Old Telemegor 400mm - Pentacon's 500 ancestor

Maxim · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Poland 52°N 17°E

Hi! In the last days I've been very busy so I hadn't much time to visit the forum.
But now I must tell you about my last buy. Today I took the parcel containing Telemegor 5.5/400 with both caps, lens hood and original factory box. The lens is in very good visual condition, optically and mechanically - near mint. Aperture blades and glass looks like new Smile

I bought the Telemegor because I love old lenses and it wasn't expensive (44€; 48.3€ including shipping).
I took some test images, but not in the best light condition. To be honest – I didn't take any sharp image. A tripod is needed for such long tele! I'll write more in the free time (probably weekend) – and I'll post more(and better) photos.

For comparison: Biotar 58mm, Trioplan 100mm.

Sample images (no tripod, only propped hand):

F/8, ISO 200; distance ~12m; front bokeh looks ugly; rear bokeh is very nice and creamy

F/5.5, ISO 800; distance ~30m

against the sunlight, F/11; distance 30-40m

F/8; 1/50sec, ISO 200:

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

Dang it's HUGE! Shocked

These first samples seem promising, waiting to see more.

Maxim · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Poland 52°N 17°E

Orio - I don't expect spectacular quality, but Telemegor may be pretty nice (but heavy) lens for photographing wild animals... or good tool for body-building! Good night, colleagues Smile

BTW guess the lens Wink

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

congrats Hubert! the quality look very promising

Maxim · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Poland 52°N 17°E

Poilu - all my photos are shaken a bit, but you're right - the lens is promising. I expect similar quality like from Soviet mirror lenses, but with more pleasant bokeh. The photo in the last post is from Telemegor's small brother - Trioplan. The bokeh looks crazy Cool

Ouuuh... For 5 hours I have the reveille Shocked

luisalegria · Expire: 2018-01-18

Wonderful !

I want one, I have bid for a couple but the price went too high. I admit I want it only for a very shallow reason - because of the appearance of the thing; I would certainly take a Kilfitt Sport Fern-Kilar as an even cooler substitute !

The secret with 400mm handheld seems to be - built-in (in the camera) IS and fast shutter speed, even if you have to underexpose. And a bright sunny day of course.

The weight of this thing might even help with the stability handheld.

Particle_Man · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Posts: 7 Location: Sweden

I have the same 400mm in my closet waiting to be used on my D80. I agree that it's a very big lens to handle, and the focusing is rather stiff on mine. Smile

Those samples shows the same I've experienced.

Maxim · Joined: 27 Oct 2007 Posts: 284 Location: Poland 52°N 17°E

Luisalegria - I bought this lens because it was a bargain. It isn't the best choice for 4/3 system and hand-held shots (it's a 800mm equivalent), but I love old lenses and I couldn't stop myself from the purchase Cool

Particle_Man - big toy, big pleasure Laughing

Even when it may be only a part of collection.
Today I took some test photos. The day has been cloudy and windy, so I used a "tripod" (to be precise: "a substitute of tripod" - an old chair).
My conclusion: at F/5.5 this lens produces very (veeery) soft, low contrast images with some glow. Bokeh looks very pleasant and the DOF is very shallow. When stopped down, Telemegor gives pretty sharp images, with good contrast. Bokeh looks nice. Note that the weather was bad and it wasted contrast.

F/5.5; ISO 100; 1/100 sec:

100% crops:

F/16; ISO 100; 1/13 sec:

100% crops:

Praktice makes perfect - hand-held shot (in JPG format; orig. 1600x1200); ISO 400, 1/400 sec, F/11: