Goertz-Takumar? James Bond says so...

[Trask]

I was watching the James Bond film “You Only Live Twice” recently, part of which features Bond and Japanese female ally tooling around Tokyo in a Toyota 2000GT (perhaps the rarest Japanese car). It being owned by the Japanese intelligence agency, the car is equipped with cool Bondian gadgets which include a Sony TV embedded in the car body between the two seats, the screen flanked by two lenses that allow spy chief Tiger Tanaka to see what’s going on. In the scene where a helicopter drops a car full of bad guys into the ocean, we get a look the two lenses. One is a Super Takumar 1.4/50 while the other is a Goertz-Takumar 3.5/35 — as the picture is not quite as sharp as it might be, it’s possible that it reads 3.5/30 instead of 3.5/35. Google turns up nothing on a Goertz-Takumar, but I believe that Goertz produced lenses of this focal length, and German involvement with Japanese manufacturers is not unknown.

Of course, this being a movie, not a documentary, artistic license runs amok, so it could be a fake lens. But if the prop team is going to use a stock 50mm Takumar for one lens, why would they go to the trouble to make a fake lens for the other, and cobble together a fake name? I’m wondering if anyone knows whether such a lens could have existed.

 

[AgX]

Google turns up nothing on a Goertz-Takumar, but I believe that Goertz produced lenses of this focal length, and German involvement with Japanese manufacturers is not unknown.

German Goertz already 1926 fused with others into a Zeiss dominated combine (Zeiss Ikon).

 

[Dan Fromm]

Goerz, not Goertz.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

The name Takumar was associated with Asahi, later Pentax brands. Never heard it mentioned in the same breath with Goertz.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Mr. Kich, mis-spelling a name can be taken as an insult. C. P. spelled his surname Goerz.

 

[AgX]

Goerz, not Goertz.

You see, that manufacturer vanished that long ago and is so unkbown here that I even get the spelling wrong.

 

[Dali]

as the picture is not quite as sharp as it might be.

Too many martinis...shaken, not stirred!

 

[Peltigera]

German Goertz already 1926 fused with others into a Zeiss dominated combine (Zeiss Ikon).

Didn't the American subsidiary of CP Goerz remain independent of Zeiss Ikon? Perhaps it was that Goerz that had an arrangement with the Japanese?

Edit: apparently, the Austrian subsidiary also remained independant of Zeiss Ikon.

 

[oreston]

One is a Super Takumar 1.4/50 while the other is a Goertz-Takumar 3.5/35 — as the picture is not quite as sharp as it might be, it’s possible that it reads 3.5/30 instead of 3.5/35. Google turns up nothing on a Goertz-Takumar, but I believe that Goertz produced lenses of this focal length, and German involvement with Japanese manufacturers is not unknown.

I know this scene. I can see why you'd think it might say "Goertz" but it's actually the ultra-rare, UV sensitive Asahi Quartz-Takumar 3.5/85. Just the kind of fancy, special purpose gizmo I suppose you'd expect to see in a Bond film.

 

[Trask]

OK, here’s the clip on YouTube:

Look at the footage around 1 min 30 sec into the clip — Super Takumar on the left, Goertz or Goerz Takumar on the right.

I think it goes without saying (though I’m saying it) that the TV and two cameras were not actually installed in the car, but were mocked up in the studio, probably in the U.K., and then edited into the footage from Japan. So there’s every likelihood that the Goerz-Takumar was not from Japan. I guess I’m still intrigued as to where this lens came from or, if fake, why make a fake?

 

[mshchem]

OK, here’s the clip on YouTube:

Look at the footage around 1 min 30 sec into the clip — Super Takumar on the left, Goertz or Goerz Takumar on the right.

I think it goes without saying (though I’m saying it) that the TV and two cameras were not actually installed in the car, but were mocked up in the studio, probably in the U.K., and then edited into the footage from Japan. So there’s every likelihood that the Goerz-Takumar was not from Japan. I guess I’m still intrigued as to where this lens came from or, if fake, why make a fake?

There's definitely something-Takumar on the right, Six letters ? Boy I need to get a life

 

[Trask]

There's definitely something-Takumar on the right, Six letters ? Boy I need to get a life

You and me both!

 

[Richard Man]

You guys definitely need to get a life, ha ha. I'm going with "Asahi Quartz-" as above!

 

[mshchem]

You guys definitely need to get a life, ha ha. I'm going with "Asahi Quartz-" as above!

Quartz, a hereto unknown UV Takumar! Quartz-Takumar 85mm f 3.5 Exists according to the Internet. I just googled it! Lens nerds rejoice! !

 

[mshchem]

http://m42lens.com/m42-lens-database/1124-asahi-optical-co-quartz-takumar-85mm-f-3-5-22

 

[mshchem]

You and me both!

Here it is
http://m42lens.com/m42-lens-database/1124-asahi-optical-co-quartz-takumar-85mm-f-3-5-22

 

[Richard Man]

Things we all learned today ;-)

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Mr. Kich, mis-spelling a name can be taken as an insult. C. P. spelled his surname Goerz.

I will apologize profusely when next I see him.

 

[dynachrome]

I think I read that the Takumar name came from Japanese photographer Takuma Nakahira.

 

[Helios 1984]

I think I read that the Takumar name came from Japanese photographer Takuma Nakahira.

The Takumar name come from Japanese-American painter & photographer Takuma Kajiwara whose nephew (Saburo Matsumoto) rebuilt Asahi Opt., after WWII, and put it on the map.

 

[cooltouch]

I originated a thread on this topic. I guess it wasn't here at this forum. Might have been the Pentax forum. Here are a couple of screen captures I made of the subject lens(es).

It's clearly a Quartz Takumar. Sorta blurry on the focal length, but turns out it is indeed an 85mm f/3.5 optic. Although the 50mm is a traditional looking M42 Super-Takumar, the Quartz model is a noticeably different design. It has a narrow ribbed metal focusing collar and a preset aperture design with two aperture rings. The metal focusing collar can be seen in the second photo and the first of the two aperture rings can just be made out in the first photo.

Googling it does turn up some information. This is a special lens made for UV photography. It is best used with a light source with a very narrow bandwidth. The literature states between 10nm and 20nm, depending on the source. If you google this lens, you will come across some photos by Dr. Klaus Schmitt that show how good of a performer it is in UV light. Klaus is a frequent contributor to the mflenses.com forum and is what I would consider to be an expert in alternative bandwidth photography.

 

[BrianVS]

The Quartz lens would be useful for Infrared and UV imaging. I suspect it fit the "H-Tech" imaging devices that Bond was supposed to use in his gadgets.
Someone was paying attention to detail. I have the 85/4.5 version of this lens, "Ultra-Achromatic", corrected for four-wavelength crossings- one more than an APO lens. Corrected for inflation: this lens cost as much as the current APO-Summicron 50/2.