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Takumar 300/4 manual - a big hunk of glass !
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:51 am    Post subject: Takumar 300/4 manual - a big hunk of glass ! Reply with quote
I bought this lens about two weeks ago.



It is I believe the immediate predecessor to the Super-Takumar and Super-Multi-Coated Takumar automatic versions of the 300/4, though surprisingly this one is NOT a preset - it is straight manual. From the style and details I'm guessing this thing dates to about 1965 or a little later. Its in overall excellent condition, except that its missing the rubber grip on the aperture ring.

The thing goes down to f/32, and why not, the diaphragm is huge. It is not terribly sharp at f/4, but thats par for the course.

Some test shots -

These at f/4 -





I think this was f/32, noontime sun shot into haze. I should have tried a polarizer.



And these I don't recall, f/8 and/or f/22. The flag was shot against the strong afternoon sun. Flare is pretty well controlled, in spite of this not being one of the SMC's.





And the bird, at f/4





PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
That is really big. How much does it weigh? Looks decently sharp though - the mandatory bird came out well. Good colour rendering as well. Enjoy and thanks for the show


patrickh


PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Why do these posts come out duplicated ? Weird.

To answer your question, the thing weighs something over 3lb, 1.5 kg.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I love the bird, he has such a serious face Very Happy I'm sure he's a senator there Very Happy


PostPosted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have this lens and find its quite sharp. Overall I like it although I do find it somewhat hard to use. First its a big piece of glass and quite weighty so it needs a tripod for really sharp results. Second its fully manual so on an SLR the focussing / stopping down can be a little problematic. And finally it has an enormously long "throw". It seems to take forever to wind from close to maximum focus. Good for static shots ....not so good for anything moving. I have posted some images here previously and I found that it can produce some strange Bokeh which can sometimes detract a little from its otherwise very sound performance. See this photo which has a weird kind of vertical bokeh that I have seen in other shots taken by this lens but never seen produced by other lenses. (PS I was not shooting thru a mesh screen although thats what it looks like.) It does not show up all the time however.

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