I've owned most of the SMC Taks at one time or another, and I still have a few. Very nice equipment, but I'm not much of a fondler. And while some of today's less expensive lenses don't begin to compare, the DA* lenses are very pleasing. I dont own any of the FA Limiteds, but I expect that they qualify as a worthy successor to the Taks as well. Unlike most others, I prefer the SMC taks and Super Taks with the metal focusing barrels to those with the rubber grip. It's also important, or at lease relevant, to note that many of the SMC Pentax "K series" lenses are virtually identical to their SMC Tak predecessors.
Paul On Jul 5, 2011, at 1:02 PM, Darren Addy wrote: > If you will indulge me... > > With all of the emphasis these days on digital and "Image Quality", it > seems that many have forgotten (if they ever even lived at a time when > they could KNOW it) what a satisfyingly tactile experience photography > was. We have been robbed of much of that tactile experience by our > automatic and autofocus digital cameras today. We don't get the > satisfying "pop" of the back when we would load or unload film. We've > lost the satisfying tactile experience of advancing the film lever and > cocking the shutter, or the act of rewinding the 35mm film into it's > canister. > > Now few of us want to "chuck" our plastic-bodied, autofocus lenses and > digital cameras and go back to film - at least on a regular basis. But > we can recapture some of that feeling by putting some vintage glass on > our Pentax DSLRs. In my opinion, a m42 to K-mount adapter (that allows > infinity focus) is one of the truly "must have" accessories. My > personal preference is for the genuine Pentax brands that require no > tools to remove. As most of us know, this opens up the world of m42 > Takumar glass to you and your Pentax DSLR. > > I'm especially thinking of this recently, as I obtained a beautiful > black Spotmatic and had it CLA'd by Eric. It feels so great in my > hands. I just received an equally gorgeous S-M-C Takumar 135mm f2.5 > for it, with caps hood and case. What a beautiful piece of kit that > is! Along with it I got a very nice chrome Spotmatic F (my first F) > with SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 and S-M-C 35mm f3.5 - all looking as if > they were rarely used. There is a feeling I get when handling this > equipment that is missing when I pick up my plastic-bodied Pentax-F > autofocus lenses and that I have the feeling would be missing even if > I owned the new Pentax Limited lenses. The heft of the lens. The > buttery smoothness of the focusing action. The all-metal screw-in lens > hood with white lettering imprinted around the end. Certainly that > tactile experience has very little to do with producing excellent > images - but that feeling is an aspect of photography that I > originally fell in love with and that I feel again as I handle them > now. > > The closest I can come to that feeling is shooting my DSLR with those > superb Takumar lenses on it, and in keeping a film body along for > those occasions when I want to recapture that feeling in total. The > ability to use this quality glass (easily) is one of the main reasons > that I originally went with Pentax for my first DSLR (even though I > owned no Pentax glass at the time). > > Darren Addy > Kearney, Nebraska > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
