The Wonders of Takumar

Posted by Mike Cash (Kiryu, Japan) on 21 June 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

"Takumar" refers to a series of lenses put out by Pentax in their early days, from the 1950s until the early 1970s. The lenses screwed onto the camera bodies using a 42x1mm thread. The mount was also used by several other camera companies and was perhaps the closest thing to a "universal" or "open source" lens mounting system the SLR has ever known.

The same lens that took yesterday's photo of the gigantic floating crane was used to take this macro photo. The lens itself is about 40 years old and the macro capabilities were gained by adding extension tubes between the lens and camera body. The tubes were made about 1960.

The Pentax in-body Shake Reduction (SR) system means that even these old and obsolete lenses benefit from image stabilization. The Pentax commitment to backwards compatibility means that even today's most modern digital SLRs can mount and use every lens Pentax has ever made....some 24 million of them.

Pentax K100D
S-M-C Takumar 105/2.8
Extension tubes

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