Author: | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2015 Location: Sweden Posts: 338 | Review Date: March 3, 2023 | Recommended
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Size and weight, 8 bladed preset aperture, superior smooth focusing, artistic use, character, price | Cons: | Minimum focus distance, wide open sharpness | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: KP
| | This review is for the 1rst variant (preset, black and chrome) of model 1.
For modern use this is a pure art lens. Well suited for creative photography. It is, of course, light-years behind the optical performance of modern and highly corrected lenses.
And that is also the strength of this lens! It has extraordinary strong vintage rendering. With massive amounts of character. And render it's most interesting photos when angled against the light. Used for this purpose it's an effective tool. So, the context for this lens is the late 1950's, and it renders accordingly to it. Modern lenses can't do that. W i t h e r i n g [№ 12] by The Northern Recluse, on Flickr W i t h e r i n g [№ 11] by The Northern Recluse, on Flickr
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2020 Location: Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago Posts: 39 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: March 15, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $65.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | size, build, preset aperture | Cons: | resolution | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1
| | So, I had the Super Takumar version of this lens for awhile and loved it. I had that lens fall out of my bag onto concrete steps and it got tweaked a bit. Aperture and focus rings get super tight in areas and it just ceased to be a Joy to use. I have found that both lenses won't seem to produce a sharp image through a CPL. A few lenses I've tested suffer from this issue wide open. The 135mm f3.5 I tested also seemed incapable of producing satisfactory images through filters.
That having been said, this makes for a great portrait lens and no filters are needed in that respect. I'm mainly an automotive photographer, so I've almost always got a CPL on the end of my lenses. This was one I found just didn't perform under those conditions.
So, here's my collection of shots through this lens. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lordawesome/albums/72157717823654146 | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2020 Posts: 1 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: June 22, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $300.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | film like softness wide open, but very beautiful. By f4, extremely sharp. | Cons: | vignetting and slightly soft wide open, | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Nikon d850, Sony A7R4
| | Excellent lens with beautiful build quality. I've had a slightly newer 105 2.8 Super Tak, and was surprised that I've never seen the Auto Takumar version ofthis lens. Slightly more archaic aperture system compared to the super tak, but optics are even better. The Auto Tak has more character in its bokeh and colors.
| | | | New Member Registered: September, 2014 Posts: 2 | Review Date: April 8, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Light, small, cheap | Cons: | very soft to wide open | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: Samsung NX1
| | Version 3
Nothing special, at f2.8 not very usable, at f4 is good. Is very small and light
Photo at f4 crop 100% no pp | | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: Slovenija Posts: 145 | Review Date: August 25, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | nice portrait lens, nice looking lens | Cons: | IQ wide open | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 8
Camera Used: Canon EOS5DmkII
| | I use Auto Takumar with EOS5DmkII, so this is FF comment. Wide open is sharp enough in central portion of picture, corners are very soft. Closing down aperture it become very sharp in center and fair in the corners. Wide open has quite a bit of vignetting (much more than Super and SMC Takumar 105mm). Colors are on cold side and I like that. Bokeh is OK (better than Super nad SMC Tak 105), but not really spectacular. For me very good lens for portrait lens and less for other purposes .
| | | | Site Supporter Registered: November, 2010 Location: California Posts: 2,223 4 users found this helpful | Review Date: January 30, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
Pros: | Small, small, easy to use and focus, exceptional IQ, very little difference with the SMC Tak105/2.8 | Cons: | None | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| | This review is for the Auto-Takumar 105/2.8 with the aperture reopening lever and a semi-auto diaphragm. It is not the pre-set, but have the same optic formula. i will post some shots later on. Compared to my SMC Tak 105/2.8 (more lenses and groups), it is very similar. However, there is a "je ne se quoi" to it, maybe color or tridimensionality. I would give it 11, if I could, 1 over the SMC Tak 105/2.8 because that special effect this lens has especially in portraits. Auto-Takumar100mmf2.8@f5.6-RedLantern-2086 by Palenquero, on Flickr
-----------------------
I revised my initial review because I found that I did not know how to operate the lens properly. Now that I know, this lens is really wonderful. I now understand why people wants to buy it.
Also, I am adding an evaluation for the Takumar 105/2.8 PRESET, the same that Mike Cash has (he evaluated this PRESET lens under the SMC Tak 105/2.8). The preset lens is actually equally easy or easier to operate than the AUTO. The auto is probably prettier. I now understand why this is such a popular lens. I will be posting some portraits here. Because of this lens, I would give it 11 in grade scale. Get one, you do not know what you are missing.
| | | | New Member Registered: December, 2009 Location: OREGON Posts: 9 7 users found this helpful | Review Date: February 28, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $15.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Solid yet compact build. Beautiful rendering of colors. 3D feel to photos | Cons: | No major ones. | |
This lens has a certain, as the French say, "I don't know what", about it.
I have the auto (semi-automatic) version of this lens that I found in a camera store for $15 along with an adapter that cost $20. It was my first M42 lens and it has been on my K10D almost exclusively for nearly 2 weeks. Despite the challenge of using stop down metering it is a pleasure to use with the legendarily smooth Takumar focus ring.
I really like the way this lens renders colors, particularly blues. In some situations I've noticed that I really get a 3D feel to the photo. It is relatively small, and fits nicely into my small camera bag along with another smallish prime lens. I found a old metal hood for the Takumar 135mm and it fit nicely and does not appear to be too long to interfere with the field of view on my K10D
In some situations I've noticed that the bokeh appears slightly funky, and not completely to my liking. See for example the cherry blossoms photo above and the out of focus branches behind the flowers. I'd like the out of focus area to seem smoother, with less accentuation of the lines of the branches. Perhaps I just need to open the aperture up a bit more.
Of the lenses I have and use most, I would rank this one slightly behind my FA 35mm f2, and FA 50mm f1.7 as my favorites.
I'm looking forward to trying this lens out with some extension tubes for macro work. The 105mm auto Tak has inspired me to look for more screw mount lenses.
| | |