Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!
SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

Telemegor 400mm f5.5 should i buy it?
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 6:26 am    Post subject: Telemegor 400mm f5.5 should i buy it? Reply with quote
Hi all!

I just got offered a Telemegor 400mm f5.5 in mint condition for 75 euro. Should i buy it?






PostPosted: Fri Mar 01, 2013 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
If you want - or need - a 400mm lens and can afford the price the answer must be YES Very Happy


PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is the mount end complete? It looks a little strange to me.


PostPosted: Sat Mar 02, 2013 2:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looks like M42
The lens itself seems to be a very late version with different lens mount layout than most.

As for quality - you have there a late version, so I can't say that my experience matches.
My lens was much earlier (1950's alu finish) and it was quite poor wide open, though the rendering was interesting.
There was probably a lot of manufacturing variation with these.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
luisalegria wrote:
As for quality - you have there a late version, so I can't say that my experience matches.
My lens was much earlier (1950's alu finish) and it was quite poor wide open, though the rendering was interesting.
There was probably a lot of manufacturing variation with these.


The same could be said for late version. I doubt it is a variation matter. It simply is a strange lens.

Today i have some aperture blades on the menu:



One by one cleaning was required. 19 blades by the way!


PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 1:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have a 400mm F5.5 Telemegor exactly like the one pictured above. You can see my lens here:

http://forum.mflenses.com/shooting-the-moon-with-400mm-lenses-sigma-apo-and-telemegor-t65938,highlight,%2Bsigma+%2B400mm+%2Btelemegor.html

The Telemegor is mechanically robust, well built and easy to maintain. It is a lens to last centuries.

The optics is good for the standards of the '50s and '60s but certainly not comparable to the best modern telephoto lenses. Wide open (F5.5) the contrast is quite low due to the residual spherical aberration. Close it down one stop to F8, and the performance increases noticeably. From F8 on the performance keeps improving. At F16 the lens is quite sharp.

Below, 100% crops that show the resolution in the center of field. The numbers refer to LWPH/100 (hundreds of Line Widths per Picture Height). All pictures converted from RAW with no sharpening.

USAF 1951 test chart:



F5.5 (wide open):



F8:



F11:



F16:



Verdict
A Telemegor 400mm F5.5 in mint condition certainly is worth $75. However, it should be clear that the wide open performance is not brilliant, especially if used with a crop sensor camera. I would recommend the Telemegor 400mm F5.5 for use with FF cameras, and closing down the aperture two or three stops.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think you should ask for a discount to cover the dent in the front Smile


PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 8:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I never take it to use ... just as collector piece, if I need cheap 400mm lens I rather buy 500mm mirror lenses Tamron SP or Russian MTO


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
JohnBar wrote:
I think you should ask for a discount to cover the dent in the front Smile

It is short hood. And it can be easily re-bent using kitchen wooden spoon.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Telemegor 400mm f5.5 should i buy it? Reply with quote
rtodorovsky wrote:
Hi all!

I just got offered a Telemegor 400mm f5.5 in mint condition for 75 euro. Should i buy it?


I can offer two opinions on your question. First, my personal opinion:

I don't like the lens at that price. Based on Gerald's assessment of the optical quality for a lens of that period, you can buy the same optics for a lot less money.

Next, the opinion of the marketplace, the only opinion that really matters:

The marketplace says "buy". The marketplace says I am full of prunes. The marketplace, in virtually all instances for that lens in that condition, is paying more than a paltry €75. The marketplace, in short, likes that lens a lot.

The marketplace represents the collective wisdom of a great many buyers, talking with hard cash and not words alone. So regardless I might not agree, I always consider respectfully what the marketplace is saying. Enjoy the lens! Smile

Here is a reference:

Click here to see on Ebay

and another:

Click here to see on Ebay


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Interesting situation with the telemegor 400/5.5
Why is it this bad ? The same formula is used for the Telemegor 300/4.5 and that is a much better lens.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
luisalegria wrote:
Interesting situation with the telemegor 400/5.5
Why is it this bad ? . . . . . .


Possibly an unusually high level of copy-to-copy variation?


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 4:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think all the Penacopn era lenses suffer from very large copy variation. the 1.8/50 is a great example, the best are as sharp as a Pancolar 1.8/50 wide open, but most are not and many are soft until closed to f4. The 2.8/135 is the same - a good one is as sharp as a Sonnar 3.5/135 but most are not and many are not very sharp at all.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
luisalegria wrote:
Interesting situation with the telemegor 400/5.5
Why is it this bad ? The same formula is used for the Telemegor 300/4.5 and that is a much better lens.

No, the Meyer 400mm F5.5 Telemegor is not a bad lens!
The Telemegor's performance is more or less equivalent to the German and Japanese 400mm F5.6 telephoto lenses of the '50s and '60s.
It seems to me now that there was an incorrect interpretation of the test photos I posted. Those photos were 100% crops purposely without any post-processing. The usefulness of these photos was twofold:

1) to see how the contrast varies with aperture
2) to measure the resolution in terms of LWPH

To get the resolution in pairs / mm line, use the following formula:

lp / mm = LWPH / 48

Remember that the values in the chart are marked in hundreds of LWPH. The resolution is found searching for the lines that can barely be seen separately. For example, for the aperture F8, the resolution is given by:

22.4 x 100 /48 = 46.7 lp / mm

However, depending on your interpretation of what means "lines barely separated" the resolution could be given by:

25.2 x 100 /48 = 52.5 lp / mm

A telephoto lens that resolves about 50 lp / mm only one stop down from wide open is quite reasonable, I think.

Well, enough of technicalities. Let's take a look at some normal photos taken with the Telemegor.
The distance to the photographed subjects was 3-5 km.
The atmospheric conditions were not ideal, as shown by the undulations of the straight lines of the houses and buildings.

The camera was a Sony A99 using shutter priority with a shutter speed of 1/400s.
The pictures were taken handheld with lens focus set to infinite.
The JPG pictures from the camera were processed with Perfect Clear with default settings.

First the full images downscaled to a width of 1024 pixels, then the 100% crops of a central part of the photos.


Telemegor at F5,5 - full image:




Telemegor at F8 - full image:




Telemegor at F11 - full image:



Telemegor at F5,5 - 100% crop:




Telemegor at F8 - 100% crop:




Telemegor at F11 - 100% crop:



My conclusions
1) The Telemegor is barely usable wide open. This is understandable because 50 years ago, the maximum aperture was used primarily for focusing and framing.

2) Just close down the aperture one point to image improves dramatically. I believe Telemegor F8 is better (higher contrast and resolution) that most mirror lenses. One should take in account that F8 mirror lenses have effective aperture of only F10 or F11. Moreover, mirror lenses don't allow varying the aperture and the bokeh is bad (but some people like).

3) The Telemegor 400mm can be used handheld, but with some effort. It weighs about 2kg, almost the same as a Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3. The problem with handhelding the Telemegor is not so much the weight, but the difficulty of focusing and framing accurately.
If possible it is better to use a tripod.

My verdict is that the Telemegor 400mm F5.5 is a simple but honest and very usable lens. Mechanically it is indestructible and its performance is quite reasonable when used with apertures equal or smaller than F8.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
My impression with my Telemegor was that it was considerably worse than three Piesker 400/5.5, the old Tamron/5.6 (earliest T-mount model), Schneider 360/5.6 (a LOT worse), Komura 400/6.3, Spiratone 400/6.3, Tokina (Mamiya) 400/6.3, Tamron 400/6.9, etc. etc.

I am quite a fan of 400mm !

The Tamron, Schneider, Pieskers, etc. are all, if not perfect, quite usable wide open, which was not true for the Telemegor.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I would say that the performance of the Telemegor wide open is not worse than many 50-55mm F1.2 wide open... Did you notice how all crap 50-55mm F1.2 lenses are extremely popular today? Laughing

Yes, the Telemegor wide open is a dog, but it's amazing how fast the performance improves as the aperture closes down just a bit. A half stop down from wide open (unfortunately I did not take a photo at F6.3 to show here) and you get a very acceptable performance.

One final remark: As I said, at F6.3 the Telemegor is considerably better compared with wide open, but I would like to note that F6.3 is an aperture equal or greater than the maximum aperture of several lenses you mentioned: Komura 400/6.3, Spiratone 400/6.3, Tokina (Mamiya) 400/6.3, Tamron 400/6.9 . Would these lenses outperform the Telemegor at the same aperture? Question


PostPosted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 12:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
From my impression at the time I had it, I would say yes, these other lenses all would outperform the Telemegor stopped down a bit. Of course I cant test this now as I no longer have the Telemegor.
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Page 1 of 1