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ALPA Mercure Lenses
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:21 am    Post subject: ALPA Mercure Lenses Reply with quote
I am especially interested in 24mm. Those are Takumar re-brand. But i found Makinon lens with this branding on Ebay. Fake or a real thing? I won't post a link. Hint: green coating.


PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Frankenlens made by Alpa (Pignons S.A., Switzerland) Takumar parts I think. Asahi didn't make f2.8 24mm M42 takumar, but Pentax made one K-mount SMC Takumar and one SMC Pentax-A.

Maybe stevemark has more info?


PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think he is talking about this one: (http://takumar.weebly.com/lenses.html)


worthpoint description


Looks like Alpa just bought a load of Takumars and adapted them.


PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
F2.8...this one Click here to see on Ebay


PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 11:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looks to be a (probably cheap) Japanese lens with an Alpa adapter over the original (unkown) mount. Notice the slot for the A/M switch is empty? I would not be interested in the least. Especially at that price! Cosina maybe?


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 10:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It is Makinon Smile.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well Bokeh isn't bad from this sample on Flickr:
Blütentraum by Bernd Krimmling, on Flickr


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 12:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
D1N0 wrote:
Well Bokeh isn't bad from this sample on Flickr:
Blütentraum by Bernd Krimmling, on Flickr


Looks great, but i doubt anyone will be buying ALPA camera to get into bokeh genre of photography Wink.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ebay description is M42 + Alpa adapter.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 4:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
my Mercure set (bought from the heitz shop in NewYork) has two takumars fitting the grey tinframebox designed for copying documents of A4 and folio formats. Pignons obviously had an arrangement with Asahi - possibly mediated by the ALOS company which marketed their phone cameras and equipped them with a modified 35/3,5 the conical distancepiece and the flash which like with the Mercure lenses and the 11a is needed for a complete set

p.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 6:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Gerjan von Oosten writes in "The Ultimate Asahi Pentax Screw Mount Guide 1952-1977", Uitgeverij Jansz, 1999, ISBN 90-76537-01-X:

Quote:
ALPA TAKUMAR LENSES

Although persistent rumors exist that Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR lenses were also manufactured with a special mount to be used on Alpa SLR cameras, the factory records show that this is not true.  In fact, the manufacturer of the Alpa cameras, Pignons S.A. of Switzerland, kept almost the complete range of SMC TAKUMAR lenses in stock and them to their customers with a special adapter to fit their own Alpa cameras.  These lenses are marked "MULTI-COATED AUTO-ALPA LENS". Their serial numbers are 6-digit.

reference:

ALPA 50 Jahre anders als Andere, Lothar Thewes, Lindemanns Verlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition, 1990, ISBN 0-935398-11-2.


And he writes in "The Definitive Asahi Pentax Collector's Guide 1952-1977", De Boekdrukker, Amsterdam, 2021, ISBN 978-90-9034415-7:

Quote:
ALPA TAKUMAR LENSES

Although persistent rumors exist that Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR lenses were also manufactured with a special mount to be used on Alpa SLR cameras, the factory records show that this is not true.  The manufacturer of the Alpa cameras, Pignons S.A. of Switzerland, sold MULTI-COATED ALPA MERCURE lenses that were in fact rebranded and restyled Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR lenses.  They also sold the complete range of Super-Multi-Coated TAKUMAR lenses with a special adapter to fit their own Alpa cameras.

reference:

ALPA 50 Jahre anders als Andere, Lothar Thewes, Lindemanns Verlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition, 1990, ISBN 3-928126-14-8


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 6:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Strange to use a wide angle lens for document reproduction since those have a lot of field curvature at close focussing distances. Probably a much smaller film format than 35mm was used so only the sharp center of the lens was used.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Absolutely, the takumar lenses had standard screwmounts, BUT the Alos leses for the 11a had a fixed filmplane distance and did not need a helix so they consisted om merely the optics in a black casing. Alos continued to iuse takuamrs even after Pignons ceaed tarding and fitted them to their modified CAnoin F1 bodies. If photos do not exist on the web, I can fish out some of mine and make some snaps.

p.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 9:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
A more popularly priced "Alpa" camera made in Japan by Chinon was introduced. It used M42 screw mount lenses, but it did not sell very well, partly because the premium Alpa lenses could not be used on it. (The Si2000 used the M42 Screw mount, the Si3000 used the Pentax K mount.) Neither model was popular and they are not considered true Alpas by collectors. Some feel the Japanese Alpa was a mistake that hurt the company.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpa

Also http://www.hans.bissem.de/meine-hobbies/fotografieren/history.html


PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
paulhofseth wrote:
Absolutely, the takumar lenses had standard screwmounts, BUT the Alos leses for the 11a had a fixed filmplane distance and did not need a helix so they consisted om merely the optics in a black casing. Alos continued to iuse takuamrs even after Pignons ceaed tarding and fitted them to their modified CAnoin F1 bodies. If photos do not exist on the web, I can fish out some of mine and make some snaps.

p.


Some photos exist on the Web however adding yours in a new Topic here at mflenses.com would certainly be appreciated!


PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
No point in forcing people who search for Mercure to seek twice, so I stay at this theme. No snaps of the Alos-modified takumar, however. (due to a break in 20 years ago I stuffed the Alpacolelction in a safe place, so it is not easy to find the exact item I am looking for. I did however locate an 11a in its flash enclosure and the box of the Mercure plus a separate 28mm takumar with Mercure labelling, brought the lot out on my garden stairs and took some snaps. Since the little Alos-modified lens is almost invisible within the flash box, I only enclose the 28mm snap- The lens has a normal helix & scales and has the usual square A/Mswitch blocking "pin" and the number on the switch is 43872. The 24mm which also came with the box has the same two distance markings as in the picture above, and the label on the Mercure frame clearly indicates that it is made for the 24mm-
#1


PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
paulhofseth wrote:
No point in forcing people who search for Mercure to seek twice, so I stay at this theme. No snaps of the Alos-modified takumar, however. (due to a break in 20 years ago I stuffed the Alpacolelction in a safe place, so it is not easy to find the exact item I am looking for. I did however locate an 11a in its flash enclosure and the box of the Mercure plus a separate 28mm takumar with Mercure labelling, brought the lot out on my garden stairs and took some snaps. Since the little Alos-modified lens is almost invisible within the flash box, I only enclose the 28mm snap- The lens has a normal helix & scales and has the usual square A/Mswitch blocking "pin" and the number on the switch is 43872. The 24mm which also came with the box has the same two distance markings as in the picture above, and the label on the Mercure frame clearly indicates that it is made for the 24mm-
...


Embarassed Of course. Apologies for my confusion!


PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
here is a snap of the the 11a-and the phone flash box
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
and the mercure box with the hole for fastening the 11a
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
the front side of the Alos phone camera (equvalent functon to the LEica Post) the alos takumar lens block can be glimpsed behind the middle window. The other windows are for the flash the solid cable goes to the chunky power unit
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 18, 2021 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
[looking through my photo archive i found snaps of the 24mm takumar on an 11a and Alos on an F1 As indicated above, Pignons did not make any optics (but bought in from reputable makers. I expect that Alos had some of their Takumar 35mm lensblocks left after Pignons folded and preferred to use them up on their new Canon phoneexchange bodies.
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