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A winter walk I: Asahi 58mm f/2 Takumar
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 2:48 pm    Post subject: A winter walk I: Asahi 58mm f/2 Takumar Reply with quote

A few shots with the already "famous" Asahi 58mm f/2 Takumar (Sonnar-type).

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It carries its reputation obviously not just from hearsay,
but great performance!! Thanks for proving that with
your great shots (as always)!


PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Unique photographs showing Dutch landscapes with so much snow (I am just experiencing that in Goes, nothing working here; even the railway system was out of order Laughing )

Cheers
Tobias


PostPosted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Once again very nice. My favs are 2, 3 and 7.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From these pics it can be seen that PENTAX hadn't ceased production of it after just one year because it lacks sharpness or optical quality. There were other reasons obviously. I haven't done any critical work with mine but it's also great with portraiture, nudes and stuff like that.


PostPosted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 2:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I will try to use the lens for portraits, something I haven't done yet. At least not seriously.

I'm still surprised why Mr. Suzuki opted for the Sonnar design for this lens. At that time the Double Gauss principle was already known. Maybe he wanted to do something unique? He was still alive in early 2000 (Nobuyuki Yoshida, the designer of the Asahiflex, was still alive too) but I'm not sure about today. Maybe I could try to ask Pentax again (I had several conversations with a PR person in Tokyo back then).

I still don't understand why the 83mm f/1.9 had to be changed to a version with two elements less (other than for cost-cutting purposes) because it's really a great lens. Maybe it was too sharp for a portrait lens?


PostPosted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Peter: The triplet groups always were expensive to made. The Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 costs a fortune back than (DM 475,- in 1954, a Tessar was DM 155,-). This was when a typical month's salary was 300 DM. I think cost was a main reason why Zeiss Oberkochen never started a 85/1.5 Sonnar - look at the Nikkor 85/1.5: it's a 100% Zeiss copy (a blown up 50/1.5 - don't you think Zeiss couldn't copy themselves?

The Ultron type (6/5) won against the Planar type (6/4) for the same reason: one cemented element less = less cost. And why not, at equal performance?

As for the Tak 83/1.9 vs 85/1.9: I think the older lens was the better one. All Ernostar designs until the 1970's are at their very limits at f/1.8-2.0, and the Pentax were no exceptions. That's why Zeiss just did it with f/2.8 for the Rolleiflex 35 and Zeiss/Yashica. I found the best Ernostars made by Komura. But they were specialized on them. The OM Zuiko 85/2 is also better, but is a design 15 years younger than the S-Tak 85/1.9.