ZERØ OPTIK Rehousing for Pentax Super-Takumar Lenses Announced

Lens News

by Francesco AndreolaMarch 27^th, 2024

ZERØ OPTIK, an LA-based company specializing in modifying and customizing vintage lenses for cinematography, has just presented their latest rehousing project built around the Pentax Super-Takumar lens series. Let’s take a closer look!

Lens enthusiasts are constantly on the quest for a cinematic, vintage look. And while there are many options to choose from out there – like the popular Canon FD, Nikon AI-S, or Olympus M series, for example – none of these still vintage lenses were designed for use on a professional film set. Hence, cinematic rehousing is often necessary. By the way, if you’d like to learn more about this operation, I highly recommend watching this recent, insightful video by Media Division.

When it comes to lens rehousing, ZERØ OPTIK is definitely a major player. The American firm already has a number of projects under their belt, and their latest effort aims at giving a new life to Pentax Super-Takumar glass. Let’s take a look!

ZERØ OPTIK Pentax Super-Takumar rehousing project

Named after Japanese-American painter Takuma Kajiwara, brother of Asahi Optical’s founder Kumao Kajaware, the Super-Takumars are a set of M42 screw mount lenses originally built in the early 1960s for 35mm stills photography. These lenses are known for producing rich, warm tones, and creamy bokeh.

Currently, ZERØ OPTIK offers 3 Super-Takumar focal lengths – 35mm f/2, 50mm f/1.4, and 85mm f/1.8 – but more lenses should join the set in the future.

In particular, the 50mm is the legendary 8-element version – also known as the “Planar killer” – and features an expensive-to-manufacture cemented triplet with curved surfaces. Legend has it that this lens was so hard to produce that Asahi Optical lost money on every copy sold. As a result, the 8-element design was later abandoned in favor of a simpler 7-element structure.

After rehousing, the lenses feature a 95mm front diameter that is consistent across the set to facilitate the use of matte boxes and filters. Moreover, as you can tell from the picture below, the number of iris blades is increased to produce a perfectly circular bokeh. Additionally, the company managed to improve close-focus capabilities.

I couldn’t find the exact figures of the minimum focus distances on the rehoused lenses. For reference, the original Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4 (Version 1) can focus as close as 45cm/17.7”.

Price and availability

At the moment of writing, there’s no official information regarding the cost of the rehousing, but we will update the article as soon as we find out. Generally speaking, rehousing a set of vintage lenses is an expensive operation due to the high expertise involved.

For more information, please visit ZERØ OPTIK’s website.

Do you own any of these Super-Takumar lenses? How do you like their look? Would you ever think of rehousing your set? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!