At least all the bow wows were the same bow wows. :) I am sure every lens had different design and test specifications. The problem with the bow wow 20mm was mostly geometry which is by optical design, not assembly tolerances. I bet they most likely were only doing resolution tests, not geometry tests anyway. Dont forget either that when the 20mm super tak was introduced, it was the widest rectilinear lens they had ever made and they probably thought it was acceptable for the "extreme" focal length it offered...Not to me it isnt, but at least thats the only bow wow they really ever made in M42 super/ smc takumar series. Even their early zooms were better than that. jco
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of mike wilson Sent: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 5:03 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Why Pentax Takumar Screw lenses were/are all so good? J. C. O'Connell wrote: > Nobody came up with the answer to my quiz why > the Pentax Takumar Screw mount lenses were/are all > so good? > > Answer : They were 200% optical bench tested > before being sold in USA. Thats right, 200%. > > Every single final assembled Takumar Lens > was optically bench tested at the Asahi > factory in Japan before being imported into > the USA by Honeywell. THEN, once Honeywell > got them, Every single lens was optically bench tested AGAIN by > Honeywell before being put for sale in USA. This is why ( along with > the superb build quality ) there is such consistant high optical > quality for these lenses as the dogs were all rejected in the process. How did the 20mm(?) (alleged) Bow-wow get through that? > > I doubt that many lenses today are subjected to > such high quality control. I am sure expensive > ones still are, but not the entire lens series. > It would be way too costly in today's market I would especially when > the build quality of many lenses ( especially budget models ) would > create more rejects. > > This brings up another thought, wouldnt it have been > cool to work in that test dept and have a company > discount to purchase the lenses? I mean, if a given > lens had to meet say, 75 lp/mm to pass test, and they typically ran > say, 80 to 85 lp/mm, what would be cool would be to sit aside and buy > the occasional 90 to 95 lp/mm lens that might have squeaked thru once > in a while. Employees get to buy the "gems" so to speak! I wonder if > this actually occured, or maybe Pentax or Honeywell permitted it? That > would interesting to find out. > > jco > > > > > > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
