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

The first lens with IF: Goerz Telegor 6.3/240mm
Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2021 8:47 am    Post subject: The first lens with IF: Goerz Telegor 6.3/240mm Reply with quote
This Goerz lens is nearly 100 years old, made in Berlin in the early 1920th
In this time there were no 35mm reflex cameras available and the Leica rangefinder camera are only found as prototypes.
It were made for 35mm cine film cameras and it is a very uncommon lens in this long focus length.
The cine cameras don´t have reflex finders, fast lenses of telephoto lenses can be focus only with a separate special device with a goundglass, the focus will be noted and the focus puller has to set it during the filming process.

The Telegor is a four element lens, a typical design and developed ot of the Zeiss Tessar, a lot of lens makers offered similar products.

What´s makes this lens unique?
It has an internal focus.
While focus the front of it don´t turns or moves in any kind.
It will be focussed by the rear lens group which moves inside the lens barrel.

I don´t know any other lens of this time with this technology and I have only knowledge of two lenses from Goerz.
The first one I got in Germany 10 years ago and I gave it a M42 mount and sold it to a photographer in Hong Kong
This one is the second and I bought in the States around two years ago.

Now I found the time to repair it, the focus won´t work anymore but now it is ok.
I made a T2 socket for it to make it usable with nearly every camera system ever made.

I used it with my Nikon F801s and a Kentmere 400, developed in Klaus Wehner Developer, a new Atomal.

The image quality surprised me, it is very sharp and with a good contrast. The focus is very easy and fast and it can be use in a range between oo-1.5m!

I tested it with my Sony 7A as well and the results are very good as well.







PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2021 2:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
True, very sharp and with some residual abberations that give the image an "organic" feel. Thank you for sharing.

I presume the smaller the maximum opening of the lens is, the sharper it is. I tested a Boyer Apo-Saphir which is f10 wide open. It's performance is pretty impressive.

Have nice new experiences with your Telegor!


PostPosted: Thu May 13, 2021 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Never see this lens. It seems it should be very good for its time!

BTW, I don't consider rear focusing as internal focusing. Otherwise, front-cell focusing can also be considered as internal focusing.


PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2021 5:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
calvin83 wrote:
Never see this lens. It seems it should be very good for its time!

BTW, I don't consider rear focusing as internal focusing. Otherwise, front-cell focusing can also be considered as internal focusing.


Maybe you are right but the idea were great to design a lens with does´nt moves outside in any kind.
The focus moves inside the lens it is the same way like today.
The modern lenses having much more elements and the IF of this lenses compensate the zoom effect of this focus method much better. When lens elements are changing the distances to another the focus length getting longer an shorter.

A front focus is not an IF because the front cell is moving, it mostly turns and makes the lens longer.


PostPosted: Fri May 14, 2021 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
alex ph wrote:
True, very sharp and with some residual abberations that give the image an "organic" feel. Thank you for sharing.

I presume the smaller the maximum opening of the lens is, the sharper it is. I tested a Boyer Apo-Saphir which is f10 wide open. It's performance is pretty impressive.

Have nice new experiences with your Telegor!



I made a couple of pictures with the lens, all by hand and so I have to used f/6.3 and for 2 shots f/8 and the image quality is like shown.

The reason can be that the image circle of the lens were much larger than the film size.

An often used method in that time.

Leica used lenses for 4x5" format like the Elmar 4.5/135 in the late 1920th and the Elmar 4/90mm is good for a 6x7cm size.

The 50mm lenses can be use in the old 127 3x4cm format as well.

Another point is the excellent developer from Klaus Wehner, it gives perfect results, the films are holding the speed, the grain is small and the negatives are sharp.

The image quality is close to medium format with films like the Kodak Tmax 100.

Here I used the Kentmere 400. It has a heavy grain but the tonal range is ok, for a lens test much good enough and it works very good with the Wehner Developer.

When I find Time I want to use the lens with a digital camera much more and to show some samples here.


PostPosted: Sat May 15, 2021 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
A sample I made today with the Telegor.
I used f/6.3
Sony ILCE-7A
ISO 1000 1/640sec.

Post new topic   Reply to topic
Home   Manual Focus Lenses
Page 1 of 1