Tele-Takumar Short Review 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,

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Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co., increase.

In short

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co., is an old telephoto prime lens for film cameras with an M42 thread.

For our time, it is interesting only for the multi-petal diaphragm and the presence of a removable tripod foot. In general, the image quality is poor.

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,

Main technical characteristics of Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,:

The maximum aperture ratio of 1: 6.3 is quite small for a fixed object. Such a maximum relative aperture is now used not by a prime, but by zoom lenses, of the type Nikon DX AF-P Nikkor VR 70-300mm 1: 4.5-6.3G.

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,

Assembling, focusing

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co., is assembled well, but there are still slight backlash in the body parts. The tripod foot is detachable; to remove it, you need to completely unscrew the clamping screw and manually release the clamp. The tripod foot can rotate 360 ​​degrees freely around the lens barrel.

The hood is long (large), threaded, metal, screwed into the thread of the front light filter. Can be installed (not screwed in) in the opposite direction. There is a fabric seal inside the hood for a tight fit in the opposite direction. In the opposite direction, access to the focusing ring is practically not lost.

The focusing ring is metal, large, with ribbed edges, rotates approximately 315 degrees (7/8 of a full turn). The movement of the ring is smooth. The front extension body does not rotate during focusing. Focusing occurs by moving the entire lens unit. During focusing, the focus ring moves forward.

It's important: The minimum focusing distance (MDF) is as much as 5.5 meters, which is a lot for a lens with a focal length of 300 mm. Such MDF introduces certain inconveniences.

The front original cover must be screwed into the thread of the front light filter (not always convenient).

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co., has a ring presets diaphragm. It can be used to select one of the fixed values ​​between F / 6.3 and F / 22. Unlike the presetting ring, the aperture setting ring rotates smoothly, with its help you can set any intermediate value. The smooth movement of the aperture ring is useful when shooting movies. The diaphragm consists of 12 petals, which always form a hole in the form of regular polyhedrons with rounded edges.

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,

Image quality and sample photos

The lens is very afraid of backlight, the hood helps a little in the fight against flares and helps in some cases to significantly increase the contrast of the image. In general, the image quality is poor. Strong chromatic aberration (+ very strong frigging, example) and poor resolution at F / 6.3. To achieve good resolution, you should aperture down to f / 11.

Pictures in the gallery below were obtained using Nikon D4 and adapter M42-Nikon F (without a lens and a chip, without the possibility of focusing to infinity, the far focusing limit is about 30 meters, the near one is about 3 meters). Converting original RAW files with the original Nikon Capture NX-D v 1.4.6 utility. On camera Nikon D4 the optical viewfinder is quite dark at f / 6.3, it seems that the lens actually has a maximum aperture of 1: 8.

You can download / view the original photos in RAW format ('.NEF') at this link (13 files, Yandex.Disk gallery).

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,

How to use with modern cameras?

Lenses with mounting thread M42 (M42 X 1 / 45.5), such as the lens from this review, are very easy to use on almost any modern digital camera (both SLR and mirrorless), for this it is enough to choose the right adapter (adapter). You do not need to carry out any additional steps to modify the lens.

The cheapest adapters can be found at Aliexpress.com... There are adapters (adapters) with a chip that provide more convenience during shooting, usually chips are used to confirm focus and / or metering exposure, and form the correct EXIF. The chip does not affect the image quality in any way.

For some SLR cameras (for example, with the Nikon F-mount), you need to use adapters with a corrective lens, which allows you to focus correctly at all focusing distances. For any mirrorless cameras, such a lens is not needed, and the adapter is a simple decorated hollow metal tube with an appropriate mount.

For SLR cameras

1. Canon: For cameras Canon EOS with bayonet mount EF / EF-S need an M42-Canon EOS adapter, such an adapter with a chip can be found herewithout chip here.
2. NIKON: For cameras Nikon DX / FXas well as for cameras Fujifilm и Kodak with a Nikon F mount, you need an M42-Nikon F adapter, you can buy such an adapter without a lens and a chip here, with a lens without a chip herewith chip without lens here, with lens and chip here. Why a lens? Why chip?
3. PENTAX: For Pentax cameras with K mount, you need an M42-Pentax K adapter, you can buy such an adapter here.
4. SONY/MINOLTA: For cameras with a Sony / Minolta A mount, you need the M42-Sony A adapter, you can find such an adapter without a chip at this linkwith a chip at this link.
5. OLYMPUS/PANASONIC/LEICA: For cameras with a 4/3 bayonet mount (not to be confused with Micro 4/3!) You need an M42-4 / 3 adapter, you can buy such an adapter here.

For mirrorless cameras

1. SONY: For cameras with 'E'/'FE' mount series SonyNEX и Sony Alpha you need an adapter M42-Sony E (aka M42-Sony Nex), you can find it at this link. An autofocus adapter is also available for these cameras. Techart PRO Leica M - Sony E Autofocus Adapterwhich can be found at this link.
2. OLYMPUS / PANASONIC / KODAK / XIAOMI: For cameras with a bayonet mount Micro 4/3 (Micro 4:3) you need an adapter M42-Micro 4/3, you can find it at this link.
3. CANON M: For cameras with Canon EF-M mount need adapter M42-Canon M, it can be found at this link.
4. CANON R and RF-S: For cameras with Canon RF mount need adapter M42-Canon R, it can be found at this link.
5. Nikon 1: For cameras Nikon 1 Series need adapter M42-Nikon 1, you can find it at this link.
6. Nikon Z: For cameras Nikon Z series (FX/DX) need an adapter M42-Nikon Z, it can be found at this link.
7. FUJIFILM X: For cameras with mount X need an M42-Fuji X adapter, you can find it at this link.
8. FUJIFILM GFX: For medium format cameras G-mount need M42-Fuji GFX adapter, you can find it at this link.
9. SAMSUNG: For cameras with NX mount, you need an M42-Samsung NX adapter, you can find it at this link. There are no adapters for the NX mini camera yet.
10. PENTAX: For Q-mount cameras, you need an M42-Pentax Q adapter, you can find it at this link.
11. SIGMA / PANASONIC / LEICA: For cameras with L mount you need an M42-Leica L adapter, you can find it at this link.
12. LEICA: For cameras with a bayonet mount Leica M need adapter M42-L / M, you can find it at this link.

If you have any questions on compatibility and adapters - ask in the comments (comments do not require any registration at all).

Tele-Takumar 1: 6.3 / 300 Asahi Opt. Co.,

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Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.