Asahi Pentax Takumar 135mm f/3.5 screw mount lens

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 26, 2010

My girl friend have me a box of his dad's old photo gear from the late 50's and early 60's. In the box is a Asahi Pentax Takumar 135mm f/3.5 screw mount lens. It's in pristine condition. I have no idea what to do with it. Does anyone know about this lens?

Pumal · Sep 26, 2010

I have used it with my Spotmatics. Great sharpness, great bokeh. It's a jewel.

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 26, 2010

Hey thanks for the info! Are Spotmatic bodies cheap? Didn't know what I have. I'm going to have to go to Flickr to look up some images made on that lens.

Les Sarile · Sep 26, 2010

Check out this website at http://anusf.anu.edu.au/~aab900/photography/cameras/cameras.htm as it lists what cameras can use that lens -M42 lens mount, as well as what adapters are available to use your lens on other bodies. I have Contax, Mamiya, Pentax and Yashica bodies that use my M42 lenses as well as an adapter to use M42 lenses on my Pentax bodies such as this Takumar fisheye on my Pentax MX.

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 26, 2010

Hey that's cool

Les Sarile said:
Check out this website at http://anusf.anu.edu.au/~aab900/photography/cameras/cameras.htm as it lists what cameras can use that lens -M42 lens mount, as well as what adapters are available to use your lens on other bodies. I have Contax, Mamiya, Pentax and Yashica bodies that use my M42 lenses as well as an adapter to use M42 lenses on my Pentax bodies such as this Takumar fisheye on my Pentax MX.

Thanks for the link. I have old Canon FD lenses that won't work on the same brand DSLR. Wouldn't be great if you could buy a SLR today lenses that work with many brands of bodies?
The closest thing are view camera lenses these days.

winger · Sep 27, 2010

I think that's the 135mm I have. I have a 60s era pre-Spotmatic Pentax H1a. With an adapter, I can use the screw mount lenses for it on my newer Pentax bodies as well (with some limitations). I usually prefer just using the old camera, though, as it fits my hands well and is basically an old friend. If you go looking, you should be able to find one for under $100 (maybe even under $50).

elekm · Sep 27, 2010

You need a body that can take M42 lenses. There are many, many different models, from the original Contax, which became Pentacon, to Praktica to Vivitar to Yashica to Mamiya to Pentax and others.

You can buy all kinds of adapters for the Canon EOS mount, except for Canon FD. I think there are adapters for Canon FD, but they include a lens that can affect image quality.

Pentax did a great job with its digital cameras, particularly starting with the K10D that allows nearly any 42mm screw-mount lens to be used with some limits. They can use nearly any K-mount lens, although the viewing screens in autofocus cameras aren't ideal for manual-focus lenses.

magkelly · Sep 27, 2010

I would suggest an SPII. They're fairly reasonable, use M42's and are a joy to use. My favorite old SLR, bar none.

Pumal · Sep 27, 2010

I use the SP II, but I have the original Spotmatic and 4 others. You also can use it with the Yashica TL Electro X, the Praktica and get adapters easily for just about any camera. I have one for the Contax.

Ihmemies · Sep 30, 2010

Definitely take photos with it. Nice optics and mechanically better than anything Canon or Nikon ever made...

Mainecoonmaniac · Sep 30, 2010

My girl friends brother took the camera to France and got the Pentax body stolen with a lens. The only lens left was the 135mm f/3.5 screw mount lens. I'm looking on Ebay for a body for that lens from all the APUGer's raving about the lens. Are the normal lenses from Pentax just as good?

pschauss · Sep 30, 2010

KEH has bargain grade Spotmatics for as little as $19. Their bargain grade is usually at least as good as what most Ebay sellers describe as "near mint". With KEH, you have the ability to return the camera if you do not like it.

Given that many of the early SLRs used the M42 mount you have a wide range of good quality standard lenses in that mount including those made for the German Prakticas and the Russian Zenits. I have been using a Fujinon 50mm/1.8 on mine but I have also had good results with a Praktica 50mm/1.8 and a Helios 44M.

When buying older lenses be sure to get the "automatic" versions which have a small pin sticking out of the bottom of the lens mount. This allows you to focus with the lens wide open and automatically stops it down to the value that you selected when you release the shutter.

Pumal · Sep 30, 2010

The Super-Multi-Coated Takumars are among the very best lenses

michaelbsc · Sep 30, 2010

Yeah, this is absolutely a keeper. As others have mentioned, there are boatloads of older excellent M42 bodies floating around out there, and it works with all of them. You don't need a Pentax.

And as others have also mentioned, there are M42 adapters for many, many other bayonet mount bodies. I have a couple of M42 adapters for my Yashicas. You can get them for Canon EOS. And probably a dozen others.

I never found 135mm to be all that useful a focal length, but if sometime you find yourself in the position that this is just the right focal length then this is a tough lens to beat.

Mainecoonmaniac · Oct 2, 2010

Thanks to APUPers, I ordered an M42 lens ring to use with my Canon FD bodies on EBay. It's only $10 and it's shipped from China. Can't wait to use the lens. Don't know how to the built in meter on my F1n though. I guess I'll learn. I have an trusty old hand held meter.

Excalibur2 · Oct 4, 2010

Pumalite said:
I have used it with my Spotmatics. Great sharpness, great bokeh. It's a jewel.

There must be quality variations in manufacture because for sharpness only....I'm not impressed with my Super Tak 135mm f3.5 when compared to say a Canon FD which you can pick up for the same price or cheaper.

Pumal · Oct 4, 2010

Ihave the FD 85mm mm f/1.8. I love it too.

Ralph Javins · Oct 4, 2010

Good morning, MaineCoonManiac;

As many have suggested, almost anything that will have a "universal screw thread mount" or "M-42 mount" or "Exakta-Praktica-Pentax screw thread mount" will work with your lens. That is one of the reasons why it is also referred to as the "universal screw thread mount." So many cameras and lenses were made using this lens attachment system. There are still some older photographers who will explain to you at length why the M42x1.0mm thread mount is clearly superior over the bayonet mounts of the later camera designs.

You did ask for recommendations for a camera body, and among those out there, may I suggest something like the Vivitar 450 SLD and its relatives that have the Copal Square vertically travelling focal plane shutter? I have found that the Copal Square shutter in the different cameras here (Vivitar, Nikkormat, et cetera) to test out on my camera testing equipment as a remarkably consistent and accurate shutter, with very little variation among the samples I have tested. The only amusing point noted is the shutter speed of "1/125th second" which tests out much closer to 1/100th of a second, and they are all that way. This is still within the specification for the camera, but it clearly shows that getting a shutter to be fully open for "X" synchronization for electronic flash is not a simple task.

Mainecoonmaniac · Oct 4, 2010

Hey Ralph. Thanks for the recommendation on the body. Along with the Asahi Pentax Takumar 135mm f/3.5 lens, she also gave me her father's Zeiss Super Iktona IV camera which I sent in for repairs. Money is kinda tight so I'm waiting for the estimate for repairing the camera. For right now, I'm going to use the lens with my Canon F1N body. I've never seen a screw mount lens before since I got started in photography in the era of bayonet mounts. Can't way to try them. The lens is not a "Super Takumar", but just a "Takumar", is there a difference?

Asahi Pentax Takumar 135mm f/3.5 screw mount lens

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