For the provided Tair-11A 2,8 / 135 lens, many thanks to Igor Tihan.
Tair-11 A Is a fast prime telephoto lens with a focal length of 135mm and a maximum aperture of F2.8. Is considered one of the best Soviet portrait lenses. Nowadays, the cost of this lens just rolls over. In 2013, used the lens is offered at 200 cu
Tair-11A is very much appreciated by Western amateur and professional photographers. In my vote on best soviet portrait lens, Tair-11A takes only fifth place. The fifth position is most likely associated with the inaccessibility of the lens. 135mm focal length and aperture F / 2.8 allow very good control depth of field and easy to take pictures with a blurry background. Blurred background often very important in portrait photography, with blur Tair-11A copes with a bang.
As a solid Soviet lens relies, the Tair-11A is made of metal and glass - nothing more, but this adds a huge weight of 600 grams to the lens. In 1958, at an exhibition in Brussels, Tair-11 was awarded the highest award - "Grand Prix". The lens was produced in different versions, there is old "white taira", new “black” with slightly different frame rims. My Tair-11A black color, made at the Krasnogorsk factory.
Features and their application to obtain maximum image quality using Tair-11A:
- Aperture F / 2.8 and 135mm focal length - the strength of Tair-11A. For example, the whale lens that came with Nikon D80 - Nikon 18-135mm f / 3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor had a 5.6mm F135, "Darker" Tair-11A at 2 steps (4 times). That is, for portraiture, this relative aperture is 4 times better. This is due to the fact that with a large aperture it is possible to select only a small area of a sharply depicted space. For a portrait, this feature is indispensable, as it allows you to select a person in the photo and remove the background and foreground, focusing on the person.
- The large focal length of the lens allows you to use Tair-11 as a telephoto and telephoto opens up completely different horizons of photography, than standard lenses. The peculiarity of Tair-11A is that when focusing within 1.5-1.2 meters, it greatly brings the image closer, thereby increasing the focal length. Read more about this effect. here.
- Round aperture - the number of aperture blades is 20 (twenty) pieces, which is a very good indicator for shooting with the correct circles in the blur zone. What diaphragm you can’t install - you get an even, round bokeh without any deviations. In general, there are quite a few lenses with a normal number of aperture blades, so often bokeh is obtained in the form of “nuts, bagels or Dali’s works”. The diaphragm is truly round, and the bokeh is creamy. A large number of aperture blades can also be found in Jupiter-37A, Helios-40-2, Helios-44, etc.
- The quality of the pictures is just excellent, the lens is quite sharp, but at the same time it is soft for portraits, therefore it has the glory of a “female portrait”, for example, Jupiter-37A has the glory of a “male portrait”, since it is sharper. The lens bokeh is often compared to the most glorious lenses. Blur is rather unusual, soft, plastic - but as they say, the taste and color - all the markers are different. The lens is chromate, but this is nit-picking for experts, it is difficult for an average person to explain even what it is.
- Weight - the weight is large and plays the role of a stabilizer of jitter. With such a large focal length excerpt must be at least 1 \ 135 seconds. Weight allows you to slightly reduce the "shake" due to its massiveness and inertia. How to photograph without grease and movement, you can read in the article how take off.
- Built-in hood - a huge advantage, considering that Tahir is afraid of backlight, although the hood does not really save, but it improves the final result in the picture. The elongated hood blends easily and retracts.
- Sizes - the lens is quite large if you unscrew the focus ring by 1.2 meters (and at the same time the lens itself lengthens - protrudes the trunk), then it does not fit in my wardrobe trunk.
- The advantage of the interchangeable shank is simply irreplaceable, which allows you to easily use the lens with different systems (mounts).
- The lens is suitable for full-frame cameras. There will be a time when all photographers will switch to full-frame digital SLRs and there Tair-11 will be able to prove itself to its full potential. This allows you to use the lens without restrictions on full-frame cameras.
- The lens focus ring rotates to 360 degrees, which makes focusing very soft and smooth.
- The lens has a ring. aperture presets. The aperture has no fixed values and may be set to any intermediate value.
I share my personal experience using:
If you can screw this lens onto a digital SLR camera, then most likely because crop factor matrices of budget and average camera prices, you will get another effective focal length. For Nikon it will be 135 * 1.5 = 202.5mm, for other systems this figure does not have a large deviation, but the essence remains the same. That is, cropping will occur as if you are using a 200mm telephoto on a 35mm film. And this, in turn, requires a lot of space in order to enter the desired into the frame. So for a portrait, you have to move a sufficient distance, and this will make you run a lot.
It so happened that I tested my newly made Tahir-11 when shooting a wedding, do not worry, no one was hurt, but the second photographer still asked: "And this is your one lens on the camera." Indeed, the lens on the camera looks strange, this is due to its pile of rings - for the diaphragm, for fixing the diaphragm, for focusing, the lens hood and the screwed interchangeable shank make the lens multisectional and strange. It seems that this is a designer that an experienced photographer must assemble in 45 seconds.
Old age is not a joy, but nevertheless the lens (my copy) is in excellent condition and will remain so for many years to come, since the quality hangs under the sign of 'Made in USSR'. Two Tair-11A lenses passed through my hands, one of the 88th, and the second of the 90th release. The latter did not bear the inscription 'Made in USSR'.
How to use with modern cameras?
'A' lenses with an interchangeable shank, such as the one in this review, are very easy to use on almost any modern digital camera (both DSLR and mirrorless), just select correct adapter. The replacement 'A' shank usually has an external M42 thread and an 'H' mount (similar to Nikon F). For use on modern cameras, the easiest way is to add the required adapter from M42 to the desired system or from Nikon F to the desired system to this shank.
If you are interested in this lens, or any other Soviet optics, you can purchase it by contacting the contacts from the manual optics section.
Sample Photos Tair-11A
All photos in the gallery below are shot on Nikon D700without processing. Reduced size to 3 MP and imprinted data from EXIF
Catalog modern brand lenses 'Zenitar' и 'Helios' can look at this link.
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Conclusion:
Tair-11A excellent portrait lens. Very interesting for its image, 20-blade aperture and a combination of aperture and focal length. You can still look at white version of Tair-11.
Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram
I will sell the new Tair11a a complete set in a case, Omsk.
D.D.!
I read your announcement about TAIR-11A at RADOZHIVA
If relevant and not difficult, send pictures of the lens
and state your price.
But why is the lens ???
Sold? How much?
sold out ??? if not, how much and what ???? thanks
and where can I get something from Soviet glass Tair 11 and 135 mm and something 85 mm .. ??
how to configure nikond3000 on the tair 11a lens, please ask more, otherwise I finally can’t rummage in advance thanks
See “A Quick Guide to Using Nikon Non-Chip Manual Optics on Amateur Cameras:” at https://radojuva.com.ua/2011/04/optika-na-nikon/#how-exposure
Arkady, good afternoon.
I read your reviews. Thanks for them. It is intelligible and understandable.
Today I found this lens, in excellent condition, and fired up to try it. I have the latest 70-200 / 2.8 in my arsenal. I use it as a portrait photographer. But hands are itching to protest the Tair 700 / 135 lens on their 2.8. You write that you got up through the shank like a native. Buy a shank, no problem. Question about the installation: went through the network, they write that it is necessary to turn off the "screwdriver". Somehow I don't really want to get into the brain of the carcass. And then what about mobility. Turn off, turn on the screwdriver when changing glasses ... Any comments on this? Appreciated in advance.
To turn off the screwdriver, just move the focus lever to the “M” position on the carcass.
I’m not mindful, why should the publika praise “Taïr-11A” - an extravagant soviet consumer goods in the middle of quality, which can chew and even have a low-contrast image. Until then, it’s not enough diaphragms. І cost dear, nіzh nіzh krashchy for tech. characteristics of Nikkor 135 / 2.8 chi 105 / 2.5. For the rakhunok of "legendary" and frivolous myths, the price on "Taire-11A" is envied by 2-3 times !!!
That's it. With a small difference it is better to take the normal Sonnar 135 f2.8 from the contact ... It costs around $ 100 now.
About contrast, by the way, for artistic portraits it is even better, especially with a yellow or reddish tint. Although helios with yellow enlightenment “turns yellow” for me only at night, during the day AWB manages itself.
it’s a disgusting sample for you, Soviet optics, especially of the later years, are always lottery, there are instances which, with the picture, will easily wipe their nose with modern top counterparts, but there’s also a complete ..but.
2021 year. The price for Tair-11A in Ukraine (in dollars) has doubled since then, and for some reason it has dropped for your Nikkor-Q 135, and they are asking for almost two times less than for Tair. Probably all idiots, and do not understand the masterpiece value of the picture of Nikkor?
This is because despite all their shortcomings (more precisely, due to their shortcomings) high-aperture Tair is very interesting with a picture in a portrait. Sometimes the simpler the circuit, the better the result attainable. So Tair with their specific MTF and funny bokeh, as well as a chic aperture, are in demand among photographers. The other 135 / 2.8 lenses are either optically worse (Japanese-Korean trash of the second and third echelons), or mechanically inconvenient (similar optics with a jump rope and six petals is a pain, even if you don't cover it normally) and optically bland.
Site Policy Topic prohibited. Comments on this topic have been deleted, and their authors blacklisted. Good to all.
Arkady, hello! Tell me, what if I screw the Nikon AI 55mm reversible macro adapter onto this lens…. will I take something off for him ??? or nothing happens ??? Thanks in advance!!! You have great reviews !!!
Arkady, good afternoon.
I read your reviews. Thanks for them. It is intelligible and understandable.
Today I found this lens at home, in excellent condition, it caught fire to try. I have in the arsenal of 70-200 / 2.8 the latest version. I use it as a portrait. But itchy hands to test the Tair 700 / 135 lens on its 2.8-ke. You write that through the shank stood like a native. I’ll buy a shank, not a problem. Question about the installation: went through the network, they write that it is necessary to disconnect the "screwdriver". Somehow I don’t really want to get into the brain of a carcass. And then what about mobility. Disable, enable a screwdriver when changing windows ... Your comments on this? Thank you in advance.
Regards, Oleg.
Oleg, just put the focus system in M mode on the carcass. I use Jupiter with the same shank without any problems.
Selling this in a state of mint. Write soap or ICQ 24100000.
If you haven't sold it yet - write to me by mail.
see below
I will sell a new TAIR 11A 135 2.8, cheap
the price of your kit? if not sold yet ...
8, the announcement on the most popular site on this number 671137122
Good day. Drop the price tag on Helios@ua.fm
Thank you
I threw it off only today, sorry.
Tair-11A 2,8 / 135 + Nikon D5000
Good day everyone! Many thanks to Arkady for his work - for his reviews !!! Having bought a budget DSLR nikon d3200 with a kit lens 18-35, the result was unhappy! I'll probably describe why. Probably it's easy to understand that if a person buys a camera of a class budget, he hardly plans to buy lenses that cost more than the camera itself! Therefore, Arkady came to the rescue with his reviews! And then it started ... search and again search for Soviet lenses and information about them! Since people are already beginning to see the light and understand the price of real quality .... there are very few sales offers, and there are only a few of them at the flea market. I saw an ad for the sale -Legendary Helios 44-2 but this guys are a little too much, what kind of legend is he? As time passed, I already know a little about this! The legendary is Helios 40, Jupiter 44 but by no means 2-40. Over the course of time, I regretted that I did not buy a canon (now I would take a canon 6d for sure), since you can attach more Soviet glasses to it than to Nikon. Therefore, one of the best or even the best lenses such as Helios 44 and Jupiter 2 Wave 600 after the purchase had to be sold soon - due to the lack of focusing at infinity! The only plus - after their profitable sale, I was able to buy myself a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 40mm 9: 9G DX, a comrade advised My question is: I want one universal lens that is not expensive so that it is better than a whale lens and the photos would be worthy! Not bad, but he lacks something! And now about the difference! I can compare Nikkor 35mm 1: 1.8G + kit 35-1 with Soviet lenses! The disadvantages that photographers who shoot in auto mode usually include in the disadvantages, I would not call them that !!! Namely, the lack of autofocus and the need to select the shutter speed and aperture yourself! On the contrary, this is an opportunity to progress and learn to take pictures! Well, again, I moved away from the topic! on plastic Chinese lenses nikon it turns out very bright and colorful as if not alive, some kind of soulless !!! In principle, the same photos are obtained on modern phones! But Soviet optics gives a different result - photos are alive, plastic in them, especially in portraits, there is a soul! Of course, this is not suitable for commerce, but only for unhurried shooting! My summary is this: yes, you can quickly click 1.8 photos in auto mode or with a Soviet lens, only 18 of which will turn out due to overexposures and underlights only 35! But believe me, these 500 photos you will look at and show to your friends more often than those 50! And you understand that you have done something and not just pressed the shutter button !!! Thanks! maybe someone will be interested in reading my vision of everything described above!
Vasily, once would be enough. And your vision would be very interesting if it was original. Many people who have bought unfamiliar equipment and have not understood the nuances of photography are scribbling opuses like yours. But with time and experience, emotions give way to a simple desire to shoot, and not to look for some kind of mythical equipment that will finally allow us to “create real shydevras”.
I wrote in principle for beginners who are just going to try to shoot with Soviet glass! I did not address it to advanced photographers like you! I repeat, not everyone can buy a lens for $ 1500-2000 and still shoot them correctly! And here there is an alternative to getting high-quality photos for little money! 2000 $ and I'm cool now and the rest are suckers, the third one on what realties Zenith will remove so that you never dreamed of! And finally, about the search for some mythical equipment - why mythical? There are specific very interesting lenses and I am sorry that due to the difference in the focal lengths of Nikon and Zenith, they cannot be fully used! And in fact it is very interesting !!! I have two friends photographers who professionally shoot weddings and all sorts of celebrations there, so they didn't even know that Soviet lenses can be used now .... and they don’t know anything about them at all! they are not interested in it, they are only interested in money! And where is creativity?
Wedding bombs, they don’t have enough manual focus and fixes, more shots = work in front of the customer is justified, they run around in all directions, and this is not bad, but just the specifics of reportage filming is the recording of events.
And more ... ... holding in hands for example Helios 40 of 1966 or Jupiter 9 of 1967 is purely new, Jupiter of 11 of the same years and other decent lenses - you understand that you are touching eternity! And it is very nice to know that you are giving them a second chance - a second life, taking pictures with them !!! Well, somehow now I expressed my idea a little shorter!
Vasily, are you trying to defend your opinion, compensating for the monstrous amount of mistakes with exclamation marks? I don’t get personal, I don’t care about your personality at all, but you have deigned to publicly post texts that are lame not only in grammar, but also in fact. For example, you either through thoughtlessness or in the heat of an argument distorted even the focal length of the whale lens. If the achievements of Soviet optics are so dear to you, why is it so cheaply valued today? Are the items of your pride nowadays not in value? And why? Perhaps they are functionally inferior to modern technology, forever remaining in the past century? Even Arkady recommends taking not Soviet vaunted fixes for shooting moving scenes, but the most recent Chinese autofocus plastic - there are many times more benefits from it.
SWAN
I’m reading with interest your tests of manual optics of the last century. Now I’m in a stop. What is the best way to use it? I will use it more like a telephoto. I stopped on two copies of Tair 11 and Jupiter 37. But here's the catch that I have olympus omd -e 10 mark2, but there’s very little information about how they behave on twice the crop. Maybe you or someone else tell me or advise which one is better to take. A dozen Olympus are ideal for working with manual optics, because there is picking and increasing the frame in the sharpness zone. So I want to try to use these chips. Well and to of course the price.
Opinions will be different, you still need to be determined. Tair is softer, more expensive, lighter, heavier. Jupiter is sharper, a little darker, cheaper, lighter. Both with interchangeable shanks, although this is not relevant for you. The number of petals I would not take into account, both multi-petalled. You can take great pictures with both. They’ll go as a TV set. Yu37 will most likely be optimal, but there will be an opportunity, try both.
In your case, I would take Jupiter, because Twice the crop of Tahir will not open. Jupiter is three times cheaper (regular, not the MS version), lighter, smaller, the aperture is almost the same round, sharp with an open, in the backlight they work equally poorly.
I support - Jupiter on crop matrices is preferable. Even on K1,6, Tair is not impressive at all.
Thanks for the answer. I will think. Time allows me so far.
And what can you say about such a lens apo “Telezenitar-M 2.8 / 135”.
If you are talking about a new Nikon mount, then it is very sharp, contrasting, devoid of the flaws of the Soviet old optics, it looks more solid on the camera than the Yu-37. The truth is I will not tell you where you can buy a new one, I took a year ago the release of 2012 on the KMZ website for 11000 rubles, it seems that I bought the last copy. Maybe where to advertise used to buy.
I also read that they praise him, and therefore asked. A couple of ads are on Avito. One 6000r, the second 10000r.
So both are sold with M42 thread, and even for 10000 old! The new 2012 for 6000 is a good option, I would take it if it becomes without problems through an adapter to your Olympus.
Why not get up? Why? I just never had anything to do with manual lenses either on a mirror or on a double crop, mirrorless.
It should certainly become, if there are adapters to your camera for lenses with M42 thread.
Adapters that is. Thank you. If that is not clear, I will ask. Thanks again.
Then take the sharpest lens for today, not counting the expensive Zeiss new line.
Sergey is Tair 11a, new ...
Great lens. Sharper than 37. but heavier.
Finally I found it bought it like new from the factory. Super glass - I liked it much more than the Ju-37A (sold). Crop has the highest sharpness throughout the whole frame at F11 - excellent landscapes are obtained, the picture is not hard in volume. And 20 petals are a complete delight!
Hello! D5100 camera. Lens Tair 11A. Bracket shots are not obtained. What is the reason. Thanks for the answer.
Do you have it with a chip?
With bracketing for what? For example, this camera cannot measure exposure with manual lenses.
I am not familiar with the D5100- it may be in the settings, but the D300 and D700 work out exposure bracketing with unchipped Tair 11A without problems. The aperture is constant, the shutter speed changes.
Without chip
Without a chip, this is a completely manual mode. Bracketing will not work, you just have to manually change the exposure each frame, for example, tighten the aperture after each of the 3 frames.
I ask the help of professionals! I bought this lens very much with the Lushnikov chip, it’s just a gorgeous lens! The only thing in shooting in sunny weather is hard to shoot! Can someone tell me if, instead of the original short under-hood, to buy a more authentic lens hood this will correct the situation ??? and if you buy something even better with a longer lens hood, something improves ??? Who has any thoughts? Who takes a picture with this decent lens ??? Thanks in advance for your answers !!!
The usual 55 mm Chinese lens hood, for example, is this: http://goo.gl/afu1lv
The filter is optional; for a good one is expensive, and a cheap one is only suitable as a protective glass.
Thanks for the exact same blend I have already ordered for Ali and I'm waiting .... it is true only 1.5 cm longer than the original one, but something tells me that in the case of a tair, even one and a half centimeters matters!
Tahir has no native hood, but this one will have less backlight, will not hide spontaneously, protect the front lens from impacts. Right choice
Did you wait for the hood for Tahir 11A? I think the same order, I choose a supplier. Quickly received by mail all sorts of little things from Sevastopol http://www.18-300.ru/blendy-dlya-ob-ektivov/bl-univ
I also wondered about the real sharpness of the lens, after reading on this site http://www.deep-life.ru/tair-11/index.htm in short the following ”Tair-11 was created as a portrait and telephoto camera for shooting sports. The lens is very sharp. Many are misled by its official TU sharpness, equal to 28/18 line pairs per mm. However, one should not forget that this is the bottom bar for passing the OTK. The real sharpness of the lens is much higher - D.S. Volosov indicates 39/26 "... ... I need to know the real sharpness of Tair 11a to program the Lushnikov chip! Interesting thoughts on this issue from users of dandelion Lushnikov! Or do you enter all the same aperture ratio 2.8 as I do ??? Maybe someone has a device or information about its real luminosity ??? what is 39/26, I honestly do not understand!
The numbers are the center / edge resolution, A. Kuryanov programmed Dandelion for Tair and set the aperture ratio of 3,5, I programmed 2,8, however, I only need a dandelion for the autofocus trap. Sharpness is probably very different in different copies, mine is very sharp
Thanks again Yuriy for the info! since I didn’t buy a chip from A. Kuryanov, but bought from a seller from Belarus, therefore I don’t have any information. I understood correctly A. Kuryanov all the chips sold by him for Tair 11 will be programmed for aperture ratio 3.5 ???
I can't say for everything - I programmed 3,5, that was two years ago. It's my pleasure :)
And if it's not a secret, then what's the point? (or maybe I can do it myself))))
if the camera, when choosing the exposure, is guided not by some standards of photosensitivity, but makes real measurements of lighting, including taking into account exposure metering, and actually more should be interested in info about the approximate hole, although this is also not very important for the shooting process, The camera does not control the iris.
maybe they just sharpened the adapter under Jupiter-37A, as a more frequent version of 135?
The camera measures exposure when the aperture is open. And if you have 1,4 written in the chip, and you turned 5,6 with the wheel, then the camera will set the calculated pair when installing the exposure pair, taking into account the fact that the aperture should be clamped to 5,6 when shooting. But she will not be squeezed and there will be a strong overexposure.
Therefore, we set the diaphragm wheel to the minimum value and enjoy the correct exposure metering and garbage in exite :)
This is understandable, I only wrote about it below, I wonder why 3.5, not 2.8?)
Dad, why does the sun rise in the east and set in the west?
Well, sonny, how can I explain to you ... for example, why do we wash our hands, but not our legs?
:)
I don’t know myself, to be honest :) Therefore, I reprogrammed my 2,8, and after that I stopped paying attention to it, because gave the camera without metering with non-studded lenses, and now I use Dandelion only for the focus trap
it's strange why 3.5 if you believe what was written above that its aperture ratio is much higher than 2.8, then it had to be increased to 1.8 for example! And will there be a difference if you write in the chip not 2.8 aperture but another 1.8 or 3.5 for example? Gentlemen - comrades, share your experience of using Tair 11a and Lushnikov's dandelion !!!
And what to share? For Canon, it’s something like this: if you want exif to go infa about the real aperture value, then shoot only in M mode: open the hole, hover, set the aperture value with the wheel, then close the hole to this value and take it off if you are in the priority of the aperture, metering should be done with exposure lock on an open hole, and removed after closing. those. the camera will think that you have glass with a jumping aperture and after installing it in the camera, say 4.0, the camera will correct for the required number of stops (because it will think that the aperture will still close) and you will get a much lighter and possibly blurry frame .
The new look of the site is terrible, IMHO.