| Latest Review Posted | Takumar/Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 500mm F4.5
The main problem with the lens is what plagues a lot of lenses of this vintage, uncontrolled aberrations. The primary one is chromatic. Objects with light-dark interfaces (edges of things against a brighter background, etc) suffer from strong red fringing. Much like the old Pentax 300mm f/4.0 I tested. This of course is strongest when the lens is wide-open. This is the result of a fast lens speed coupled with the lack of high-grade ED (low dispersion) glass in the day when this lens was made.
Spherical aberration also manifests, but to a lesser degree. This degrades image sharpness wide open and stopped down one stop.
Unless lens speed is absolutely paramount, even the old 500mm f/8.0 "girl watcher" lenses that existed at the time are preferable from a sharpness standpoint.
http://www.pbase.com/andersonrm/image/136509515.jpg |
