| Latest Review Posted | SMC/Super-/Auto-Takumar 55mm F2
Solid 8, but a 10 given price.
Very sharp at everything past f/4, decent Bokeh. Colors are on par with the other Super Takumars I have, but it has a large front element that is prone to flaring and loosing contrast when the sun is anywhere in front of you. The hood from the ST 135mm f/3.5 fit on front, and did not vignette (barely). This fixed this issue.
Handling is the biggest issue for me. There is almost no resistance in the focus ring. It's like trying to focus a DA lens manually, and it won't stay put between shots. This isn't unique, either, I've heard a couple similar complaints.
Barrel distortion is an issue. The length is nice for people shots, but it tends to distort features which take time cleaning up in PP. Overall a really good bargain, but not quite as sharp as the SMC-M 50mm f/1.7.
For this price, my recommendation would be to avoid this and find a Helios 44M/Zeiss Biotar. I've had two-- both had sharpness in between the 55 f/2 and SMC-M 50 f/1.7 when at 2.8 to 4. Both had Bokeh that blew away any of these lenses. Colors were a bit cooler and more subdued, but that's easier to bump up in post than fixing the barel distortion of this lens.
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