Quote Originally Posted by aldevo View Post
In high-contrast lighting I'd much rather shoot with my Pentax SMC Takumar 35mm f/2.0 despite the fact that the EF lens handily beats it at wider apertures (til f/4, anyway) and when focused close.

I've not seen a diagram of the EF 35mm, I'd be curious to compare it with that of the Takumar. I suspect they are more differences among them than glass types as they are so obviously different in behavior. Sadly, I can no longer find a cross-section of the SMC Takumar 35mm online and Canon USA's EF lens diagrams on the web are so puny as to be illegible.
Boz Dimitrov has this diagram onf the SMC-K 35mm f2 on his excellent site:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/p...ics/35f2-i.jpg

Is that some use to you?

As far as I know this eight element in seven groups design is the same as that of the later type of the Takumar (the one with the 49mm filter thread, the earlier version was huge, 67mm from memory).

The design changed radically for the SMC-M:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/p...cs/35f2-ii.gif

and this version of the design was kept for the SMC-A.

The current FA-AL version is different again, and though this looks like a simpler design (aspherical element aside) it is said to be an improvement on the SMC-K 35/2 and perhaps even on the K 35/3.5 - I must try one one day...:

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/p...s/35f2-iii.gif

I have both versions of the Takumar, and both are indeed really nice lenses, though I don't really use them now.


Peter