Ah, the classic Telyt, I learned that many wildlife photographers in the manual focus era loved it because you could focus it much faster than a rotating focus. In my collection, I have the complete opposite but also much shorter tele lens: Canon's vintage 100mm f/2.0 Serenar with Leica's M39 threat mount. I still use it sometimes for street photography with a Canon 7 rangefinder, it's fun. It can be focused so precisely that I get suprisingly frequent in-focus shots even at f=2 (camera needs to be serviced, of course), but I have to screw and screw and screw - so the best thing is to pre-focus and work within that distance range (the classic way of doing street)... Well, the results are really rewarding, with a wonderful mix of vintage charm, great bokeh and a center sharpness that is much better than the lens generations before. All those vintage lenses are not up to today's sharpness, but with a nice film grain they can be wonderful.It was (is) indeed the fast focusing Telyt 560mm. I carried it disassembled in a home-modified Lowepro Magnum, and, whenever needed, quickly reassembled it.
Or, in US National Parks,I kept it fully assembled and mounted on a body. on the backseat of my car.
But I used it exclusively for wildlife. Due to its optical 3 lens formula, only the center offered a high degree of sharpness. So, for landscapes, not really usable.
Yet, for wildlife in those AF-less times, focusing was very fast, with the front lens-group sliding on rails.
Sharpness wise, Canon's big whites play in a different league but are also from a different epoch!
Nowadays, my wife not being really patient, I more or less quit photographing wildlife, and use my teles almost exclusively for landscapes and macros. ()
Sorry to read that you had to quit wildlife! I am really happy that my wife shares the same interest, so we shoot side by side and enjoy the setting.
Upvote
0
