Telemegor and others

[photax]

Hi !

Here are two heavy lenses I found last weekend: A German Meyer-Goerlitz Telemegor 5.5/400 with an Exakta-mount, maybe from the 1960`s ? I think this one would rather fit a large-format camera. Is there anyone who knows something about this lens ?





The second one was original packaged, unused and came with three filters. The box says: “Kiev 19” and some Russian words I do not understand. The lens is marked with “3M-6A 6.3/500” and I thought this will fit my Kiev 19 and about 10.- USD is a bargain that would never come again. At home I realized that this mirror-tele lens has a M-42 mount and does not fit the Kiev 19 at all, this camera has a kind of Nikon-mount. Have there ever Kiev 19`s been built with M-42 mount ?



I also found a non working Zenit-E with a bag full of accessories for 5.-. I threw the Zenit away and kept the lenses, sunshades and filters: A rare to be found 1969 MIR-1 2.8/37 with extension tubes and a 150mm Soligor for Pentax with tele-converter ( don`t know why this item was in the bag ). The whole outfit looks pretty unused, so I assume that the Zenit never worked.



MIK

[mickeyobe]

MIK,

M42 is the Pentax screw mount.

It will fit a number of cameras including Zenit and Practika.

Mickey

[PeterW]

MIK,

That looks like a bargain haul of lenses. I don't know a lot about the Russian mirror lenses, but most Russian lenses are pretty good. At least, the ones which were imported into the UK by Technical and Optical Euipment are.

I'm not sure, but I think the Kiev 19 SLR always used a Nikon lens mount.

The TeleMegor is really a family of lenses that Hugo Meyer started in the 1930s. They were all, as far as I know, f/5.5 and were made in 105, 150, 180, 300 and 400mm focal lengths.

I believe they were first used on the 127 Exaktas in 105mm, 150mm and 180mm focal length. The 250mm, 300mm and 400mm were first made for larger format, possibly up to 9x12 cm, and were popular with wildlife photographers. Later when 9 by 12 began to be outdated, the longer focal lengths were adapted for 35mm, notably for the Kine Exaktas. I don't know whether or not they came with other mountings as standard but a few were fitted with M39 mounts for the screw-thread Leica. All pre-war lenses had brass bodies, usually nickel or satin-chromium plated.

After the war the lenses were recomputed, but with still the same basic design, to use later optical glasses which gave better contrast and less tendency to flare. These are the black-finished lenses with light alloy bodies. In company with many other East German lenses the ones for export to the West were marked with a figure 1 in a triangle as a mark of quality. I haven't heard of any black-finished alloy-bodied lenses being made for formats larger than 35mm, but they may have been.

At one time in the 1950s, under East German subsidisation to attract western currency, TeleMegors in Exakta mount were very reasonably priced in the UK and gained a good reputation as excellent value for money. I never heard any complaints about definition, but a few people found that there was a slight blue tinge at the corners with colour transparencies. They still turn up from time to time at camera fairs and, until digital swept the board, they were fetching quite high prices.

Later, Meyer was made into a VEB and merged with Pentacon, and the TeleMegor lost its identity.

Hope this is of some help.

Regards,

PeterW

[Deleted]

The Kiev 19 was only made with a Nikon "type" mount--not with an M42. I have a Model 19 and the ai tabs on several of my ai Nikkors will not mesh with the Kiev's ai connection. The Kiev mount holds the Nikkor lenses out too far from the body for the ai connection to work.

The Kiev name was used on Soviet lenses as well as cameras but that does not mean the lenses with that brand name fit that brand of camera.

[photax]

Mickey,

You are right with the M-42, what a beginner`s mistake. Maybe I have already too many cameras with too many lenses I also have three or four other Russian 400 to 600mm M-42 lenses. I used them on Prakticas long time ago ( always in combination with a tripod ).

Peter, thank you very much for your explanations ! If you ever publish a book about photo history, I`ll buy one for shure

Wayne, maybe this box is the "Kiev 19" packaging and someone have put it in there. If that is so than it fits perfectly ( including the filters ). The lens still was wrapped up in paper.

And at the end a question: Is it useful to buy an adapter M-42/Nikon to play around with the Russian monsters mounted at the D-90 ? Should I buy one with a correction lens for infinite ?

MIK

[photax]

Hi !

Last week I made a test picture with the Russian 500mm mounted on my D90. I purchased a M-42 to Nikon adapter ring ( with integrated lens ) for ca. 20.- USD at Ebay ( twice as expensive as the lens ). All you need is this adapter, a tripod that resists a extremely heavy lens and a remote release ( in my case a programmable TV remote control ) and some luck for manual focussing. If the sun is shining again, I `ll take my M-42 monsters to the nature.

MIK

[Randy]

Stunning photo Mik!

[daveh]

MIK,

Sell it to Mickey. He was after a lens like that a few weeks ago. He needed one to give good results of celestial bodies.

Dave.

[julio1fer]

What a haul! I've always found Soviet lenses quite good.

That 500/6.3 mirror will not be easy to focus on terrestrial subjects. Razor-sharp DOF, made for the sky. Ideal for moon pictures.

If you focus that monster on a bird's eye, the bird's beak will be probably out of focus.

The Mir 37mm has a good reputation.

Please post those Russian words in the box, you never know. Maybe they help in identification.