SuperTakumar105 vs SMC105... which one goes ?

Hi Guys
Almost painful to type the subject line
Like, why sell either for goodness sake...
The answer being K-5 or even K-3 at the rate I am raising funds

Can I present my pros and cons and invite any kind response

The Takumar is sweet in Av as I focus wide open and flick it down to shoot.
Seems fine with the adapter with spring off
No shake reduction recognition without silver paper

The M lens is fatter and the SR works.
No Av accept wide open... green button thing really interrupts me as I don't trust the exposure without checking...
I like the gun metal thing the Tak has goin on...
do we see a trend here ?

Thanks for listening
may have reached a conclusion
now about that wee spot of fungoid in the back of the tak...

Pete

I'd sell the Super Takumar if I had to get rid of one.

I find the M42 adapters too fiddly and also my K-m's light meter doesn't like them - with all K lenses I get accurate stop-down metering down to f11 or so, with M42 lenses it underexposes regardless of camera settings.

When it comes to selling you will probably get more for the K lens as they are rarer. I seldom see many K lenses at all, and even then the 28, 50, 55 and 135mm seem to be the most common. Evidently those who have them don't want to let go (and I can understand why, as the owner of a 28/3.5, 55/1.8 and 120/2.8 along with 28-50 and 85-210/4.5 zooms)!

+1 for selling the Super Takumar (much as I'd like to buy a K105!), assuming that both are in good shape.

The SMC coating on the K105 is better than that on the Super Tak, which will give you better contrast. This, plus more reliable metering and better resale value (should you ever want/need to), would clinch it for me.

If it's any help, after weighing up the pros and cons of using them, as you've done, I'd then do something along the lines of the following to decide which one to keep:

- Look through photos taken with them and see which one I preferred
- See how both fit in to my lens kit (to work out whether either one gives me anything I couldn't achieve with other lenses)
- Look at the condition of both and keep the one in best condition.

I'm a big fan of the SMC-K lenses, as they are in many cases the most advanced development of the highly regarded Takumar optical designs and still perform impressively when compared to more modern lenses.

Thanks for the reply
I have had them both out for a run today .
Thing that strikes me first is the long minimum focus

My Tak and the K100D seems good at +1.7 in Av.
I really miss the Av with the k lens !

Yes they do seem to be rarer, my K is the only one I've ever seen down here. I snapped up a K24 to replace my SuperTak 24 when I got the chance.

Thanks
yes the plot thickens a little here...The Tak has a few stains that may actually be on the outside of both ends, will have a wee clean and see.
The K lens has sadly been 'fixed' by someone, perhaps the man who sold it to me !
Had a rim dent 'agriculturally' removed. Still takes a filter. The glass is super clean.

Yes I spoted a wee bit more CA in my visit to the flower garden.

Yes I know they are better coated and have acurate metering but it is the need for the green button to get it that peaves me. I love the tak for it's Av stopdown and shoot.
As I read that I wonder at the logic of it
Like how is K lens in manual with green button then shoot
any worse than Tak in Av stop down and shoot ?
Might be a tactile thing.
I wonder that the damage to the K lens makes it better to keep as well with its value being lower.
Lens in NZ are pretty rare and prices all over the place.
cheers
Pete

Sell the two and buy something more modern such as a 100mm
macro unless your just interested in old junk

LOL yes there is that option...but, but,but

It might be possible to sort the damage to the K lens. The best technique I've seen involved cutting a semi-circular notch in a piece of wood of the same diameter as the end of the lens, then wedging the damaged part of the lens against said notch and using another piece of wood as a drift. While it sounds as though someone had a bash at your lens without this rig it should still improve matters.

Thanks Matt,
Yes I have resorted to that method in the past
The previous 'repair' has put the rim back into alignment, it's just that they seem to have used pliers to do it
I'm leaning towards keeping it and flogging off the Takumar as per advice above
cheers
Pete

Ah yes, I've got a K50/1.4 like that. Works very well, though. I've fitted a filter with the glass removed to allow the lens cap to fit/make it look a bit tidier.

It's a shame that people are so ham-fisted at doing repairs like that, especially on such a comparatively rare and sought after lens.

I'm contemplating making something along the lines Matt suggested, but using a section of the external thread from a filter ring epoxied to to the wooden drift to apply pressure to the thread as evenly as possible.

Yep tragic how they do that ...
I dented my K50/1.2 but had the experts ping it out and glad I did. I did the empty filter ring trick when I got it back.
Had tried a shaped wooden drift and also a press with inside and outside shaped jaws. Practice runs on a junk lens were revealing.
I think you are brave using a section of thread to push it out. The first contact point is small and alignment would be an issue with the distortion.

cheers
Pete

I was very lucky with a K 28-50mm in that the filter had taken all the damage a previous owner inflicted.

Now if only it had been able to keep the fungus out too...

Ah, perhaps not such a good idea then. I had thought it would maximise the contact area between drift and lens, but admittedly my understanding of the geometry of threads dates back to my school days...

Pete,
If I were you, I'll probably keep K105 and sell Tak. I have K105 and it is amazing little telephoto + no hassle with m42 adapter. For me an easy choice.

Hey Pete, is the K105 any good? I've read good things about it but it is not that easy to find images from it.

Would you mind posting some here?