Pentax Super-Takumar 28mm f/3.5 SM Specifications Construction Fixed-Focus Mark Infra-red Index

Download the Honeywell Pentax Takumar Lens Manual

Download Takumar Interchangeable
Lenses Operating Manual

Download Asahi Pentax Takumar Interchangeable
Lenses Operating Manual (early version)

 

  The 28mm lens is considered to be an wide-angle lens. It is a great lens for shooting in congested areas, for creating or enhancing the depth of a subject.  Once considered ultra-wide, it is now a compulsory component in a well equipped system.  This lens produces images that include the view that we normally recall about a scene even though our actual angle of view is narrower.  Compared to a 50mm "normal" lens with a 46 degree angle of view, this lens nearly doubles the width of the scene captured from the same vantage point.  Straight lines do not appear curved as they would with a "fish-eye" lens. When making a photograph with the camera level the scene will appear very normal but with a great deal of depth.

This is the smallest screw-mount lens made during this era by Asahi Optical Co.

Specifications | Construction | Fixed-Focus Mark | Infra-red Index

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Features

Construction

	Asahi Optical began manufacturing specialized lenses in 1919, and has been producing lenses for general photography since 1932, twenty years before the Pentax, the first SLR camera from Japan - was manufactured. Painstaking hand craftsmanship, the highest quality raw materials and the most advanced technological know-how are combined in the manufacture of each Super-Takumar. In the beginning, lens design required logarithmic tables, slide rules- and great patience. It often took three competent designers several years of steady work to complete the computation of a single 4-element lens. Today, Asahi utilizes the most modern electronic computer equipment which performs extremely complicated calculations very rapidly and with great accuracy.
Fine optics alone cannot make a superior lens; the mechanical components are equally important. Lens barrels of Super-Takumar lenses are precision machined for accurate positioning of all elements. Tolerances are so tight you have to break a vacuum to disassemble some elements. Each Super-Takumar has dust and moisture-proof seals and a special diaphragm damper that cuts down on wear, vibration and bounce so you get consistent aperture openings.
	All mechanical components are precision machined to microscopic tolerances. Specially lubricated, wear-resistant metals assure consistently accurate apertures year after year. Screw mounts are the most precise method of holding a lens firmly in place. Perfectly matched threaded mountings on Super-Takumars make changing lenses quick and easy - even in the dark.
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Fixed Focus Mark

Since wide-angle lenses have a great depth of field, they are suited for snapshots. To obtain maximum depth of field, convenient marks have been included on the Takumar wide-angle lenses. They are shown in red figures on the diaphram and distance scales. If you set these figures to the index, you do not have to turn the focusing ring every time you want to take a snapshot. The photo at the left indicates that the lens diaphram is set to F8 and the distance scale is set at 3 meters, both figures being the fixed-focus marks. read the depth-of-field guide, and you will see that this setting affords a depth of field from 1.3 meters to infinity; within this field everything will be in focus. However, even without using the fixed focus mark, it is possible to make extremely efficient judgements about depth of field by checking it on the scale which shows the relation between distance setting and aperture.

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Infra-Red Index

When taking infra-red photographs, the focal point shifts slightly, and therefore, the lens must be extended accordingly. The difference varies depending on the lens, and it is indicated by the small "R" index or short orange line. In infra-red photography, use this infra-red index. First, focus your lens on your subject. Determine the lens-to-subject distance from the distance scale. Then match your "R" mark by turning the distance scale accordingly. Like the photo at left, if your subject is in focus at infinity, turn the distance ring and move infinity mark to the "R" index. Also, remember to use an R2 (red) or O2 (orange) filter and special infra-red film in this special photography.

Specifications | Construction | Fixed-Focus Mark | Infra-red Index Return to Pentax Lens Index Download the Honeywell Pentax Takumar Lens Manual Download Takumar Interchangeable Lenses Operating Manual Download Asahi Pentax Takumar Interchangeable Lenses Operating Manual (early version)   Click or the [ BACK ] button on your browser to return to the previous page.

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