Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/2

I’m experimenting with some vintage lenses and Fotodiox adapters. In a fit of nostalgia, I recently bought an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic II on eBay. It came with an Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/2 lenses. This lens has an M42 mount. X-photographers such as Jonas Rask and amateurs such as Ritchie Roesch are adept at using vintage lenses with a Fuji X camera. I wanted to give it a try. I bought a Fotodiox Lens Mount Adapter Compatible with M42 Screw Mount SLR Lens on Fuji X-Mount Cameras and mounted the Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/2 lens to my Fuji X-T2.

All shots were handheld, so any softness in the photos is probably because of my unsteady hand. Please keep in mind that this is more of a superficial look at the kinds of results I might expect from this lens and adapter combination. It is not a review. It is me just wanting to be curious and find a reason to go out and shot and have some fun. If attaching an old lens to my modern “digital photon capturing device” does that for me, it might do that for you. I’m just having fun. After all, one of the reasons why I switched to the Fuji X system was the retro experience.

The Fuji X-T2 has an APS-C sensor. The crop factor is 1.5. That means that the 55mm lens on this camera has the same FOV as an 82.5mm lens on a 35mm full-frame camera. Jonas Rask recommended the Mitakon Zhongyi Lens Turbo Adapter V2 for Full-Frame M42 Mount Lens to Fujifilm X Mount APS-C adapter.

The Lens Turbo Adapter V2 for Full-Frame M42 Mount Lens to Fujifilm X Mount APS-C Camera from Mitakon Zhongyi allows a full-frame M42 mount lens to be mounted onto a Fujifilm X mount camera. While doing so, the adapter approximates the lens’s angle of view as if it were placed directly on a camera with a full-frame sensor while providing a 1-stop increase over the lens’s aperture range.Jonas Rask

With the Mitakon Zhongyi Lens Turbo Adapter V2 for Full-Frame M42 Mount Lens to Fujifilm X Mount APS-C adapter, I could use the Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/2 lens like a 55mm lens. I am considering buying an Asahi SMC Takumar 28mm f/3.5 lens. On the Fuji X-T2, the lens would offer a ~42mm FOV, which is a normal FOV. This lens and adapter combination would be perfect for street photography.

The focus peaking feature of the Fuji X-T2 is handy for manually focusing this lens. The lens adapter does not transmit aperture settings back to the camera body. My biggest challenge is remembering which aperture setting I used to take the shot. The following sample photos reflect my unscientific testing: namely, attach the Asahi SMC Takumar 55mm f/2 lens to the Fuji X-T2 and shoot stuff around the neighbourhood. I shot using a modified version of Ritchie Roesch’s Kodachrome II Film Simulation Recipe. The following is the result. The following JPEG images are straight out of cameras (SOOC).

My “Nostalgia” Film Simulation Recipe starts with Classic Chrome.