, I guess that's what you call 3D effect.
* Bokeh is neutral, and the 5 blade diaphragm doesn't help much
* CA is not bad in APS SLRs, very marginal wide open.
And of course it is a takumar, so it is built like a tank while being smooth
| | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2013 Posts: 7
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 8, 2022 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, 3D effect | | Cons: | Bokeh not the best | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K70, SP1000, Fuji X-T20
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This is an amazing lens.
I can only assume that not all copies are as good as mine, as the average review score isn't as good as I would expect. I can only speak for my experience with the SMC version.
The build feels just gorgeous. It's absolutely tiny. Sharpness is absolutely top class. Colours are rich and authentic. Pretty flare resistant. A little bit of fringing, but not too bad. The only significant drawback is a slightly coarse bokeh effect in some circumstances.
The real selling point for me is the 3D pop this lens produces. It's the reach into the picture effect I get from my Takumar lenses which is criminally absent from so many high priced over-corrected flat boring modern lenses. To be fair Pentax are often the exception here, but I think sometimes lens designers are fixating on getting that tiny bit of extra sharpness in the corners (which you rarely feel the benefit of in reality) and losing that lovely sense of depth. This one really is absolutely crackerjack in this regard.
Forget that fancy new lens with umpteen special elements. Save your money! Get one of these!
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2020 Posts: 1
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 24, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $125.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | 3d pop, stands up to digital sensors | | Cons: | vignetting | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 9
Camera Used: Canon 5D Mark IV
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Incredible little lens, f3.5 still produces decent bokeh and out of focus areas, gives a 3d pop with good nice slightly desaturated colors (maybe it's due to lower contrast, but I really love the look it gives). I disagree with what the other reviewer said how users are bumping up the sharpness and contrast in editing to give the lens more pop and hyping up the lens, jacking up the price. Prices are going up because the Super Takumars are truly beautiful well built lenses that produce a very interesting image. I think people are realizing the quality and unique rendering, with even digital film makers also using them on their projects, that's why the price of these lenses are going up.
I've shot indie movies with this super tak slapped on a Canon C300 and produced beautiful results.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2015 Posts: 11
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 31, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, little CA | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-S2
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I have the third version (no. 4 on the list above): min f/16, course ribs on aperture ring; distance scale window (product code: 43571).
This lens is super sharp wide open and has very little CA wide open. I have used several other manual Pentax and Takumar lenses and most of them are soft wide open, except this one! What’s the point of buying an f/1.4, f/1.7, f/2, f/2.8 lens if its soft wide open? No point at all. That is why this Super-Takumar 35mm f/3.5 is among the best manual lenses!
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2019 Location: Dubai Posts: 4
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 5, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build quality, lens flare, weight, sharpness, focus ring. | | Cons: | Might be too small for the sausage-fingered! | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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When it first arrives in the post you'll think 'there's just no way' - I mean it is tiny. I've used for photography but mainly I use this for video on a Sony A7R ii and it's just beautiful. The flare is great, it's very sharp and focusing is easy, with a very solid and smooth focus ring (the whole lens is solid metal). At this price it's just amazing. Brilliant piece of lens design, I love it and use it on my top $$$ video productions.
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2016 Posts: 201
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 19, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, color rendition, flare resistance | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: istD, K7, K1, A7rlll
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The 35/3.5 is a workhorse and a very fine lens for outdoor, studio, reprographic and a lot more uses. For me the color rendition and the sharpness is one of the best strength of this lens and if I need a wide angle in an unknown situation, I will put it in my bag.
If I need more details / resolution I will take a 50mm macro lens or the mirrorless camera with the Contax G-Biogon 28mm (with PCX-filter 1.5m).
I own the S and SMC version and both are perfect.
| | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2017 Location: Tbilisi Posts: 18
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 31, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Microcontrast - "real" feeling | | Cons: | Please look below | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-50
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(I have the Super Takumar version, maybe SMC would be even better)
I should tell how I use the lens, so that you will get me easier.
I have a Helios 44M, 3.5/28M, and this little guy. Trying to hunt portraits, I had 44M on the camera almost always, yet wanted to give this one a try for some "environmental" shots I may say - humans in their surroundings. I use it mainly at or close to infinity and at f/3.5, sometimes (although rarely) at 5.6 and once in a while at 8. I shoot B&W, generally around 400 ISO (yet, as it is winter now, I go up to 1600 normally, and to 4000 lately), on the street more than inside, and shoot at both ends of the scale (.45 meters to infinity), although more at the far end of it as I said above.
As you know how I use it, let us move on now.
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PROS
3D capability (so-called micro-contrast) of this lens is its biggest plus. It is not "razor sharp" as modern people want it to be. Yet this is its main plus: it is not razor sharp, but the lack of sharpness produces the feeling that you can touch the photos that it produces. I love how my subjects pop out of the screen, and how I actually can touch them.
It surely does not lack sharpness,no. It is as sharp as you normally need. But it is not a Takumar 1.4/50 (which has more sharpness with equal micro-contrast). So if you are a pixel-peeper, this lens will not give you what you want. Yet, I should add that you better drop this strange habit of pixel-peeping and look at the frame than a fraction of it to which no one else will look at. Come on, which Leica lens is God damn sharp? They have the 3D capability, and that is why we love them. So treat this lens with respect, it really deserves it.
I have almost no idea about the colors that it produces. Yes, I shoot raw and I see them in color for some 2-3 seconds, but not more.
It controls aberrations pretty well on a crop camera (k-50 in my case), yet I don't know how it would be on K-1 or 5D or such. Sometimes it needs very small adjustments here and there, but it is rather normal for me.
Bokeh is not the best thing with 3.5 aperture, but if you want to shoot something with its background rather than singling it totally out, I can say that I like its bokeh. It is neither too much nor too few, and at 3.5, it is just what it should be. You surely cannot shoot a portrait with it as good as you can with a 70-200 lens, but they are totally different from each other. It does as good as it should being a 35 (or rather 52) mm lens.
It is small and very light, so its handling is perfect. My hands are big for it sometimes, but I go for the lens being small rather than big. Ain't another reason for us loving Leicas their small size? Well, at least for me it is. Both aperture and focus rings are butter smooth, and I love it.
It does not give the perfect resolution, but if you shoot B&W and if you do not have problems with some noise, it catches up with K-50's sensor. I have some 4000 ISO shots now, and I sometimes look closer to see noise. Not that it has the perfect noise, especially in darker scenes the blacks are going mad at times (although rarely), but I have some color-shots at a church at 7PM and they are very promising for color-shooters too. In the end, noise control is more on the camera than the lens lately, and if you do not push your sensor much, the lens does not give you bad results at all.
Flare is well controlled in this lens, and I did not have any problems so far.
It has a feeling, separate from the micro-contrast, and I love to look at the world from the viewfinder. I do not know if it is because of its 52mm length, or if it is because I like the works of Henri Cartier Bresson, whom I adore and who shot almost always with a 50mm lens (albeit not an f/3.5 one). It is just the perfect angle for me.
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CONS
Haze. I almost always need to remove haze. I hate it. I play with everything, but there always is haze. I don't know why. Photoshop has dehaze option, and it is easier nowadays to get rid of it. Yet it is disturbing to visit that part of the menu first thing.
Five blades forces me to use it at 3.5 almost always, as I hate the stars. I don't like it even with 44M, which was my choice because of its 8 blades (while I still am looking for the 13-blades version), and you can guess how much I hate 5 blade's stupid stars. I do not mean the "sunrays", I mean the stars. You got me, right?
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RESULT
If you like micro-contrast over sharpness, if you do not want to mess with the image that it produces except adding some contrast (well, we shoot raw and we need to add contrast. no?), and if you are okay with using dehaze menu often, this is a go-to lens if you ask me. I do not have any problems with it, and it is the lens that I keep on my camera always. Okay, I do not have perfect lenses, yet I doubt that I'd give this one up - except if 2/35 produces as good images as this one does. In the end we all want to have "bigger eyes" which gives us more space.
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UPDATE
After using it more, I can say that this is the lens, and it would be THE lens if it was f/2, or something even better (maybe 1.4, as if we can focus at 1.4). The way that it gives the shadows is fantastic. There is something with this lens that reminds me of Leica M lenses - not razor sharpness but an amazing 3D feeling, wonderful shadows, and amazing transitions from black to white, from in-focus areas to out-of-focus areas, and from alpha to omega. I cannot find anything other than haze and the small f stop (while I should add that I started having haze on every photo, be it shot with this lens or not, so maybe my camera started working wrong).
Get it. Especially if you are shooting B&W. It will be the best 30-40 dollars/euros/pounds that you'll have spent.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2011 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,075
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 27, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $58.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | focus ring is so smooth, solid feel, very sharp images | | Cons: | none for me | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Asahi Pentax S1a
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Any possible anxiety focusing with just a micro prism (no additional split prism) was washed away immediately upon first focus. As others have mentioned, the image just “pops” when it comes into focus. With my test roll using my new/old Pentax S1a and this lens I did take extra time focusing before pressing the shutter, just to make sure a mm this way or a mm that way didn’t make a difference. (I really enjoyed the tactile motion of the focus ring!)
As it turned out every picture was in perfect focus, the colour was great (golden hour) and Sunny 16 or my hand held meter helped with exposure. (no meter no nothing in the viewfinder - no distraction)
I have the Super-Multi-Coated Takumar version and I am super pleased with it. It’s a perfect match for me on this grand old Pentax S1a. I will probably be looking for the 55mm version next as both the smc k versions of the 35 and 55 are my two favourite lenses for my LX/MX cameras.
I have to say that shooting this camera with just a micro prism and the 35mm is a dream and a pleasure to use. I had a smile on my face every time I brought it up to my eye!
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: March, 2015 Posts: 6,381
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 11, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $17.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small, sharp | | Cons: | Needs stop-down for metering as with all pre-SMC Taks | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 7
Camera Used: K-5
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The e-bay bid was low with not long to go, so I put in a minimum bid and went to bed hoping for the best. When I woke up, it was mine. It's a pretty good normal for those who like putting Takumars on their Pentax DSLRs, and its small size in relation to its 28mm and 50mm stablemates is impressive - in Takumar terms, it's almost in pancake territory.
Performance is what you make of it. Mine is only a Super Takumar, so it doesn't have the most modern coatings, but what really surprised me is what happened when I stuck a bellows unit between the DSLR and this lens...
 IMG11333 by PD's Deadly Lens, on Flickr
And even when I didn't...
 IMG11305 by PD's Deadly Lens, on Flickr
Just look at those single beard hairs.
When the lighting is just right, this old lens performs with the best. If you're into Takumars, don't feel like you necessarily have to wait for the late-model SMC version to appear - the Supers are capable of every bit as good a performance. The only reason I personally would recommend holding out for the SMC version is if you have a Spotmatic F or ES-series body that can make use of the full-open metering feature.
Addit: Here, complete with a range of in- and out-of-focus areas for your inspection, is what it can do on the K-1.
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: September, 2010 Location: MD Posts: 1,033
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 19, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp; beautiful color and contrast | | Cons: | only full stops; starts at f3.5 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-30
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Wow! I found one of the Super Taks rather cheap. Looked a bit dusty inside the lens but otherwise clean and figured it was worth a chance.
I already have the DA 35 f2.4 which is a fantastic lens and been a favorite of mine, but this lens does a superior job in terms of sharpness (including across the frame), color, and contrast. The pictures really have a pop to them. I am impressed. I did some direct comparison shots, and even just using focus confirmation and my attempts at manual focusing, the Super Tak got the better picture almost every time.
I shoot in Av mode with my Takumars, and the only drawback really is that I often need to open up to focus--especially in less than bright light--and then close down to shoot.
And of course the lens has that excellent Takumar build with a silky focus ring. Wonderful lens!
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: October, 2013 Location: Montevideo, Uruguay Posts: 16
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 14, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $130.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | sharpness, compactness | | Cons: | slow | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Canon EOS bodies
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I have been using this lens on Canon bodies...and boy..this lens is sharp or what. This an s-m-c version
 | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2015 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 16
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 29, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $72.49
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | contrast, color saturation, sharp | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-500
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On my old Chinon CS and Pentax ME Super, this was my wide angle. Now on the K-500, it is equivalent to 52.5mm focal length (normal on the old SLR film cameras). So this old Takumar is the new normal prime for DSLRs. It doesn't get a lot of use since the 18-55mm is so versatile and almost as sharp. And the autofocus is usually better than my eyeball manual focus. But given enough time, I can make it shine. I still make good use of the big depth of field and the red 8 on the aperture ring!
I bought it new in 1980, mail order from Olympic Camera. Since I am the sole owner of this lens and have been kind to it, it is just like new after 35+ years. I wonder what photography will be like in the year 2050. Just sayin'.
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2010 Location: The Black Hills Posts: 1,109
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 17, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $45.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great rendering, color | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I have been pleasantly surprised by this nice little lens. So much so that I quit using a SMC "K" 35 3.5 and sold it. I have owned a Pentax 40mm ltd and Voightlander 40mm and prefer this lens to both as well. It picks up so much detail and subtle contrast, and I like the color better than the Limited, which to me is quite an accomplishment for a lens of this age. Very little CA and fringing, even it very high contrast situation, something I could not say for the SMC "K" 35 3.5. What a good deal!
Examples
 | | | | | Junior Member Registered: September, 2012 Posts: 39
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 30, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Great Color and contrast. Sharp. No CA | | Cons: | A tad slow at its widest aperture f/3.5 | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 5
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K200D; K-01
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This lens is sharp, sharp, sharp. Out of all my lenses that I have (including two Pentax/Takumar 50mm 1.4) This lens is by far my favorite. It's such a beautiful, light- but robust, professional gem. This is my go to lens that sparks creativity and is a joy to use.
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