| Author: | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2006 Location: NJ USA Posts: 13,072
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 19, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | tiny size, very sharp | | Cons: | f/5.6 | |
This lens can be crazy sharp and contrasty. It is extremely tiny, takes 49mm filters, and I can imagine the design brief: it has to fit into an alpine pack and be light enough to carry mountain climbing.
The lens fits solidly into the Takumar philosophy: the cheaper lenses are smaller and slower, but the optical and construction quality is top notch.
This is a preset lens, which is again an advantage with dSLRs, using a M42 adapter. On screw mount film cameras, this arrangement is less convenient than an auto diaphragm lens.
In steadier hands than mine this would be a solid 9 within its design limits. With my shaky hands I'll rate it a high 8.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Tennessee Posts: 3
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 21, 2009 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
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I have one of these and have used it for over 20 years. ME Super, K1000, K200D; it's been a good, sturdy lens the entire time. I have beat up and abused my copy of the lens; but, hey, 20 years of use, and still going strong!
My lens was a gift, many years ago, so I have no idea how much they would cost. In utility, a great lens that's worth a $100, easy. Clearly, better built than a third party lens of a comparable price.
I would recommend this lens model; I think the 49mm diameter makes sense; in my opinion small format 35mm is "miniature", and this lens design is that. Really, for a small format camera, 35mm or DSLR, I don't know what would be gained by using a larger, fatter lens. 49mm diameter makes sense.
An interesting feature is the free floating aperture ring. You set one ring for minimum and maximum limits, with the usual click-stops. The other ring sets the aperture; it turns smoothly. This means that for the photographer who wants fractions of a stop, it'd be very easy to dial that in with this lens. Would be excellent for use with a camera setup for TtL metering, when the user wanted partial stops.
Super durable; overall, a good lens. Using these will make you wonder why your other small format lenses are so fat. I like it.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 514
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 15, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fabulous color | | Cons: | all manual | |
This lens has good sharpness, good contrast, no notable flaws. The construction is classic tiny tank Takumar with a WIIIIIDE & smooth focus ring.
The aperture is at the front of the lens to help cut down on flare, ghosting, & other undesirable effects. Clever feature that may contribute to the color rendition of the lens.
Did I mention the color? From the very first shot I was blown away by the rich, lush, but not over saturated colors I got from my sample. I like it better BY FAR over the Takumar 105mm 2.8. Really outstanding.
You can pick them up for cheap, but I don't expect that to last. If you think you'll ever have interest in old manual lenses, get yours now because prices will go up.
| | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2006 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 18
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 16, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp even wide open, 3d quality; light, convenient, less CA than my 200 SMC f4 | | Cons: | not as contrasty or intense as later, better coated lenses | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
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Just got this last week, an older version that just says "takumar" not "tele-takumar", and has a serial number in the 600 thousands. Noticed someone gave it a 9 yesterday and I agree.
I would say that on balance my (very well liked) 200 f4 SMC has better contrast and perhaps slightly better color, though more chromatice aberration. I have not tried this lens with a shade, which might equalize the contrast/color. This lens is quite sharp wide open, and much smaller, not just in diameter, but shorter, than the f4, which is a big plus for hiking etc. Not really light (400g) but noticeably lighter and better balanced on my K20 than the f4.
It seems to have good bokeh, perhaps helped by the ten aperture blades. Of course, it is a pre-set lens, but if you are using M42 lenses on a Pentax DSLR, you wil not find that much more, if any more, of an inconvenience than using the toggle switch on the later lenses.
Build quality and smoothness of focusing and stopping down even exceeds the super and smc takumars by a bit.
August 12, 2011. I am updating this review to say that the more I have used this lens the more I like it. It gives a classic look.
I have never had an image with bad bokeh taken with it and it is sharper than I had originally thought some of my earlier images were less sharp due to hand movement despite shake reduction.
I rate the handling as excellent but that is given that it is a pre-set lens which takes a little getting used to. I use this much more than my SMC Takumar f4 200mm because I like the look of the images better (and it is easier on my neck and shoulder).
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2008 Location: montreal Posts: 136 | | Review Date: March 26, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Built quality, IQ | | Cons: | no | |
Like all Takumar lenses this one is built like a tank !
What i love about that lens is that it's a Preset lens, i used it with extension tubes to take some frogs photos and it worked very well.
IQ is pretty good for such an old lens but it's not as good as my super takumar 105mm/2.8... so that's why a gave it an 8, but good enough for most applications.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2010 Posts: 2
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 19, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | cheap, smooth colours, solid biult | | Cons: | softness, if it is a problem, no MC | |
I bought this lens (the older version) a year ago, and I'm very satisfied with it. Because it is not a multicoated one, it has some different colours than the newer lenses, but I even like it, for me it is not a problem. I don't use it very often, but when I use it, every photo made with this lens has some special feelings. Sometimes I use it with extension tubes to shoot backlight images at the evenings about insects and plants, and it really works well. The bokeh is fantastic, owing to the 10 aperture blades.... And it is so beautiful piece of glass and metal, it feels great to hold it. I can recommend this lens to everyone who likes to take photos with old manual lenses!
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2009 Posts: 228 | | Review Date: June 11, 2011 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | light, nice colors, adecuate sharpness, built | | Cons: | F/5,6, no more | |
Very well built. Esay to focus. Pre-set. Smooth. Nioce colors and good contrast, with neutral look, Adecuate resolution power. Very well controled CA.
I found only one con, is a bit slow, but enough to some uses.
Buy it. Enjoy it. You will be happy.
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2012 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 7 | | Review Date: March 21, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $20.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, colour, bokeh, IQ | | Cons: | f5.6 is a little slow | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
Camera Used: K100D, K5
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This is my first Takumar lens, I found it in a Salvation Army store for AU$20 it was dirty at both ends and was without its hood. It looked to me as if it had fungus but I thought I would take it anyway and if nothing else use it as a base to see if I could take it apart and clean it myself. Turns out it was just thick dust! The lens cleaned up well and has a good amount of dust inside but I tested it and it still takes amazing photos!
I tested it first on my K100D as I have a split screen focussing screen on this and did not trust my manual focus skills initially but it works really well on my new K5 with the std focus screen. The focus ring is smooth and well weighted the aperture works well and once you have learnt the trick with manual focussing and metering on your DSLR the image quality is mind blowing for a 50 year old lens.
I will try an attach some photos taken hurriedly this morning. Wide open at f5.6.
   | | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2012 Posts: 4
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 30, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $42.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | nice sharp, tiny, beautiful bokeh | | Cons: | can't see any | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 9
Camera Used: Sony Nex5
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Really a very nice lens. I'm surprised. Just bought it on Ebay for a reasonable price. It is real solid as a lens should be, not a plastic tube as the lenses nowadays.
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Sussex, UK Posts: 1
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 8, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $65.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Cheap, Sharp, Small and solidly built. | | Cons: | f5.6 | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
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I have just used this len's today and thought I must write a short review. I use this lens mainly on my KR for bird shots. Being manual and with my less than perfect eyesight it is not so easy to focus (no worse than any other manual), so I usually set it up on a tripod, prefocused on a given perching place. Then I use a remote trigger and in the main get great results. Here are my last two efforts. These were shot at f8 and had some tweaks in software.
I love this little lens
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Warsaw Posts: 83 | | Review Date: January 26, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $70.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great color, smallest 200mm available (?), cheap, preselected aperture. | | Cons: | Considering it is a vintage ultra-compact tele lens - none | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K5
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Pocketable and light, full-frame 200mm tele usable from wide open, very sharp from f8.
Due to the high ISO usability of modern DSLDs dark f/5,6 max aperture is not that big problem
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: September, 2013 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,070
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 3, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $28.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Low cost, nice build quality, high image quality | | Cons: | Not a very fast aperture | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K30
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Like others have said, it doesn't matter too much that this lens isn't super bright because modern cameras handle higher iso much better, plus this really is an outdoor lens that would benefit from a tripod as any lens would if shooting in the dark. Having a brighter maximum aperture does however give you a brighter viewfinder to help you focus, which I noticed quite a difference when switching back and forth from my Pentax M 200mm f4. For this reason alone I think I prefer my M series lens, even if photos taken at the f4 aperture stop on that lens aren't too sharp. The reason I went for this Takumar was because of the 10 bladed aperture and creamy bokeh, which it delivers. The Takumar 200mm f5.6 is usable right from f5.6, and compares so closely to the M 200mm f4 in image quality that is is almost a wash. The Takumar does seem to handle purple fringing and chromatic aberration better though! My Takumar came from Japan in immaculate condition and came with caps, case, and hood, but did have slight fungus only on the outer front element that did not etch into the lens and I was able to remove just by rubbing with a microfiber cloth. The lens has great build quality, and a little bit of heft to it. It is about as long in length as other comparable 200mm vintage prime lenses, but surprisingly very narrow, such that when mounted the camera body's lens contacts will be exposed. I really paid almost nothing for this lens, and it performs so well for the price that I am realizing it really does deserve a 10 rating, even if it is a little slow to use being full manual and with the preset aperture rings. It has a little on the long side focus throw but does focus smoothly and to infinity without problems. If your tight on cash and willing to compromise a little on speed and ease of use then this lens will please you. Just don't expect it to be a low light professional sports lens and it will treat you well.  | | | | | Forum Member Registered: March, 2018 Posts: 92
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 13, 2019 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super Sharp, Inexpensive, Love the Preset. | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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I bought this lens for $16.50 USD.
This is so much fun to play with. I use it on a Pentax K-5. It is super sharp for a lens that is almost 60 years old. Great bokeh and the ease of use of the preset aperture control is something I really enjoy using. You can turn the preset ring to F22 then use the second ring to simply turn the aperture to where you want it. The second ring has no clicks so it is super smooth and you can make the smallest turns to get in between apertures much like a Helios 44-3 but this is much sharper and greater on the bokeh side.
If you ever want a super sharp 200mm this is one you should hunt down and never get rid of it.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2013 Location: Kent Posts: 159 | | Review Date: November 16, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | small aperture | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Canon 7D2
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This lens has incredible sharpness colour and contrast. Fringing is non-existant and handling is excellent. Definitely one worth having.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2020 Location: Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago Posts: 40
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 15, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | weigh, build, sharpness | | Cons: | F5.6 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1
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So, much like the 105mm f2.8 I've found this lens won't perform through a CPL. Aside from that and the sloooow F5.6 it's quite a nice lens to use. I own both this and the 3.5. There are days I just don't want to bring out the behemoth that is the 3.5 and the 5.6 does a great job with a bit less separation and something to be desired in the bokeh department due to this. I did some direct comparison between the 2 the other day and found the 3.5 to be nearly as sharp @ F3.5 as this is wide open @ F5.6.
I would 100% recommend this lens to anyone with a lighter camera to begin with. On APS-c or a mirrorless this would be a great option in the 200mm focal length due to its compact size and light weight. Then there's the build quality and the overall feel of the lens which is great like the rest of the Takumar lenses.
Here's my samples on Flickr.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lordawesome/albums/72157718240123651 | | |
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