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The 200mm Telyt is a 'sharp' lens, but what you hear is correct: You will not only be unable to focus it but actually to fit it to the camera without a Visoflex II or III. The camera finder is completely irrelevant. I have used a rig of this kind, but believe me, it is heavy, cumbersome and slow. Go find a 135mm Apo-Telyt instead.

 

The old man from the Age of the Visoflex I ...

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Although I have a Visoflex and an M9, I prefer to use Telyts via adapters on my Nikon cameras. As the Telyts are pretty large, they fit well on a larger camera, I find. Also, the Nikons give me focus confirmation.

 

On the M9 I use the excellent but inexpensive Tele-Elmar 135/4.

And I use magnifiers. They seem to help me focus.

 

Best, K-H.

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If you go for a 135, do check first what your focusing hit percentage is, before you buy a finder magnifier. They magnify the finder image but they also lower contrast, and my own magnifier now lies unused because I found that it hampered me more than it helped me. My hit rate with the Apo-Telyt wide open is rather higher than with the 90mm Elmarit-M.

 

Reasonably quick action is in fact possible with a 'bare' Apo-Telyt.

 

The old man with the watery eyes

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I have a Visoflex III and a 200 mm lens - with OUBIO - but it is rather a clumsy device. I would strongly recommend a 135 - especially either a Tele-Elmar or Telyt. You can pick up a TE fairly cheaply. Or a Tele-Elmarit even more cheaply. Of course, a 135 with an M8 would give you almost the equivalent of a 200 although there is no viewfinder frame.

My own feeling is that a 135 is right at the limit of what a rangefinder can focus accurately and calls for great care in focussing.

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I have the Visoflex3, with the Telyt 200 mm. I use it on my M9, with great pleasure, but only for landscapes. It isn't to compare with the 135 mm. A quite different perspective.:)

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Below by Telyt 200mm f 4, 1/500s 400 ASA focusing at full aperture, M9, handheld, Viso 3. First you have to adjust the focusing point on the Viso, then have to learn how to handle it together with the M9. Not very easy - but fun....My impression is that Telyt 200 is sharp at f 4, but not maching the Elmarit 90/2,8 in crispness, but good enough. The focusing screen on the Viso is surprisingly clear and big, easier to use than you could expect.

 

Regards

/Anders

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Which focusing mount do your use on your visor? I have one coming but it came with the in line mount and it seems the vertical mount like from the old Hasselblads would be easier to use, even on a tripod.

 

That gull shot sure looks nicely focused to me.

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[

quote=algrove;1853315]Which focusing mount do your use on your visor? I have one coming but it came with the in line mount and it seems the vertical mount like from the old Hasselblads would be easier to use, even on a tripod.

 

That gull shot sure looks nicely focused to me.

 

Yes,he gull is in perfect focus. For the setup Viso and M9, see below. Please note - I am NOT a bird-photographer!

Regards

/Anders

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Thanks for the picture. So I can better understand what I am looking at--I see the M9, I see the Telyt 200mm, I see the Visoflex. Is there also an adapter in between any of these?

 

Is there anything else needed to use your setup? Also what are the 3 frames I see in the photo? Thanks.

 

Do you own any other long lenses? I see there exists 400mm and 180mm. Do you know if they are as good a lenses as your 200mm?

Edited by algrove
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There is an OUBIO adapter between the Visoflex housing and the Telyt 200 lens. It is the black ring immediately in front of the silver mount on the Visoflex. The adapter also has a small "feet" underneath the ring for mounting on a tripod, giving better balance with the set up.

 

The three rectangles/frames you see are shims for fine tuning focus of the Visoflex, and they come in different thickness. They go under the focusing screen on top of the housing, and depending on the situation you add or take away these shims to achieve perfect adjustment.

 

Once you have your Visoflex set up properly, you can then venture into the wonderful world of macro-photography with bellows and more adapters, or tele-photography with Telyt 200, 280, 400, and 560 lenses.

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Where did you get the three Viso shims from? Did they come with the Viso originally (or with the Telyt?)? I have taken apart 3 Viso units to replace the focusing screen but none of them had shims in them. However other posters on here have said that they have found shims in their Viso's- I am not sure if they looked like your though... Also when I replaced my focusing screens the focus seemed good- even though others on this forum have had to shim their new screens to get critical focus.

 

Do those three shims mean that the Viso effectively needs to be calibrated depending on what lens you use?

 

Thanks for any info...

Edited by jaques
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I wrote a very polite letter to Solms and asked if I could by the shims/Unterlagen - but I got the for free. Then you have to calibrate by taking pictures and adding/taking away shims of various thickness depending on the focus point. Once done I think it would be ok for other viso lenses - but this I don´t know since I only have one viso lens. Before you ask for the shims I suggest you check the focus point of your equipment - might be right from the beginning.

 

Regards

/Anders

 

 

 

Where did you get the three Viso shims from? Did they come with the Viso originally (or with the Telyt?)? I have taken apart 3 Viso units to replace the focusing screen but none of them had shims in them. However other posters on here have said that they have found shims in their Viso's- I am not sure if they looked like your though... Also when I replaced my focusing screens the focus seemed good- even though others on this forum have had to shim their new screens to get critical focus.

 

Do those three shims mean that the Viso effectively needs to be calibrated depending on what lens you use?

 

Thanks for any info...

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I wrote a very polite letter to Solms and asked if I could by the shims/Unterlagen - but I got the for free. Then you have to calibrate by taking pictures and adding/taking away shims of various thickness depending on the focus point. Once done I think it would be ok for other viso lenses - but this I don´t know since I only have one viso lens. Before you ask for the shims I suggest you check the focus point of your equipment - might be right from the beginning.

 

Regards

/Anders

 

The Visos came from the factory calibrated with the shims, and once done usually don't have to be touched again unless you change/modify either the front or rear mounts or (more likely) adjust or take apart the mirror assembly.

 

I've used Visoflexes I, II and III and currently have a II, a III and a micro III. The III works reasonably well with the M, but manual metering is to be preferred, as otherwise you have to adjust the release arm for a rather large lag time. The lenses I currently use the most are the 65/3.5, usually on the bellows, the Photar 120/5.6 and 50/2.8 and the 400/6.8. This stuff is mostly handheld, but I do use the Photars mentioned and especially the 25 on the Aristophot.

 

I got a 400/6.8 when it first came out for my then M4 and Viso III, and it was great for a number of things. It was very fast and accurate to focus, and I still get as high a hit rate for birds in flight with that rig as with an autofocus camera. But: this lens has an especially good manual focussing system, and you hardly ever stop it down. The 200/4, as well as the other 200 and the 280's were a bit of a cludge. The rotating focussing mount and manual aperture, which one often has to use with the 200, are a pain. I should note that optically the later 280's are better than the 200's or the 400's, with the latter f/5.6 and f/6.8 having significant field curvature and not being that sharp in the very corners. This applies to the 560's as well, plus they require extra effort in handling due to their size.

 

As others have said, I would skip the 200 as it's rather close to the 135 and go to the 280, which at least has a significantly different angle of view, or even the 400 which really works great on the Viso. But that's just my point of view, for my purposes.

 

Henning

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Henning-

 

Got my first Visoflex III this week. Am just looking at it for the moment. Also got a Telyt 280 4.8 that looks like it has an adapter fitted, but still fits in the original 280 box-Part # 11914. Now I see on the box that the elliptical adapter came with it having a tripod mount at the bottom.

 

Trust this lens is pretty good. It also came with a 14169 filter with only VIII markings on it. Hope it is a UVa not a UVa/IR.

 

Any thoughts?

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