Pentax have been producing lenses for a long time and the super-multi-coated series of Takumar lenses that were introduced in the 70s, have truly stood the test of time. Pentax were often market leaders in lens design and that often lead to excellent technical innovations. I've only recently just started using this lens with my Spotmatic SPII. The build quality of this lens is to put it simply, fantastic. It's possibly one of the best feeling manual lenses that I have ever used. My copy is mint and it appears that it has hardly ever been used. I believe prior to me owning it that it had sat in it's original case for decades. the focus ring has the perfect amount of dampening to it and it's extremely smooth. the aperture ring is super snappy when it's turned. An interesting this to note with this lens, it appears that the lens coatings are only used on the rear lens group. the front element appears to have no coating at all.

PENTAX SPOTMATIC SPII + SUPER-MULTI-COATED TAKUMAR 35MM 3.5 + FOMAPAN 400

In use, the lens has quite a short focus throw, as is common with the majority of wide angle lenses. This allows for quick and easy focusing with the Takumar and it's a joy to use. The lens works well with the micro prism focusing aid in the Spotmatic series of cameras, although the micro prism is a little bit dark, due to the lens being having a maximum aperture of f3.5. The sharpness that this lens produces is excellent when closed down to f.8 and this is often the aperture that I find myself using with this lens the most. I'm largely using this lens for my black and white landscape work and it's a nice option to have in the camera bag. Whilst it's not a super wide angle lens, it fits nicely between the 28mm and 50mm lenses. It offers new and interesting perspectives that can often be the perfect answer for when I'm struggling with composition with my other lenses.

I found that this lens produces a fantastic "3D" effect when shot at the maximum aperture. This lens creates fantastic subject separation, without creating a distracting out of focus background. The S-M-C coating produces fantastic contrast, and although I haven't used this particular Takumar with colour film yet, I'm sure that it will reproduce excellent colours and contrast with colour film as well, just like the other S-M-C takumars I have used in the past.

The Takumar 35mm 3.5 is not a lens that is often talked about online and quite frankly it's a little bit of a hidden gem. The lens is really affordable and a nice copy can be found for under £70. Of course, there is the other Takumar 35mm f2 lens, This lens gets excellent reviews online, but of course it comes with a price tag to go with it. The f3.5 is the cheaper option of the two, but it still produces excellent results and if you're shooting M42 mount cameras, I recommend picking one up to add to your lens collection.

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