Articles
Features written from the record: the glass, the factories, and the stories the datasheets only hint at.
For about two years in the mid-1960s, Asahi built its Super Takumar 50mm f/1.4 with eight elements to answer the Zeiss Planar, then quietly recalculated it to seven inside the same barrel and never said a word. The early version is the M42 file's legend: reportedly sold at a loss, mostly free of the thorium that yellows its successor, and identical to it at a glance. This dossier records the story, the disputed handover years, and the examination that separates the two, including the famous infrared-index tell the references state in opposite directions.
October 14, 2026
Some of the best vintage glass ever made is measurably radioactive, on purpose. Here is why manufacturers did it, why the glass turns yellow, and why you can relax.
September 12, 2026