Ringo’s Camera

I gave Ringo a call and asked him if he was still using the Spotmatic that he used in
“A Hard Day’s Night.” He said he wasn’t, and he sent it off to me. What a nice guy!

I think this half century old camera is really handsome. I’ve run a couple of rolls of film
through it and it works perfectly. The 50mm 1.4 Super Takumar lens is considered to be one
of the best old manual fifties, however it is very “hot”, i.e., it is one of the most radioactive
lenses ever put on the market. From everything I’ve read it is not particularly dangerous to
use; just don’t sleep with it under your pillow. If you are worried about using this lens,
then to be consistent you should not fly on commercial jets.

I bought an M42 adapter for my Z6, so soon I’ll try this lens out on the Z6. I’ve read that
radioactivity can theoretically damage sensors, so to be on the safe side I won’t store the
lens on the camera.

Best viewed at original size.