Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/1.8 - a handle into jamboree bag?

Sony a7 with Takumar 55mm f/1.8 at f/2.0

Keep moving in the series of wonderful 50mm lenses from the good old days.  Today we look at a real treasure.  Takumars apply in the world of photography as a true wonder of the image quality. So also the normal prime SMC 55mm f/1.8 from Asahi Co. of Japan. They were produced from 1958 until the late 70ies. I purchased my copy from a colleague from a photography forum.  On Ebay or used commercially, you should not pay more than a maximum of 50 to 60 Euros. Lately some dealer to be touched in the head and want to have 100,- Euros and more.  These prices are completely unrealistic.

Sony a7 with Takumar 55mm f/1.8 at f/3.5

My copy is a newer model from 1972 by Asahi Optical Co. with rubberized focus ring and open aperture metering on Spotmatic F, ES and ESII. The first Takumars from this series with 55mm focal length and an aperture of 1.8 are from 1958 and still had the typical focus rings with mountain-and-valley shape.

The lens has a M42-mount, thus the combination of M42 adapter and the lens is a little bit top-heavy. The Takumar has a weight of 201 grams. For this purpose, the adapter comes well which adds almost half a kilogram metal on the small Sony a7.

To bear in mind: the statistics. The filter size is 49mm, the minimum focus is 45 centimeters, the maximal magnification are 0,17x. The aperture you can stepped down from 1.8 unfortunately only to 16. The optical construction consists of six elements in five groups.

If you are stopped down to 2.0, the image quality is absolutely outstanding.  At full aperture the center of the image is already sufficiently sharp. Towards the edges but it is quite soft.  In Addition: contrast edges show that typical dreamy soft look you love in portraits so.

However, at f 2.0 to f 2.8 up all is gas and gaiters.  In general, the colors and contrasts are a real treat. Backlit withstand the Takumar pretty good, purple fringing was almost impossible to see. The only sticking point is the vignetting at full aperture. Only from Aperture 3.5 and higher, the vignetting is gone. This can be seen in this picture quite well:

Sony a7 with Takumar 55mm f/1.8 at f/2.0

The bokeh ist really soft and nice.

The lens is full metal and the handling is very well and smooth. The focus-way is long, you can very well judge the sharpness of the image with focus peaking on a Sony NEX or Sony a7(r/s/II).
The optical resolution and sharpness is excellent at f 2.0. Here is a wholly owned magnification of an image as proof.

100% magnification of the picture below

Sony a7 with Takumar 55mm f/1.8 at f/2.0

To sum ultimately all impressions: this lens is a real winner. Well, it is not so bright as the Auto Revuenon 50mm f/1.4, open not so sharp as the Olympus 50mm f/1.8, but when you stop down a little bit and look at the pictures- you  will grin like a Cheshire cat.