At the moment I can’t test the lenses very much since I have a work deadline today and a bad caugh that wants me to stay inside :( But I wanted to show you the beauty 135mm:

• My Camera and Lens-testing Collection on Flickr
• Preset Asahi-lens and flowers
• Early spring flower with preset Takumar lens
• Drawings and paintings
• Checklist before you buy used cameras and lenses on ebay

• My photography wishlist
• A day with Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8
• Stuck on flowers
• Wooden racecardriver-image with Tele-Tokina
• Review of Tele-Tokina 105mm/2.8 preset T2

This image of grass, I wanted to relay the sence off standing in a field with waving straws, the freedom. One might even start thinking about what happened to the straws not standing up any more: Crop field circle by aliens? Animals having a feast? Winds?

But the image is very simple. I have tried to cut out what I wanted to show and no distractions. That’s why I sometimes have a hard time with photographers who want the biggest effect out of everything, to use the most extreme angle or perspective or color just because they can not because the image needs it. It’s also why I have a hard time with photographers only concerned by technical qualities – they bore me to death. But that’s just me.

This field was made with the 60′s M42-lens aus Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 zebra on Canon EOS 350D.

• Black-throated diver
• A bug eating upside down
• What makes a good lens?
• Review of Pentacon Auto 29mm / 2.8 m42
• Review of Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 M42-lens

• Easter sunrise with Yashica ML 35mm/2.8
• Becoming a blueberry
• Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 on Pentax Spotmatic – beautiful old camera
• Some summer closeups from a field
• Good read about M42-lenses

This turned out to be easy…

1. Unscrew the ring where the lensname is printed. That’s just a ring screwed down in the filterthreads. Take a round object with smaller diameter then the 49mm filterthreads, cover it with a rubberglove or something that’s soft but has friction. Press down and unscrew the name-ring.
2. The front hull of the lens is atteched with three small screws. Tighten the small screws you see down between the hull and the lenses glass.
3. Reattach the name-ring. Done!

Here some pictures I took while doing this:

• Miracles from the fleemarket – Pentacon tulip
• Roses after repair of Helios 44-3
• Review of Asahi Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, angleview

The purchase
As usual with these old manual lenses it wasn’t that much hat I payed, £8.50 + shipping £9.00. Later on I also got a hood from ebay, it need an original hood – makes a lot of difference. The hood was £7.95 + shipping £3. So if you buy a lens like this, get a hood too. Since I bought from a good seller in UK, there was no problem with shipping or the purchase. Avarage price on Pentaxforums.com is set to $38.

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, mount

The lens
The Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 is a M42-lens, short telephoto prime. The production year I can find at the moment is 1966, but I guess it was made for several years. Construction is of metal and it feels very well built, like most of the Asahi-lenses from the 60′s.

I love the shape and the long focusring with a great grip. It has a switch for Auto/Manual and a small aperturepin – guessing that is for the Pentaxcameras. I haven’t tried it on my Spotmatic-camera, just on DSLR. The Auto/Manual-switch can be used to stopp the lens down/open it while focusing.

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, front

Results
My copy is sharp and has good very soft bokeh. Reading the opinions of others on the internet makes me think that there are quality difference in copies. Could also be an error behind the camera though, you never know for sure reading articles or posts on forums if it’s just a crap photographer ;) But as I said, I like the bokeh and sharpness. If you get the right depth of field this can be magic.

Super Takumar 135mm/3.5, side

It is very easy to focus with, smooth and easy to see – which is great for a manual lens with f 3.5, slow manual lenses can often be hard to focus in a small viewfinder like my EOS 350D. The chromatic aberration is not that bad. It can be very sharp – wideopen it’s ok but stopped down even better.

I have this 135mm and a (Carl Zeiss) aus Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 in the Zebra version and have a hard time choosing. The Super-Takumar weighs a whole lot less comparing to the aus Jena, and is more tender built. I guess it’s mood of the day that decides which to go with. No doubt the buildquality in the Takumar is superior. I find it amazing how a 60′s lens can be in such good shape as ALL the Super-Takumar 135mm I’ve seen. The Pentax-people take care of their gear.

Images

Wood Cranesbill (Geranium sylvaticum)

Bohemian waxwings

Bohemian waxwing, 100% crop

Portrait

Midsommarblomster

Ice

Autumn road

Pros

• Easy to focus
• Sharp
• Good bokeh
• Nice colours
• Good construction
• Cheap (well… depends of your luck of course)
• Easy to find

Cons

• Definately needs a hood, preferably original of course!
• Contrast can be a bit lower then other Takumars in some circumstances, but that can be good thing.

Reading

Reviews on Pentax-forums
Review on MFlenses
PBase
Jens Jacob at Flickr

• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Pentacon Electric 135mm f2.8 M42
• Review of Asahi Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8
• Review of Pentax Super Takumar 35mm/3.5
• Review of Yashica ML 50mm/2

Pidgins on rooftop

• Greenfilter + Photoshop = Graphical
• Portraits with Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5
• My wife on colourfilm, scanned and converted to black and white. Daydreaming?
• Portrait of Sara with Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Old brochure from Luzern in the 60′s

Parkinglot shot with Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5

House shot with Auto-Takumar 85mm/1.8

• Good read about M42-lenses
• A photowalk on 1 november
• Upcoming lensreview
• Review of Asahi Auto Takumar 85mm/1.8
• First days with Super-Takumar 85mm/1.9

100% Crop

100% crop, Bohemian waxwing with bokeh

50% crop

50% crop, Bohemian waxwing sharp

50% crop

50% crop, Bohemian waxwing

• Portrait of Sara with Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Upcoming lensreview
• Good read about M42-lenses
• Thunder awaits us
• Super-Takumar Sunflower as Stockphoto

Pentacon Electric 135mm/2.8

My purchase
I bought the lens on Tradera (swedish ebay) for SEK 57 (about £5) + shipping, without seeing much of it in the images of the ad. I was lucky, it is in good optical condition and only fault is that it is sometimes a little stuck at the aperture. Good ones is seen on ebay almost every day, so it’s a quite common lens.

The lens
Pentacon Electric 135mm/2.8 manufactured in a factory in Dresden, which was the former Carl Zeiss. A slim lens that are well built. It has a M42 screwmount that makes it easy to fit the EOS with an adapter. I guess you could find these on a Praktica-camera. The Electric version has zebra-type finish (like some Meyer and Zeiss also have). Early versions have close relation the Meyer equilant and more aperture-blades.

Pentacon Electric 135mm/f2.8 from the side

The resistance in the rings is ok in spite of a certain age. Sometimes apertureblades get stuck, but it is easily fixed through a little twist. The focus is very long to turn – this lens is not for fast focusing ;)

Thanks to the aperture ring sits closest to the camera, it is a bit difficult to see the scale because of the Canon EOS built-in flash, which shoots out over the aperture ring. There are of course only a compatibility problem, the lens and the camera was not made to fit together.

Testing
I’ve used this a lot from march to beginning of June 2008. It is supposed to be a great lens for portraits, but I’ve also used with success on landscapes. The best landscapes I’ve taken with this lens was in gray/blue days.

Pentacon 135-lens with case

It is a sharp lens with good colour reproduction. According to information on the Internet, it has very good bokeh, I even saw the words “monster of bokeh” being used. It does have really good bokeh, but earlier versions of this lens is supposed to be even better.

135mm on my digital EOS-sensor with crop the focal length is 216mm, that is closer to tele (but not enough for tele, closeup birdphoto and the like, in my humble opinion… on the other hand I shot swallows with 50mm lens the other day).

I like this lens, but I like the Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm better, with it’s fast focus and clear image. The Pentacons built in hood seems a bit fragile.

Images

Lake with fog

Swan

Sculpture of boy

Clouds over Garphyttan

Pros and cons
+ Sharp
+ Good colors
+ Good bokeh
+ Built-in lens hood (good against backlight of course)

- Long focus
- Sticky aperture on my copy (though I can live with that)
- As in many lenses EOS-flash sticks out over the aperture ring scale, making it difficult to adjust.
- Built-in lens hood (fragile feeling and awkward with filters)

Further reading

• Discussion at manualfocus.org
• Review at mflenses.com
• 135mm lens war
• Review at Fotosidan.se (swedish)
  
• Digital World Review
• A flickr-set

• Review of Asahi Super-Takumar 135mm/3.5 M42-lens
• Review of MC Helios 44-3 58mm/f2
• Review of Yashica MC Zoom 35-70mm/3.5-4.5
• Review of Asahi S-M-C Takumar 55mm/1.8
• Review of Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm/3.5 Zebra