New (old) macro lens

So with spring and the beginning signs of greenery popping up in the woods, I found a new vintage lens for an excellent price on ebay: it’s another Asahi Pentax from the 70’s, the Super-Multi-Coated MACRO-TAKUMAR 100mm f/4. This shares a very similar optical design to the Bellows-Takumar I have had for a while, but it is a little easier to use as it is a conventionally focusing lens.

This lens was made from 1972 until 1980, so, based on the serial number, this one is probably from the later part of that period, 1978 or 1979, so about 45 or 46 years old, but it’s in mint condition and looks like it was made yesterday 🙂

I just took a few quick shots to make sure all is working properly, and it’s very nice and super-sharp, even wide open! These are all full-sized shots, not cropped in at all…

I can’t wait to get out with this once the next couple of intense work weeks are over and the spring flowers start showing themselves- perhaps I’ll even combine macro and IR photography and see what we can come up with 😉