Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 35mm f/2
Manual Focus Standard Lens. Mint-. Tested. See Test Images.
This is a
near pristine example of one of Pentax's high quality lenses from the 1960's
when Pentax didn't make anything except high quality pro lenses. They don't
come much better than this from the 1960’s. This one is the Model 2 variant
produced somewhere between 1967 and 1971. It has 8 elements in 7 groups. We can
tell this by the position of the infrared focus bar to the left of the f/4
marking. This model was produced between 1965 and 1971. It's small, fast,
lightweight and quick focussing. The Bokeh is excellent. See test results. This
one, number 4491167, was probably made towards the end of the production run in
the mid to late 1960's.
This lens
has a thorium glass element that yellows when left in a dark environment.
Exposure to bright sunlight clears the yellowing. There hasn't been a lot of
sunlight about recently, so the test images were shot in the yellowed state. I
think that this tends to give a very slight colour cast. Have a look at the
test images and see if you agree. I have had it in the sunlight this morning
and the yellowness has gone to a very appreciable degree after just an hour of
exposure. Thorium glass is very slightly radioactive, but it's negligible.
There is a good deal of nonsense talked about the dangers of these lenses, but
here is an explanation from Camerapedia. Makes absolute sense as any 'properly'
radioactive lens would fog film! Fine as long as you don't intend to eat it!
"Typical
radiation levels can approach 10 mR/hr (100 μSv/h) as measured at the lens
element's surface, decreasing substantially with distance; at a distance of 3
ft. (.9 m.) the radiation level is difficult to detect over typical background
levels. For reference, a typical chest x-ray consists of about about 10 mR, a
round-trip cross country airline flight exposes a passenger to 5 mR, and a full
set of dental x-rays exposes the patient to 10 mR to 40mR. A study carried out
by the Physics department of Sweden's Royal Institute of Technology estimates
that total exposure to a professional photographer using a typical thoriated
lens would amount to only 0.2% yearly allowable exposure to the eye and 0.17%
to the whole body under the conservative standards of the Swedish Radiation
Protection Authority".
Key features
See Hi-res
images taken with this lens on Youtube:
It has
stunning optical and mechanical performance (see the images attached and at the
Dropbox link further down) in a compact package, weighing around 230g. This
50mm is extremely well made, having far better optical and mechanical
properties than more modern lenses.
Lens
compatibility
Use on
Digital Cameras
I used a
K&F concept adapter to mount this lens on my Sony A7RII test camera. There
are many other mounts available to facilitate mounting onto most digital
cameras.
Use on Film
Cameras
The lens is
ideal for legacy Pentax film cameras.
Overall Lens
Condition: Mint-
Mechanical /
Cosmetic: Mint-
The lens is
in near pristine and mechanical and cosmetic condition. It is unmarked bar the
tiniest hint of paint loss from one or two of the raised edges of the solid
aluminium control rings. The focus ring action is superb: buttery smooth with
no play at all in the action. It feels like new. The painted lettering is
bright and completely intact. The aperture ring is free moving, and 'clicky'.
The iris blades are nice and snappy. The iris is in perfect condition and free
of oil. The M42 screw mount is also in excellent condition.
Optical:
Mint-
There is a
tiny amount of dust in the lens, but the optics of this lens are otherwise
flawless as evidenced by the test images. There is just the slight yellowing of
the thorium element. There is no fungus, haze, mould or Balsam separation. The
front and rear elements are pristine. This lens produces punchy, colourful and
contrasty images straight out of the camera.
Image
quality
Image
quality is superb. I shot the images on a Sony A7R 42.4MP Mirrorless camera.
The 100% crop (when viewed on your PC screen at about 10" across would be
equivalent to a full-size print of about 8 feet by 5 feet.
The Ebay
Upload Images
The test
images were shot in Birmingham, UK on 6th December 2022. The first image is of
the Southbound tunnel entrance to the Queensway Underpass. It was shot wide
open at f/2. The next two images are
100% centre and edge crops of the first image. It's dead sharp with some
Spherical Aberration and Veiling that reduces contrast a bit. The next two images
are 100% centre and edge crops of the same scene but this time shot at f/8. They
are superb. This lens is great edge to edge from f/5.6 on. The next image of
the location sign and the fence were also shot at f/2. I've cropped the sign at
100% and it's excellent. The bokeh and DOF on the fence is impressive. The next
image of the plant shows the lovely Bokeh and DOF that this lens renders, even
at f/4. I've cropped the leaves at 100%. The final image of the Sisk builders
screen was shot wide open in bright sunlight. The lack of aberrations is impressive.
The Youtube
Images
On Youtube,
I have uploaded a series of images of the tunnel entrance from f/1.4 all the
way through to f/16. Aberrations are very well controlled.
Any CA is
gone by f/2.8, and it's perfect by f/5.6. It's dead sharp all the way up to and
including f/16. I've taken some centre and edge crops. It's great across the
frame. This is a very good lens. I've also published an f/2 sequence as well
and some more shots with 100% crops.
What's in
the box?
Lens, front
and rear lens caps.