Lenses with character

The Takumar 50mm/1.4 I believe emits radiation. Does anyone know if the Takumar 135mm/3.5 of the same vintage also emits radiation ? In this era of "warning from the state of CA this product is known to contain cancer causing substance " should owners of these hot lenses keep them in lead bags such as those used to protect film from x-ray screening in airports?

I don't know about Takumars, But one day I took my FD Atomic 35/2.0 to work and walked it over to the NDT office. One of the boys got out a Geiger counter and we measured it at the rear element. It definitely registered, but if I remember right he said something to the effect that you would have to hang it on your neck continuously for years to get one maximum daily dose of radiation.

Nearly every camera brand had a couple of "radioactive" lenses from the 1950s thru 1970s era: it was the only way to squeeze out better performance at wide apertures until ED glass and mass-produced aspheric elements became available. Few (if any) sold for consumer use on a 35mm SLR or rangefinder camera were problematic enough to be a health risk unless you strapped it to your groin for weeks on end or held the lens glass itself up to your eye indefinitely. And you certainly wouldn't want to make a habit of using vintage radioactive binoculars, where you don't have an intervening camera body as shield for your eye. You'd want to be a little more thoughtful with storage (i.e. not under your bed or accessible to small children), but its usually not a big deal. The primary complaint anyone regularly has about them is the glass turns brownish-yellowish over time and needs to be cleared with sustained sunlight or UV exposure.

Most of the risk legends stem from larger or unusual military/industrial lenses like the infamous Kodak Aero Ektar. Lots of web pages about this topic, here's a random one with a nice Leica in it:

A Radioactive Lens

What year is the Takumar in the top pic? After my brother completed his service in Vietnam in 1968 he stopped in Hong Kong and I asked him to buy me a Pentax Spot Matic with a 50mm/1.4. The serial number of the 50/1.4 is 1588125 and of the body is 1218953. Is the vintage of the Takumar 50/1.4 in the top pic earlier or later than the one I have?

Going by the Serial Number- you have the early 8-element 50/1.4.

1 : 1.4 / 50 (358) 8 element

It does NOT use thorium-glass.

On the Canon FD-mount, my chrome nosed 50/1.4 is "SC", the later black-nosed lens is an SSC. The coatings changed, but the optical formula is the same as the later (1968) Canon FL 50/1.4. Used on a mirrorless camera- go for the FL mount lens as it has a switch for manual aperture and tends to be cheaper.

Leica - Canon 50/1.4 FL Mount on the M9 and M Monochrom

My FL mount Canon 50/1.4 is RF coupled and converted to M-Mount.