Christmas Help....

[Groucho]

Let me just say.......... WOW!!! gokenin and Groucho you two are PHENOMENAL!!!!! Because of you two, you've given me a whole new world of options as far as lenses go! More times than not, if I can afford it, I want to use Pentax lenses. But it's great to know that there are alternatives with great glass!!

Glad to help! It's always fun to turn someone onto these great old lenses, even if it means more competition when buying. That pictured lens came from a Craigslist buy, actually (the only one I've ever done) - $50 for a 1961 Pentax H3, 35mm F3.5 preset Takumar, 55mm F1.8 Auto Takumar, 105mm F2.8 Super Takumar, and the 135mm preset Takumar in the pics. Complete with original lens cases (nice old leather ones), fitted camera case, and a really old-school hard case for all of it. Most everything was in fantastic condition, and had sat in a closet for probably 40 years or so. I've got a roll of film in the camera and am taking it to Watkins Glen tomorrow along with all the lenses (which I intend to use on the DSLR, too.) Not a bad buy for $50!

In case it wasn't clear, though, all the Takumars are official Pentax lenses. They are (with few exceptions) some of the finest M42 glass out there and the basis for a pretty legendary reputation amongst the manual-focus crowd... many owners of other DSLRs buy M42 adapters to use these old Pentax lenses on their cameras.

I actually don't have much in the way of decent Takumar shots online yet, but here's a few shots I took with my $60 Vivitar 55mm F2.8 1:1 M42 macro lens...

Mmmm, makes me look forward to Thanksgiving.