| Latest Review Posted | S-M-C/Super Macro-Takumar 50mm F4
According to the chart I must have lucked into one of the last production models a couple of years after it was discontinued, which might have discouraged me from buying it.
I'd been curious about macro photography and started with those clumsy extension tubes and sacrifice and exposure calculations (for slides) on an H3V, so went to close-up filter add-ons which solved the calculation problem, but then realized that, even though it would roughly duplicate my 55mm 1.8 lens, and was, on a newer Spotmatic, only manual, it would be worth acquiring. It was. Without the need for extra-fast lenses I essentially never used the 55 again.
The standard for resolution at the time was a Summicron, but it was impossible to see how any lens could be sharper, at all apertures, and with a perfectly flat field. I later used it extensively for slide copy work for other artists, as well as, with a bellow and slide copier, for enlarged details of slides and other experimental work.
An automatic ought to have been faster, but by presetting the aperture and with only a slight twist to get from 7ft to inf it was easily a more convenient lens for ordinary usage, if not, for me, as preferable as a much wider FOV. With this and the 17mm Fish-eye lens (and an excellent 135mm) it was clear that I'd chosen the best system for me. |
