To get a decent 135mm vintage lens is not a matter of a big investment. Most of the constructions are derived from a classical Sonnar design. Both constructions of the 3.5 versions are 4 element lenses , the Takumar in 4 groups the Carl Zeiss Jena MC Sonnar with the classic Sonnar of 3 groups.
To gather more light is resulting in more complicated design. The Elmarit has managed to add only one element to the classic Sonnar design with a result that is honored with best sharpness and a pleasant and smooth bokeh. A great job!
The Takumar 2.5 way is more complicated and the result is good but not outstanding.
The pricing of the lenses on the used market are starting from 25 Euro for rugged versions of the Takumar up to 300 Euro for a mint copy of the Leica, which is a bargain in Leica terms.
The build quality of the Takumars is outstanding, even when the outside is really rugged the smoothness of the focusing is still a benchmark! The build of the Elmarit is like a tank, and the last in the bunch in these game is a only a good build quality of the CZJ Sonnar.
But with every lens of the selection you get your job done with the addition of a real joy of manual focusing.
The sharpness of the Elmarit at f2.8 is excellent and I love the transition from focus to out of focus areas. Both pictures are processed in Lightrom with my Porta Preset.
