SMC Tak and Super Tak 55mm 1.8 comparison

[chongmic]

I'm not sure if this topic had been posted before and I hope you guys don't mind I bring it up again. Is there really any significant difference between these 2 lenses? Is there any advantage of chosing one over another if given a choice? How much would you willing to pay for each one of them (let's standardize the price in USD)?

[snoid]

As far as I know there were 3 versions of this lens:
The Auto Takumar had no coating
The Super Takumar is coated
The SMC Super Takumar has an improved coating, with slightly better flair control.
I have posted some stuff here taken with my Super Takumar.
I always use a hood and do find flair sometimes when shooting into direct  light, but that can be a problem with any lens.
That being said, I fell in love............
If you can find one in the $30-$40 range you did well.
Keep in mind that you will need a genuine pentax adapter to use it. These go for $20-$30.
   Here's a sample shot.

[chongmic]

Hi Snoid,

Thanks for your info. Your works are great, actually it's your works that got me to look for one of the Tak 55.

I can safely assume that the 3 lens you mentioned above are optically identical, just with different coatings.

Regards,
Mike

[snoid]

Yes, same optical formula. All focus smooth as silk too.
There might be a fourth kind with a rubberized focus ring.
I hope you find one at a low price..............

[snoid]

You might not want to bypass the 55 F2 SMC Tak, if you find one for a good price, took mine out for a 1st time test drive today.
It was windy, so not a full test, but it seems as sharp as the 1.8.
The focus ring on mine was less well damped then the Super Tak, but that could be my copy.
Here's a full size and a crop.
Focus was on the leaf with the dark veins. Full sun, so no dramatic lighting. F 4 or F 5.6

[chongmic]

Very impresive lens indeed. Thanks for sharing.

[vrrattko]

while i didn't have those two lenses, i had super takumar 50 1.4 and smc takumar 50 1.4  and the difference between the two was obvious. The former one lacks the SMC coating and it resulted in more dreamy pictures, less contrast and was also more prone to flare...