Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Sample Photos, Real-world Use, and Specs | Round Glass Review

Lenses like these are the reason that Pentax users are feverishly dedicated to their cameras. If you’re coming to this video as someone who has never held or used a good, vintage Takumar lens, it’s hard to convey just how wonderfully well designed these lenses are.

Takumars do an excellent job of marrying exceptional optics, small size, superb build quality, and stunning overall handling and feel into an open relationship of communal bliss. Back in the day, the Asahi slogan was something like ‘you just have to hold a Pentax,’ and that’s not wrong. Takumars were designed as users’ lenses where the feel and interface matched the image quality.

Fisheyes are a hard lens type to use, but this one, covering the entire frame is not as hard as some. And it honestly doesn’t distort the scene as much as many similar lenses. I would be lying to you if I said I enjoy using fisheye lenses. I do not. I find the perspective warping to be off-putting.

But if I had to use one fisheye lens, it would probably be this one. I do prefer the Takumar 6X7 35mm fisheye from a usability standpoint, but this lens’ size, performance, and completely enjoyable handling can’t be matched in this class of lenses.

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Video Index:
0:00 - Intro
0:11 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Round Glass Review
2:23 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Specifications
3:48 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Tips & Tricks
8:07 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Lens Diagram
9:00 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Video Use
9:53 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Strengths & Weaknesses
15:00 - Fish-eye Takumar 17mm f/4 Review

References:
https://lens-db.com/asahi-super-multi...

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