Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 35mm f2 Super Sharp Manual Focus lens Mint-

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

• Optically and mechanically excellent
• Brilliant Depth Of Field
• Excellent edge sharpness at all apertures
• Fast f/2 aperture full frame wide angle lens.
• Compact and lightweight. 58mm x 54mm. About 242g.
• Brilliant for low light photography.
• Very sharp at all apertures and wide open
• Takes 49mm filters

See Hi-res images taken with this lens on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/9kDZqize7-U

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

https://youtu.be/9kDZqize7-U

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.