The earlier 8-element version was sought after by collectors for a while because it didn't yellow with age, as the 7-element lens did. The 7-element 50/1.4 Takumar used thorium in (one?) rare-earth glass element, as did a couple of other Takumars of the time.
I think the earlier lens was worse wide open and took longer to improve by stopping down, though it gave a dreamy effect when wide open that was sometimes desirable. The earlier lens' rear element may have also protruded more -- in fact, when it was released, it couldn't be used on earlier Pentax SV/H3v, S3/H3, S1a/H1a, etc. cameras because of the mirror box design. The SV/H3v mirror box was tweaked to allow this lens to be mounted without damaging the rear element (those later SV/H3v cameras had the green "R" marking the rewind lever rather than an orange one. Joe > Oh I see. Reading a bit on this there appears to be little quality > difference in pictures between the two optical formulas and that the 8 > element is rare, and obviously more valuable. Pretty much as much as I > assumed. I guess if hybrids existed they would be rare yet and worth a > bit more. > > On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 10:01 PM, Zos Xavius <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'm going to be the dumb guy here and ask is there any real major > > differences between the 7 and 8 element version optically? IIRC the > > earlier version is more desirable? Or do I have it the wrong way > > around? I never got what the big deal was over the Takumar 50/1.4. I > > have a M50/1.4 and its very, very good for portraits with delicious > > smooth bokeh. From some sources, I heard the takumar is slightly > > softer. So what's the deal with this lens? > > > > On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 4:32 PM, Darren Addy <[email protected]> wrote: > >> That's true, J.C. but that is the part you are least likely to see > >> when looking at photos (online auctions, etc.) > >> The lens will either be on the camera or they will have a cap on the > >> back. Unless the seller knows what they actually have, in which case > >> somebody else can buy it. > >> : ) > >> > >> > >> > >> On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 3:25 PM, J.C. O'Connell <[email protected]> wrote: > >>> FWIW, > >>> > >>> The easiest way to tell a true 8 element is the rear glass element > >>> protrudes unprotected. On the later 7 element versions the rear > >>> element glass has a metal rim protecting it. > >>> jco > >>> -- 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.
