Most people forget to use a lens hood. The lens is excellent. The radioactive element will yellow but can be cleared periodically by exposing it to bright sunlight or a UV light source. It is a flat field really rectilinear lens that renders detail magically. Great choice.
I use lens hoods on all my pro lenses whenever I shoot, for clarity is definitely enhanced that way. I must just invest in a couple for my vintage glass!
This is one of my favourite lenses. It's probably the main lens I shoot. Although at the moment the 50mm Tessar 2.8 is stuck to my camera but I am sure when the novelty wears off, the Tak 55 will be back on there. As for radioactivity, don't keep it stored in your hat or your pocket. Otherwise you'll not get much radiation from it- you'll get more from the general background. I wouldn't advise grinding up the rear element and eating it though.
Like I also said in the video, scenes just seem "right" through it! RE radioactivity, thanks for that! I will stave of the craving to sprinkle thorium glass over my cereal - lol. :)
Nice. I liked the format and your delivery. As to the lens, I have Taks of various ages at most focal lengths, with multiples at some, and my Super-Tak 55 1.8 is one of my faves - no Thorium, but an absolute jewel of a lens. I shoot it on Spotmatic, Olympus E300 (8MP 4/3 CCD) and Pentax K1. The masochist in me likes it on the Olympus the most (for reasons i won't go into, though the struggle to focus is one). It's also so small that i always carry it, just in case i stumble on the right light and colour palette - it does a great Monet impersonation! Thanks for your time and effort - Lkd&Subd - all the best to you from a cabin in a swamp in a rainforest in New Zealand.
Thank you very much for checking out the video and your kind words. I have the same masochistic tendencies... for some reason I have taken to shooting range focus cameras lately. A complete ache in the liver to use, but somehow I enjoy it! Yes, the Taks are amazing. I am just finishing up a video on the SMC Pentax-M 50mm F2, which is another surprising performer for little money. Not as painterly as the Taks, but still... it has depth. Thanks again for checking in, sub'in and liking - it really does mean a lot. Greetings from a cold and wet suburban Cape Town, South Africa. (A cabin in a swamp in a rain forest in NZ is sounding pretty great right now!)
@@danienelphoto I bet you get a little extra rush of satisfaction when the range delivers... and that's what i get with the old Olympus (bought new in 2006). We don't want this to be too easy, do we - we want to look at our images and see at least some work and skill in them! And funny, i guessed Cape Town. I would have loved to visit SA, but never did and never will - i stopped travelling when i realised that, no matter where i went, i couldn't escape me! Perfectly content in the swamp now - a lifetime of photography on my doorstep.... (odd)PS: Asahi Optical Coy. Asahi - the only beer i love. Asahi - proud sponsors of Man City(!!!). Asahi - the list goes on... may as well have one. Cheers. 😃
@@luzr6613 Lots of wisdom in this reply! Not least that we can't flee ourselves and that conquering challenges is where satisfaction is - wow, deep truths in a lens video comment section :) It does seem like Asahi has a hook in you!
Your videography is on point! Your production value is WAY better than mine. Wow! The whole video is really well done Danie, I foresee your channel taking off really soon. Nice review as well, I love my 55mm. 👍📸
Thank you, David, that is truly kind of you. I really appreciate it so much. Don't sell yourself short. You pull people in with storytelling - about lenses even. That cannot be faked or done with clever filming. Real always trumps fake.
I like the new direction of your videos... I want to start doing some minir DIY welding. I don't know if you have experience and can make a video about that? I can see your machining skills are up there!
Since I periodically have to use a Fluoruracil 5% on this and that on my skin for any possible precancerous cells..(you get a funny tiny tag, or a dark mole thingy) and am using the stuff now on my clavicle, (very thin treatment with aQ-tip twice a day. what happens is, the surrounding area gets beat up by it, and you find yourself putting the cream over all the reddened areas) So, I'm doing this now, it starts to get painful like a burn, and you still have two weeks to do it..I bet precancerous cells (which is what I'm killing by depriving them of oxygen with this stuff) are more sensitive to the low radiation of these lenses than regular cells. It takes less to set them off.
That is fascinating! Would love to hear a radiologist or oncologist's opinion on this (I suppose they would need to know the exact thorium radiation level these things emit).
@@danienelphoto beauty thanks! Also, regarding this radiation chatter, how true/dangerous/false is this? I just won this lens off an auction for $35 Canadian and pretty pumped until I read some reviews
Hi - sorry for my delayed reply. No, it is not dangerous. Some guy with time on his hands made a calculation that you would need to be in a very small room with about 10 000 of these babies for a long time to feel the effect.
Mine is a no name brand I picked up second hand. Try this one - seems high quality too: tinyurl.com/2fzncvhx M42 - EF adapters are luckily very Lo-fi products, and work very well, are strong and has no small breakable parts. Because they fit so snugly on a lens, you sometimes lose them because you forget them on the back of other m42 lenses!
Most people forget to use a lens hood. The lens is excellent. The radioactive element will yellow but can be cleared periodically by exposing it to bright sunlight or a UV light source. It is a flat field really rectilinear lens that renders detail magically. Great choice.
I use lens hoods on all my pro lenses whenever I shoot, for clarity is definitely enhanced that way. I must just invest in a couple for my vintage glass!
This is one of my favourite lenses. It's probably the main lens I shoot. Although at the moment the 50mm Tessar 2.8 is stuck to my camera but I am sure when the novelty wears off, the Tak 55 will be back on there.
As for radioactivity, don't keep it stored in your hat or your pocket. Otherwise you'll not get much radiation from it- you'll get more from the general background.
I wouldn't advise grinding up the rear element and eating it though.
Like I also said in the video, scenes just seem "right" through it! RE radioactivity, thanks for that! I will stave of the craving to sprinkle thorium glass over my cereal - lol. :)
Nice. I liked the format and your delivery. As to the lens, I have Taks of various ages at most focal lengths, with multiples at some, and my Super-Tak 55 1.8 is one of my faves - no Thorium, but an absolute jewel of a lens. I shoot it on Spotmatic, Olympus E300 (8MP 4/3 CCD) and Pentax K1. The masochist in me likes it on the Olympus the most (for reasons i won't go into, though the struggle to focus is one). It's also so small that i always carry it, just in case i stumble on the right light and colour palette - it does a great Monet impersonation! Thanks for your time and effort - Lkd&Subd - all the best to you from a cabin in a swamp in a rainforest in New Zealand.
Thank you very much for checking out the video and your kind words. I have the same masochistic tendencies... for some reason I have taken to shooting range focus cameras lately. A complete ache in the liver to use, but somehow I enjoy it! Yes, the Taks are amazing. I am just finishing up a video on the SMC Pentax-M 50mm F2, which is another surprising performer for little money. Not as painterly as the Taks, but still... it has depth.
Thanks again for checking in, sub'in and liking - it really does mean a lot. Greetings from a cold and wet suburban Cape Town, South Africa. (A cabin in a swamp in a rain forest in NZ is sounding pretty great right now!)
@@danienelphoto I bet you get a little extra rush of satisfaction when the range delivers... and that's what i get with the old Olympus (bought new in 2006). We don't want this to be too easy, do we - we want to look at our images and see at least some work and skill in them! And funny, i guessed Cape Town. I would have loved to visit SA, but never did and never will - i stopped travelling when i realised that, no matter where i went, i couldn't escape me! Perfectly content in the swamp now - a lifetime of photography on my doorstep.... (odd)PS: Asahi Optical Coy. Asahi - the only beer i love. Asahi - proud sponsors of Man City(!!!). Asahi - the list goes on... may as well have one. Cheers. 😃
@@luzr6613 Lots of wisdom in this reply! Not least that we can't flee ourselves and that conquering challenges is where satisfaction is - wow, deep truths in a lens video comment section :) It does seem like Asahi has a hook in you!
Your videography is on point! Your production value is WAY better than mine. Wow! The whole video is really well done Danie, I foresee your channel taking off really soon. Nice review as well, I love my 55mm. 👍📸
Thank you, David, that is truly kind of you. I really appreciate it so much. Don't sell yourself short. You pull people in with storytelling - about lenses even. That cannot be faked or done with clever filming. Real always trumps fake.
@@danienelphoto Thank you, I really appreciate that.
I like the new direction of your videos... I want to start doing some minir DIY welding. I don't know if you have experience and can make a video about that? I can see your machining skills are up there!
Not coated, the rear lens itself is made of Thorium glass.
I stand corrected - it "contains" thorium then. Thanks for the heads-up!
These are beautiful lenses.
They are, indeed.
Since I periodically have to use a Fluoruracil 5% on this and that on my skin for any possible precancerous cells..(you get a funny tiny tag, or a dark mole thingy) and am using the stuff now on my clavicle, (very thin treatment with aQ-tip twice a day. what happens is, the surrounding area gets beat up by it, and you find yourself putting the cream over all the reddened areas) So, I'm doing this now, it starts to get painful like a burn, and you still have two weeks to do it..I bet precancerous cells (which is what I'm killing by depriving them of oxygen with this stuff) are more sensitive to the low radiation of these lenses than regular cells. It takes less to set them off.
That is fascinating! Would love to hear a radiologist or oncologist's opinion on this (I suppose they would need to know the exact thorium radiation level these things emit).
DO you know which adapater i need for a Fuji X-t30ii?
Yes, indeed, a M42/FX. K&F Concepts makes a nice one.
@@danienelphoto beauty thanks! Also, regarding this radiation chatter, how true/dangerous/false is this? I just won this lens off an auction for $35 Canadian and pretty pumped until I read some reviews
Hi - sorry for my delayed reply. No, it is not dangerous. Some guy with time on his hands made a calculation that you would need to be in a very small room with about 10 000 of these babies for a long time to feel the effect.
I love to know what adapter you use. I have about 10 smc Tamarak m42 lenses and like to use them on a EOS5 mkIII.
Mine is a no name brand I picked up second hand. Try this one - seems high quality too:
tinyurl.com/2fzncvhx
M42 - EF adapters are luckily very Lo-fi products, and work very well, are strong and has no small breakable parts. Because they fit so snugly on a lens, you sometimes lose them because you forget them on the back of other m42 lenses!
Nice video ! Do you recommend for travel around the world ?
Oh yes, it will be a great all round lens for travel photos.
@@danienelphoto thank you !
Just a pleasure. Thanks for watching.