Telyt V 280/4.8 version III. Some observations

[Lindolfi]

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Was lucky enough to find a Telyt V 280/4.8 version III (the one with the M mount) in Mint- condition (mechanically and optically) and these are my preliminary observations

 

[1] The lens weighs 1180 gr. including lens caps

 

[2] The lens has a length of 201 mm including lens caps

 

[3] It is extremely well built

 

[4] It has four elements in four groups, making possible separation of elements (sometimes happening in old glass) not an issue

 

[5] Focus is exact at infinity on the Visoflex III house (checked with image of starry night), no shortage of turning range of the focussing ring at the infinity point.

 

[6] The lens has good coating, but not as good as the latest glass (like the Apo-Telyt 135/3.4)

 

[7] The image field of the lens is absolutely flat (within the DOF at f/4.8 at 3.5 meter distance)

 

[8] There is very little geometric distortion

 

[9] The bokeh is great at f4.8 and at f/22. In between, some specular higlights show 12 points around the bokeh disks, due to the 12 bladed aperture (see sample below), which becomes round at f/4.8 and f/22

 

[10] The images I produced so far look great, although there is some tendency to flare when pointing into the light. The glass is clean and no haze, so the flare may be partly the result of the single coating used at the time. Lens has a great double telescopic hood that does take care of some of the flare.

 

[11] At f/4.8 the limit of the resolution of the M9 sensor is reached throughout the field. Modulation in fine detail is less than that of the Apo-Telyt 135/3.4, but better than that of the Elmarit 90/2.8 (1959-1974) at the same magnification of the test chart

 

[12] For such an old piece of glass, it certainly does its work well in a compact size (less volume and weight than my Canon L glass at that focal length and aperture)

 

[13] There is no direct connection of the lens head possible to the Bellows II, but that would not make sense, given that it does not help to focus closer by. It is possible to mount the whole lens with M-mount to the bellows, using 16596G and that gives a reproduction ratio of about 1:2.5 (almost 90 mm fills the frame of the M9).

 

[14] It certainly is fun to work again with the Visoflex III with this lens, setting the exposure, switching the Visoflex to the yellow dot and let the mirror flip up quickly and back again in action photography.

 

Here is a sample of an image I made this afternoon at f/8 without tripod (click)

Edited March 22, 2011 by Lindolfi

[k-hawinkler]

[13] There is no direct connection of the lens head possible to the Bellows II, but that would not make sense, given that it does not help to focus closer by. It is possible to mount the whole lens with M-mount to the bellows, using 16596G and that gives a reproduction ratio of about 1:2.5 (almost 90 mm fills the frame of the M9).

 

 

Hi Lindolfi,

 

Congratulations and thanks for your excellent summary of the Telyt V 280/4.8 version III.

I especially appreciate your point 5, focus is exact at infinity on the Visoflex III.

 

My observation with regards to your point 13.

 

Although I can attach the lens head to a Bellows II, of course, as you point out, it does not help to focus closer by.

In fact, with two OUFRO/16469Y rings I can attach the Bellows II with Telyt V 280/4.8 version III head to a Nikon D3 and focus to infinity.

My Visoflex IIIs are being CLA'ed right now, so are not available to attach to M9.

 

So, if someone had just the lens head, it still could be used with a Bellows II or Televit with adapter ring 14138 and focus to infinity.

 

Best, K-H.

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[luigi bertolotti]

Compliments for your extensive review, Lindolfi : personally, having a M8, of course the limits of FF coverage you quote are not an issue...

About #13 remark... I'm not surprised that K-H noticed it... there has been a very deep thread about some time ago... ; conclusionwas that indeed the V3 head CAN fit the bellows II... even if, as you say, is not significant for close focus; Personally, I like very much the Televit combination... is compact and fine-looking.

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[wildlightphoto]

The 280mm f/4.8 Telyt version III will also cover at least 6x4.5 format, and IIRC it might cover 6x6. S2 anyone?

[k-hawinkler]

...

Here is a sample of an image I made this afternoon at f/8 without tripod (click)

 

 

Hi Lindolfi,

 

Looking at the image I can see two little whitish corrugated circles, one in the middle and one to the right.

I wonder why that is?

 

Best, K-H.

[tobey bilek]

I have mounted it on a bellows 1 which is longer , for close focus.

[Lindolfi]

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Hi Lindolfi,

 

Looking at the image I can see two little whitish corrugated circles, one in the middle and one to the right.

I wonder why that is?

 

Best, K-H.

 

Those are the specular higlights showing 12 points around the bokeh disks, due to the 12 bladed aperture that I mentioned. They come from reflections of the sun in sunglasses. I had the sun in my back, which was standing already rather low.

 

The greenish/cyan outline of these disks comes from chromatic aberration, which is very well corrected indeed in this four element lens (see also here, showing that green outlines occur in the area behind the point of focus and magenta outlines in front of it)

 

 

Concerning fitting of the lens head into the Bellows II: The outside of the thread needed for the Bellow II is 65.0 mm (as measured from the 16596G M mount ring), while the lenshead has 64 mm outside diameter of the thread. Perhaps later in the line of Version III lenses, this thread was changed. Anybody care to measure the outside of their version III thread of the lens head into the focussing unit?

Edited March 23, 2011 by Lindolfi

[luigi bertolotti]

...

 

Concerning fitting of the lens head into the Bellows II: The outside of the thread needed for the Bellow II is 65.0 mm (as measured from the 16596G M mount ring), while the lenshead has 64 mm outside diameter of the thread. Perhaps later in the line of Version III lenses, this thread was changed. Anybody care to measure the outside of their version III thread of the lens head into the focussing unit?

 

Just measured mine... 64,2 mm... but (see above pic) it does fit fine the bellows... as well as my 16596G... :confused:

[Leicakillen]

Thanks Lindolfi - excellent report and nice image.

I have a new Telyt 200/4 + Viso 3 that I am in the process of learning to use. After focus adjustment I am very impressed by the IQ - also wide open. However I have noted the following;

- The aperture data in Exif are very strange. I "code" this as un-coded in the M9 menue of course but the calculated apertures are very strange. Using f=4 I get everything from 1,2 to 9,5 - does anyone know why?

- Can I edit exif data later in Lightroom? I would like to be able to add "Telyt 200/4" as lens used in the program - can I do that?

 

/Anders

[giordano]

The Visoflex shades the "blue dot" light sensor.

[ldhrads]

I too have a version III Telyt 280, but as I said in a recent thread I've been unable to get good focus with it. I would love to have the clarity of your examples. I spoke to Don Goldberg yesterday, he CLA'd my Visoflex III and was surprised that I was having the problem with the Telyt. Both pieces are going to him for "mating". Hopefully when it returns I'll have the kind of quality you are getting!!!

[jaapv]

I dropped mine once, and after that had difficulty focussing as well. It turned out that the glass is so heavy that it can easily be slightly displaced. One element in mine had moved less than 1/2 a mm...

[Lindolfi]

Thanks Luigi for the thread diameter. Obviously our lens head threads are the same, but our Bellows II threads differ.

 

Leicakillen, als far as I know, no EXIF editing is possible in LightRoom. As you can see in my image, the lens is indicated as "Telyt V 280/4.8" and the correct aperture is shown. I do this with a script I wrote that calls ExifTool (click). If you have a Mac or runs Linux, I can give you my bash scripts to add these data to your EXIF part of your image file.

[Leicakillen]

Thanks Lindolfi,

I downloaded the ExifTool file and tried to use this, I am on W7, but nothing happened, I do not use Mac (only my daughter affords it...). When I drag the image to the exiftools.exe file a "black" windows appears but only for part of a second. Should I run the program in cmd mode or what??

 

/Anders

[jaapv]

If you are on PC try PhotoMe.

[k-hawinkler]

Thanks Luigi for the thread diameter. Obviously our lens head threads are the same, but our Bellows II threads differ.

 

Leicakillen, als far as I know, no EXIF editing is possible in LightRoom. As you can see in my image, the lens is indicated as "Telyt V 280/4.8" and the correct aperture is shown. I do this with a script I wrote that calls ExifTool (click). If you have a Mac or runs Linux, I can give you my bash scripts to add these data to your EXIF part of your image file.

 

 

That's interesting. I have several Bellows II. I better buy a digital caliper and measure the threads.

 

Thanks, K-H.

[Lindolfi]

Here is a direct comparison of the Apo-Telyt 135/3.4 at f/4.8 and the Telyt V 280/4.8 at f/4.8 at 100% magnification (only central portions cut out, file size 1.2 Mbyte): click

 

The distances were taken to get the same magnification of the object, so the 135 mm was at about half the distance of the 280mm. Both taken from tripod and cable release. Identical loading settings in LightRoom.

[wlaidlaw]

There is a very good series of tools for reducing tele lens haze in Capture One V6 Pro by using the curves tools. I would guess this would work in PS as well. Have a look at their videos to see how to do it. This could also reduce the problems in a flare affected image.

 

Wilson

[k-hawinkler]

The Telyt V 280/4.8 at f/4.8 at 100% magnification image looks a little crisper to my eyes.

I wonder to what degree the angle of the cupboard to the camera is influencing this?

 

Best, K-H.

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[k-hawinkler]

There is a very good series of tools for reducing tele lens haze in Capture One V6 Pro by using the curves tools. I would guess this would work in PS as well. Have a look at their videos to see how to do it. This could also reduce the problems in a flare affected image.

 

Wilson

 

Is this just a general remark?

Or does one or the other image look to you as affected by haze?

 

Best, K-H.