Meyer Telemegor 300/4.5 Exakta (external) - best Telemegor ?

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

I picked this thing up cheaply because it was in ugly condition -

The lenses, front and back, were full of dirt and scratched, there was dirt (sand, earth) inside the lens mount, and the body is worn, full of nicks and scratches. These black Telemegors already look rather like bits of old drain-pipe, and in this one the illusion is perfected. The tripod mount is missing its knob. The glass did clean up quite well though, and everything that was meant to move still does.

The mount was the Exakta external mount (which goes over the outside flanges of the Exakta mount, not inside like the usual Exakta lens), which is difficult to adapt. I was unable to open the mount to see if I could insert a replacement, so I made a mount adapter to fit over the weird mount. This was of course the good old M42-PK adapter, on which I Dremeled out slots to go over the Exakta mount lugs. I drilled and tapped small screw holes in the Exakta mount and I screwed it together. It is an - almost- fully-reversible adaptation. I was not able to figure out how to open the thing, so I didn't adjust the focus, so it does not get to infinity on my Pentax, but it does get to amout 50 yards/50 meters, so for my usual purposes it is quite useful.

Like many other Meyers this one seems to have been originally meant for medium-format cameras, but was often made in a 35mm lens mount. As such it is an enormous and heavy beast. It is hand-holdable, but if I make it a habit to use this lens I think I will end up with arms like our governor (I live in California).

Negatives -

Weight and size of course. You don't want to hang this from a strap, or make the poor camera and mount carry the strain. Focus travel is very long, and the lens barrel is very large, and the helical is a bit stiff, so it takes some time to focus. Not your sports lens, this. Lots of color fringing in backlit and high-contrast areas wide open, and even stopped down a bit. Lots of flare and poor contrast in most backlit situations, and generally contrast isn't great.

Positives -

For a 300/4.5, this is a very sharp lens wide-open. I was shooting all day at f/4.5 because it was mostly cloudy, and the results were excellent. Wide-open, I think this thing is better than my Takumar 300/4. I have all the Telemegor series I think, and this is the best of them. The weight seems to have steadied the camera, because the Pentax IS was doing a wonderful job with this, I was getting sharp hand-held shots at 1/60. It also focuses very close for an old 300mm, 10ft/3m, very useful.

Nearly all shots at f/4.5 -

The bird -

crop -

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Congrats, Luis, this looks like a superb lens. Your results are gorgeous -- of course this has much to do with the talent of the operator. Number 10 and 11 (last two before "The Bird") are stunning.

Cheers!

Abbazz

Spotmatic · Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 4045 Location: Netherlands

Great results from such a (not easy to use) lens! Congratulations!

Ballu · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:52 pm Post subject:

Is this similar/same to Tair 300mm f4.5 lens...

BTW, nice captures..

Toeteraar · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject:

Great results. Nice background in the second and third picture

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Stunning pictures! Yeah this is a great lens, one of hidden gem.

no-X · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:14 pm Post subject:

I miss drooling smilie Smile

estudleon · Joined: 15 May 2008 Posts: 3754 Location: Argentina

What a lens!! What a photographer!!

Both EXCELENTS!!!

Rino.

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Interesting comparison to the Tair.

Both are from about the same period, and similar specifications, and both are almost 2kg (@4 pounds). I believe the Tair was also designed for coverage of 6x6, partly explaining the large size and weight.

But the specs say the Telemegors are all 4 elements in 2 groups (and thats what mine seem like). The Tair spec says 4 elements in 3 groups. And the lens barrel construction seems very different.

So I think these were two quite different lenses designed for the same specification.

yalcinaydin · Joined: 20 May 2008 Posts: 825 Location: Izmir, Turkey

Great results Luis!

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

From my copies Tair a bit sharper lens.

Rusty · Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:34 am Post subject:

Fantastic shots !!...all of them...Luis you are a wizzard Very Happy

gil · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:32 pm Post subject:

Wow, like bringing a mummy to life :~).
cheers,
gil

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

Looking for samples of Telemegor i found yours. Superb!

woodrim · Joined: 14 Jan 2010 Posts: 4060 Location: Charleston

Yes, very nice shots. How is this lens different than the Orestegor f/4... besides the speed? The Orestegor weighs over 6 pounds; can it really be 50% heavier than the Telemegor?

nixland · Expire: 2012-07-29

Stunning photos!

This lens deserves the sub-title "Old lens Die hard" ... Smile

Long Live MF Lens!

Pancolart · Expire: 2013-11-18

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

Amazingly sharp lens and great shots!

NikonD · Joined: 29 Jul 2008 Posts: 1922 Location: Slovenija

amazing photos!

kuuan · Expire: 2014-12-26

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

On Telemegors -

This may be as much because of sample variation as anything, but,

- 180/5.5 - Not quite sharp wide open (and thats even on my 6mp K100D), though with that aperture it should be. Nice bokeh, very small and light.

- 250/5.5 - Not quite sharp wide open, though with that aperture it should be.
Also very small and light. Mine may have been a bad one, the glass had problems.

- 400/5.5 - Mine was disappointing even by my standards. For sure f/5.5 on this thing was only for focusing, and not really adequate even for that. It was hard to nail focus because of the aberrations visible even in the viewfinder.

From what I have seen (and there is the problem of sample variation, I have only tried one of each) the 300/4.5 is by far the best of them on the K100D.
I need to try this lens with the K-x, maybe I will be less impressed.

NewStuff · Joined: 31 Mar 2011 Posts: 847 Location: Wales, UK

I now feel the need to go out and practice before I post any more shots from Zoo visits. Great captures.

kuuan · Expire: 2014-12-26

thank you very much Luis for your kind and comprehensive evaluation of all your Telemegors

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4085 Location: Switzerland

My experience with Meyer GÃ¶rlitz lenses is very limited. About fifteen years ago I bought a 3.5/180mm Primotar (basically a huge Tessar) with M42 mount which was easily adapted to the Sony A900 DSLR. The lens had a low contrast, pretty hig resolution and remarkably little lateral CAs.

Some years ago I was given a tiny prewar Tele Megor 5.5/15cm, and not much later an early Tele Megor 5.5/40cm appeared on the local market. After a few rounds of continuously diminishing prices I bought it. That 400mm Primotar pretty much is a historical lens, especially since it has the first Hasselblad mount (for the 1600 SLR).

Today, finally, a postwar Telemegor 4.5/300mm arrived here. The lens is huge, heavy, and built like a tank. Unlike the earlier prewar [4/2] Tele Megors, the postwar Telemegor 4.5/300 now had a [4/3] construction and incorporated more modern glass variants. According to zeissikonveb.de it was produced from 1955 to about 1965. I now have the later barrel which looks like an "all black zebra" design, i. e. an 1960s lens. It will be interesting to see how it compares to my Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/300mm from 1949, and to the early Minolta and Nikon 4.5/300 lenses (the Minolta Rokkor-QD is a [4/4] design, while the Nikkor-H Auto 4.5/300mm is a [6/5] design).

To late for tests today, and a snowstorm looming - I'll have to wait ...

S

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4085 Location: Switzerland