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Old Takumar 58/2.4 in 37mm Screwmount
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 2:31 pm    Post subject: Old Takumar 58/2.4 in 37mm Screwmount Reply with quote

A few weeks ago, I received an old Asahiflex camera equipped with a Takumar 58/2.4. The Asahiflex series were the first SLRs made by Asahi Optical Co. in the 1950s. These cameras had a 37mm screwmount, which has the same registration distance as the M42 later adopted for the Asahi Pentax, but with a much smaller diameter, even smaller than a 39mm Leica mount.

The 58/2.4 is a classic Heliar formula (a 5 element, 3 group lens), a tribute from Asahi Optical Co. to one of the great German lens designs. It is the first time a lens with Heliar formula was made for a 35mm camera. Not so many were made after this one either.

Here are some pictures taken with this lens on the old Asahiflex (Efke 25 film souped in D76):





These are from the same lens mounted on my Pentax K10d:





All the pictures were taken wide open. The old lens is rather soft but the bokeh seems great. That's not so surprising. After all, Heliar lenses were reputed for their qualities as portrait lenses. People say that the Emperor Shōwa Tennō of Japan liked so much the results provided by the Heliar lens that he wouldn't allow his picture to be taken with any other type of lens.

Cheers!

Abbazz


Last edited by Abbazz on Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:10 am; edited 2 times in total


PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 3:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Abbazz, this lens certainly has a distinctive "signature" - wonderful
photos! And the B&W you did your own developing, impressive! How
did you mount the lens to your Pentax?

Bill


PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What a lovely collection of pictures - and the OOF is sooo smooth. B+W certainly brings back a lot of memories - and no regrets for giving up the chemicals. Smile


patrickh


PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Katastrofo wrote:
Abbazz, this lens certainly has a distinctive "signature" - wonderful photos!

Thank you Bill. As you might have guessed, I am very fond of Heliar's signature.

Katastrofo wrote:
And the B&W you did your own developing, impressive!


Souping up BW films is not particularly difficult, nor does it require expensive gear or a dedicated darkroom. Scanning the negs and printing them digitally has made the use of B&W films easier than ever.

Katastrofo wrote:
How did you mount the lens to your Pentax?


The lens was not properly mounted due to the lack of adaptation ring. I have yet to order one -- there is some Polish guy in France that makes them. I just held the lens in front of my H10d, trying to position it in the middle of the larger K mount. Fortunately, the registration distance is the same, so the lens could sit flat on the body.

Cheers!

Abbazz


PostPosted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

patrickh wrote:
What a lovely collection of pictures - and the OOF is sooo smooth. B+W certainly brings back a lot of memories - and no regrets for giving up the chemicals. Smile


Thank you for the kind words.

As for the chemicals, I was missing the smell of the fixer, so I went back to film B&W processing Smile. More seriously, B&W film has a look that is difficult to obtain by digital means. Maybe some day there will be another Kodak DCS 760m Rolling Eyes In the meantime, shooting B&W film also allows me to use my beloved vintage film cameras. There's nothing like the smooth controls of an old Asahi Pentax SV (or an Asahiflex for that matter), the reassuring heft of a Ricoh Singlex TLS, or the industrial beauty of a Fujica G690.

Cheers!

Abbazz