> Takumar was a good thing in screw mount Pentax lenses, but not so > great in Pentax' K mount lens. It's the cheapest Pentax consumer > lens.
This was indeed a sad part of Pentax marketing. To take the highly revered screwmount name of "Takumar" and then to apply it to "budget" K-mount lenses... ;-( > The lack of SMC coating seems to be just the beginning of the cost > cutting. Perhaps. The Takumar Bayonet 135/"2.5", with its meager 52mm filter thread (unlike the K 135/2.5, which has a 58mm thread) would seem to be unlikely to be much faster than f/2.8. By my measurements, it certainly has a much narrower front element than does the SMC K 135/2.5 - SMC K 135/2.5 : 52mm front element diameter -> f/2.6 Takumar Bayonet 135/2.5 : 49mm front element diameter -> f/2.8 http://www.cetussoft.com/pentax/135252.jpg [The SMC K 135/2.5 is on the left, while the Takumar Bayonet 135/"2.5" - the one that shows my reflection (<g>) - is on the right.] Nonetheless, while it is not SMC, and while it is probably an f/2.8 lens in reality, it still is a ~decent~ lens, especially considering that it sometimes sells very inexpensively. Fred
