| Author: | | Inactive Account Registered: September, 2008 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 92 | | Review Date: September 21, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | built quality, speed, color bokeh | | Cons: | under or over expose (see details below) | |
I got the S-M-C version, including the original hood caps leather carrel, for around 250 USD.
The built quality is good, as always for Takumars. The color and bokeh are satisfactory (you may want to avoid the high contrast in the background).
The only thing I don't like is it under-exposes too much above f/4 and starts to over-expose below f/5.6 (this is less concerned since I never shoot below f/5.6 because of the split focus screen). I guess this problem goes for many other M42 lenses when you use AV mode, i.e. measures light with the set aperture, but it is not nice that sometime I even have to compensate for +2EV. However, I am not sure if this is common for all copies.
| | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: February, 2009 Location: Cork Posts: 1,882
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 25, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $175.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Tactile feel, Colours, gentle bokeh. | | Cons: | Its heavy and bulky compared to the FA77 Limited | |
My first Super Takumar. The build quality is extremely high and mounted on a K20D it balances very well. Its a solid piece of metal and glass that is from another age. Colours, sharpness and bokeh are what this lens is all about, its a bit softer that the f1.8 version but the colours rendered are warmer which I personally prefer and also the extra bit of softness helps with portraits especially, stopped down to f4 or f5.6 and its as sharp as they come.
Focussing is a delight given that you have 330 degrees to play with which allows you to nail focus quite easily.
On the K20D with a Katzeye with Optibrite I find I generally use +0.3 or 0.7EV when metered using the green button.
So why a 8? prices are going up, and compared to a more modern FA77 at 10, this is where it is at in my opinion.
Rufus, K20D, Super Takumar 85 f1.9 @ f1.9
 | | | | | Administrator Registered: September, 2006 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark Posts: 4,409 | | Review Date: January 31, 2010 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Color rendition and bokeh | | Cons: | None | |
I have the Super-Multi-Coated version. This is a wonderful lens with a pleasing bokeh and 3D effect and it focuses reasonably close as illustrated here:
(Non working link removed)
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 17,892
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 2, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | compact for speed | | Cons: | slow to focus | |
This is sthe super takumar version
the lens is everything I had expected.
sharpness is excellent even wide open.
Bokeh is interesting, OOF (but close to focus) subjects can have a halo of the background color,
focusing is very precise, but slow, with 330 degree focus throw. This is a lens meant to be used with a little time and thought
Metering on my K10D (with split finder in CW mode) is about one stop under exposed, but this is fixed with exposure compensation in Av Mode and metering can be reliable and trusted,
Close focusing is better than my Vivitar 85mm F1.4
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2009 Location: San Diego, CA, USA Posts: 409 | | Review Date: September 10, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Quite fast for it's focal length, build quality is outstanding, hefty/quality feel in hand | | Cons: | Bokeh can tend towards being just slightly busy/edgy/nervous, not incredibly fast max aperture. | |
My girlfriend bought this lens for $200 with another $25 getting her a Super Tak 50mm f/1.4, Auto Tak 135mm f/3.5, Spotmatic body, Vivitar M42 extension tube set and cases and caps for all, all VG to excellent shape.
It's got a great "glow" to it wide-open, if you shoot in the right circumstances, but it can also be quite sharp and defined at the same aperture if you watch the light. Bokeh at minimum focus distance can be just slightly edgy or nervous if you have a lot of lines in the background, but it's also easy to set up shots where you'll have nothing but colored blur behind your subject.
It feels great in hand, especially compared to a 50mm f/1.4 or the other smaller lenses in the Super Tak line-up. It's quite a large hunk of glass, but it's incredibly smooth to focus and it just works like it's supposed to.
IQ stopped down is great, good flare resistance and color saturation, but the wider apertures are why you would buy this lens and it's fantastic there.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 2,891 | | Review Date: May 22, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build quality, colour/contrast rendition, sharp, image quality | | Cons: | None so far | |
All I can say is wow ... this is a very nice lens indeed ... it is stunning.
So far with the images I have taken, the colours are beautiful and the bokeh is very creamy indeed. It is really sharp when stopped down ... but produces nice DOF when wide (and is still sharp within the focal area at f/1.9)
I cannot fault this lens yet ... it's construction is solid ... aperture ring clicks through all settings precisely ... and the focus ring is smooth and well dampen. It is a pleasure to use.
Highly recommended. I won't get rid of it .. EVER.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2007 Location: Ontario Posts: 631 | | Review Date: April 13, 2007 | Recommended | Price: $275.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharpness, bright, bokeh, build, colours,price | | Cons: | not much | |
This is one great lens. It's acceptable at f1.9 or f2 and by f3.5 is very sharp. Past f5.6 it has to out-resolve the sensor...it's blistering.
Bokeh is wonderful, images have great depth. Contrast and colours are great, and build is second to none. It reminds me of the legendary 100/2 Minolta AF lens I used in the past, but a little softer wide open.
It's hard to find fault with it really. It's versatile, and does everything VERY well.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: West Chester, PA Posts: 1,420
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 8, 2007 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Feel, smooth bokeh, low chromatic aberration/purple fringing | | Cons: | Subtle bright-rings on specular highlights and slight bokeh CA | |
This is one of my favorite lenses, and quite good in its performance. One can't begin to talk about any of these old Takumars without saying how well-built they are, and how much nicer tactile feel they have compared to their plastic descendents. It is bigger and heavier than the 77 Limited, with 58mm threads.
It exhibits less chromatic aberration/purple fringing than the highly-regarded 77 Limited. The bokeh is smooth and it is sharp enough for me at all apertures.
Like so many other Pentax lenses, the flat (not rounded) aperture blades sometimes produce distracting hexagons, but overall the bokeh is smooth and pleasant. It also exhibits subtle bright rings around specular highlights in the bokeh - but I suspect that later versions of this lens are better than my Super-Takumar in this regard.
It might not be as sharp wide open as (for example) the 77 Limited, but it is certainly sharp enough and much sharper than my Jupiter-9 85mm lens at f/2!
My examples are here: Super-Takumar 85/1.9 Gallery | | |
;)
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