SUPER TAKUMAR 28MM F3.5 ON M42 MOUNT

 I have never shot using anything on M42 mount before. I have used Leica Screwmount L39 and I guess that was the closest I've ever got to M42. Little that I know that there are tonnes of great optics built for M42 screw mount.

One peculiar thing I realised at least with my K&F Concept M42 to Sony NEX Pro adapter is that after screwing the lens into M42 socket on the adapter the markings is not as center as I usually have it on other lenses, maybe that's normal. After attaching the M42 macro extension tube, the markings is on the "bottom" side. Most peculiar!

In any case today I managed to shoot a few frames as initial tests with the Takumar 28,mm attached to the Sony A7S. I also tested the 10mm M42 macro extension rings just to see how close is close. The lens focusses to 40cm ... and much much closer with the extension tube attached.

Sony A7S attached to the Takumar 29mm via a K&F Concept M42-Sony Nex Pro adapter, all flushed and snug. The lens is and hood came in super clean condition.

Uncropped at f3.5

Uncropped at f3.5

I shot at 16:9 aspect ratio at f3.5, this vertical shot feels too long, so I crop the bottom slightly.

Shot at f3.5 cropped.

With a10mm macro extension tube attached, focusing was real close at f3.5.

10mm macro extension tube attached, minimum focus distance on the lens @f3.5

10mm macro extension tube attached, focus at maximum focusing distance @f3.5

It's a nice nifty lens, clean without fungus and defects. The wide angle lenshood came with the lens which is great. Looking forward to shooting twith this lens, will try take out one of these clear nights and try shoot some stars with it. I saw some good images some people made with teh Takumar 35mms the other day, maybe this little guy is as capable!

I WENT BONKERS OVER 135MM VINTAGE LENSES

For my birthday this year, I went a bit crazy on ebay and ordered myself vintage lenses ... one vintage 135mm lens for each day of my birthday week.

Back when I was in engineering school at Columbia University in the City of New York a long long time ago now, I typically celebrated my birthday with two 99 cent burgers ... one for me and the other one for the homeless (CU fixture) gentleman panhandling outside of Burger King.

My charity this time around is probably less charitable however : I'm only helping those online traders get rid of their unwanted doorstoppers at over-inflated "Buy-Now" prices, contribute 25% VAT to the government coffers and increase my carbon footprint by continue putting DHL, UPS, Fedex, Royal Mail and Japan Post in business. Heck I haven't left my mancave since Mar 2020, I think this lackluster birthday presents are well-deserved! Doorstoppers to others, bling-bling to a simple starving creative wannabe like me.

Vivitar 135/2.8 AIS mount from Oslo 

Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 135/3.5 M42-Mount from Japan

Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 28/3.5 M42-mount from USA (next year's birthday present this year!)

Pentacon MC Electric GDR 135/2.8 M42-mount from UK

Nikon Nikkor 135/3.5 Non-AI from Japan

Jupiter-37A 135/3.5 M42-mount from Ukraine

Asahi Pentax SMC 135/2.5 K-mount from Japan (has a cult following, 6 element version)

Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar MC 135/3.5 M42 Mount

Olympus Zuiko 135/3.5 OM mount

SMC Pentax 135/3.5 K Mount

SMC Takumar 135/2.5 M42 Mount (6 elements, 6 groups)

A collage of the outcome of a week of utter madness on ebay. As consolation is cheaper than a Sigma Art 85mm f1.4 and I to play with 11 bokeh monsters!

I am so impressed with the SMC Pentax 135/2.5 (6 element) unit that I received, I decided to get another f2.5 (6 element) as well as f3.5 version. Hopefully with these 135s, autumn and winter will be slightly busier with making images and footages worthy of the reputation that comes with these lensea. Some of these lenses are indeed legends back in the day, some still are today.

VINTAGE LENS NIPPON KOGAKU NIKKOR-Q AUTO 135MM F3.5

Today I took the opportunity presented by an overcast end of summer early autumn day to make a short video using a Nippon Kogaku-Q Auto 135/3.5 I acquired (picked up from a bargain bin in Hoogeven) almost 20 years ago today. I shot quite a bit with it on film camera when I first acquired it, now and again whenever nostalgia comes over me. I think I also conducted a small test shots using the Sony A7S a few years back.

This morning I attached it to a Sony A7R2 (using K&F Concept Pro Nikon-Sony E Adapter) and recorded some footages around the garden at f3.5. The day was overcast with some light but not too jarring, the breeze was gently moving amongst the leaves.

Dancing leaves on an overcast early autumn day.

This lens is dear to me simply because it's not a perfect lens. It's has what looks like a thin film of oil (from the aperture blades) or fungus spreading thinly over the front elements on the inside of the lens. This produces a "glowing" effect" when shooting against the sunlight. I remember noticing the "glowing" elephants I shot at Emmen Zoo when we visited with Ali and Aisya. The kids they were still babies then.

I'm going back to these old vintage lenses that I've collected over the years, most if not all of these gems were collected while we were living in the Netherlands, I was an ebay addict then. This was also during the period of the changeover from analogue to digital, I myself dumped quite a few (if not all) of my Nikon AF lenses to support "back to the glorious analogue past" habit. 

I hope to make a few more footages over the next few months/years.

Incidentally I've acquired 6 more 135mm vintage lenses off ebay.com and finn.no in the past 7 days, and 1x 28mm:

Vivitar 135/2.8 Nikon AIS Mount from Oslo
Nikkor AI 135/3.5 from Japan

Asahi Pentax SMC 135/2.5 K Mount from Japan
Pentacon Electric MC 135/2,8 M42 Mount
Jupiter-37A 135/3.5 M42 Mount
Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 28/3.5 M42 Mount from the USA
Asahi Pentax Super Takumar 135/3.5 M42 Mount

All vintage lenses from a bygone era, some making a well-deserved comeback into the digital cine world.