Super Multi Coated Macro Takumar 1:4/50

I just got prints back from using the above Screw Mount Macro lens as a standard lens on Don's Super Program body (with adapter of course).

I was on a tough hike and had to choose just one lens to lug. As there are to be a lot of tiny flowers etc., I decided that macro was most important.

Well, I got great shots of bugs and flowers as expected, but my scenic and people shots blew my mind! I was shooting in the f8-f11 range with 200ISO film, and the colour, contrast and SHARPNESS is nothing short of astounding.

I think I've just found my favorite all-rounder!

For those of us who haven't tried their Pentax Macros for outdoor, sun-lit work in place of their standard primes - I say go for it!

And so ends to-day's blather from Montreal.

Cheers!

I gave my DS a little workout over the weekend, using the 18-55mm kit lens, a Tamron 28-200mm and a Macro Takumar f4/100mm, ( not the SMC ), all the shots looked good, until I did some editing, could not believe how sharp the pictures from the Takumar screw lens were when I uploaded them to the computer screen. So, yes I agree with you, I must get this out of the bag more often.

Galoot,

Great to hear from you on this. You said:

"must get this out of the bag more often."

Heck, I'm thinkin' about leaving it on the camera! (And I have a TON of screw and K mount lenses!)

Although, I must admit a weakness for 28mm lenses in both Screw and K. (Might have to do with the incredible DOF, as my eyes sure ain't what they used to be when it comes to focusing.)

These Takumar macro lenses floor me when it comes to quality - maybe that's why they were so dear when they came out.

Got my screw-mount f4/100mm Macro Takumar second-hand in the mid 80's to go with an old Spotmatic that I also got second-hand, loved them both at the time. The f4/100 fell out of use as I went to the ME, MX and then the Z1. Tried a few Macro shots with it when I got the DS, found it a bit 'fiddley' to use, so it went back in the bag. As I mentioned, it got a bit of fresh air at the weekend, when I was taking some waterfall shots. Found it a little bit akward to stop-down after focusing, but the results were worth it. I think the more I use it the easier it will become. Some may say, 'sell it and get the latest', but I'm on a very limited budget, and if the quality is there I'll stick with it. Gotta eat, you know !!!

Does anyone know if Pentax is even producing new Macro prime lenses any more?

I know just about every long zoom has "Macro" capability, I have some, but to me it just isn't the same quality.

(Yay fer old stuff..)

SMC Pentax DA-F 50mm f2.8
SMC Pentax DA-F 100mm f2.8

Both are suitable for film and digital SLRs and have aperture settings on the lens.

Thanks as always for the input John!

I guess I've been thrown by these lenses not actually saying Macro in their names. I assumed they were just basic primes.

Do you find them to be as good as their ancestors?

Cheers

I've never used these two macros, but they should be just as good as any of the others. The focusing goes down to 1:1 which is a bonus.

In general, I have been very happy with the current lenses and they are in no way inferior to the best lenses of the past. Different, maybe, but very fine in their own right.

Being super-picky, and a bit of a pedant at heart , I'd like to point out that for a lens to be a true 'macro' lens, the magnification has to be at least 1:1. Macro means life-size, anything below 1:1 is not life-size.

So the lenses with 'Macro 1:4' are way short of the mark!

Dan

Dan,

If my Pentax Super Multi-Coated MACRO Takumar 50mm f4 prime lens isn't truely macro, can you give me an example of one that ls? - The 100mm like Galoots maybe? The 200mm?

Cheers

Ah, no, I wasn't saying 1:4 as in the aperture (f/4), but in a magnification ratio 1:4, so that images are a quarter of lifesize. If your Pentax 50mm macro lens says macro, then I have no doubt that it is capable of 1:1 magnification.

It's the 28-200mm zooms and the like that tend to say 'macro', then 1:4.

I wasn't casting aspersions

Dan

Bearing in mind the original subject title "Super Multi Coated Macro Takumar 1:4/50", perhaps I should have chosen my example mag ratio more carefully.

Daniel,

No harm, no foul. And I didn't feel you were casting aspersions at all.

I'm not very experienced with all this and can use all the input I can get.

I agree about zooms inacurately claiming macro capability while actually providing close focus - I have some, and feel like getting busy with some black paint.

Happy Snapping!

There is no hard and fast definition of the word "macro". Many people claim that the ratio has to be 1:1, but Pentax, amongst others, uses the term on many lenses that are only 2:1. This is typically true of the 50mm macros.

However, the new D FA 50mm macro does, I believe, offer 1:1.

Mac should of course have said 1:1.4, or f4, in order to avoid confusion. And JR's attention is drawn to the correct designation of D FA lenses.

Pedantry over!

G