Overview of the Tair 3FS F4.5 300 mm lens

Lens Tair 3, which is described in this review, was taken from a photo gun, it contains identification data:  Tair-3-Phs 4.5 / 300 N3783 Lens made in USSR. As soon as the lens fell into my hands, once again I felt all the “power” of Soviet optics, because the lens weighs more than a kilogram.

Review Tair-3 300mm F4.5

Review Tair-3 300mm F4.5

The first thing that catches your eye is the tremendous front lens with a diameter of 72 mm, and indeed - the general view of the lens - it is all painted with white paint, instead of the usual black. Tair-3 is made in the style of those times - no plastic (except for the front and back cover), only metal and glass.

TTH:
Focal length: 300 mm
Resolution according to technical specifications (center / region): 36/30 lines / mm
Diaphragm: F4.5 to F22, 16 petals
The weight: 1400gram
Year: exact information is not available, but from about 1950 to 2005
Front Lens Diameter: 72mm
Landing thread: interchangeable shanks, usually a tail with M42 thread

History: In 1958, at the Brussels World Exhibition, the lens received the Grand Prix award. It was produced in different versions, with a different design of the case and with different enlightenment. Additionally you can see review and video review MC TAIR-3S 4,5 / 300 in a black frame и TAIR-3-FS 4,5 / 300 in a black frame. Also, the lens has a medium format brother Tair-33 4.5/300.

Features of my model - since the lens was removed from a photographic gun, the design of its controls is quite interesting. Firstly, the diaphragm is set using a cocking mechanism - this means that the diaphragm is fully opened (by maximizing the ring with a red arrow), the desired value is set, and then it is lowered to the desired value using the 'trigger' installed from below lens. There is a feeling of a real camera gun. Trigger trigger it works very easily, just press the mechanism a little, after which the aperture closes to the desired value, this is done in order to focus on the fully open aperture, and take a picture at the desired value to ensure the desired depth of field and correct exposure.

I worked with several Tair-3 lenses, and all of them did not have an instantaneous aperture release, but smooth, which took about one second, which is not good. Perhaps the mechanism has simply worn out during operation.

Aperture lens Tair 3

Aperture lens Tair 3

Secondly, it is focus method. It is different from all the lenses I've worked with. At the end of the tube along which the lens unit with front lenses travels, below is a metal focus control flywheel. The disk rotates 270 degrees in the plane perpendicular to the hyperfocal plane of the lens. On the focusing disk there are designations for the limits of focusing from 3 meters to 80 meters and infinity.

Focus Flywheel Tair 3

Focus Flywheel Tair 3

How did I use it with a modern digital SLR camera?

The lens can use interchangeable shanks, although there is no 'A' in its name. On Nikon cameras I used MC TAIR-3S 4,5 / 300 with interchangeable shank KP-A / Nor using the adapter ring M42-Nikon (with loss of focus to infinity).

You can find out how to use the Tair-3 lens on Canon in my article Old Canon Lenses. When used with other systems, corresponding adapters are also available.

It should also be borne in mind that the lens is quite heavy and, if handled carelessly, it may well tear out the camera mount. On my Nikon D90 the lens and the camera feel fine, I even held the camera itself, while not holding the lens with my left hand, but I repeat - this is at your own peril and risk.

Very use of a tripod is advisable - firstly, to install a lens on it, and secondly, hand shake at 300mm can blur the picture.

An example of focusing and using Tair 3 FS

An example of focusing and using Tair 3 FS

Features worth paying attention to:

  1. Focal length in 300mm. It's real fixed telephoto, which is rarely seen in our time. Usually now they make zoom televisions like 55-300, 70-300, 80-400 and the like. On the cropped matrix of mine Nikon D90 (Yes, and any cropped camera) we get the same viewing angle as 450mm for a full-frame sensor (i.e. 35mm film). And 450mm at aperture ratio in F4.5 is already the dream of many amateur photographers.
  2. Aperture F4.5 - an excellent indicator. Current televisions mainly use F5.6. The most interesting thing is that the lens is “working” already with a maximum aperture.
  3. Weight - The lens, as already mentioned, is quite heavy. This is a kind of 'Soviet image stabilizer'. The heavy weight helps to increase the inertia of the lens and reduce shake of hands or camera on a tripod. But, also, after working with such a technique, hands fall off within an hour (verified by personal experience).
  4. Scheme - 3 lenses in 3 groups. In fact, you are very pleased when shooting with this kind of lens. Our scientists have shown themselves here to the maximum and created a lens of only 3 lenses (Ray is happy) During the transition of light at the intervals between glass-air and air-glass, a part of the flow is lost and different distortions are added, so the less of them, the better.
  5. The number of aperture blades 16 pieces. The diaphragm is perfectly round. Ideal for portraiture - no “nuts”. Anyway - such a large number of petals is very rare. The photographs show how much a round hole is obtained. True, the aperture blades are not blackened, this adds distortion in counter and side light.
  6. Possibility of installation on a full-frame camera. It is a pity there is no way to test on Nikon Full Frame DLSR APS cameras.
  7. Excellent picture quality.
General appearance of my tair 3 fs in my hand

General appearance of my tair 3 fs in my hand

About quality Images:

A completely open aperture produces a sharp picture. That is, the lens is quite high quality. With the naked eye, quite strong HA on the open diaphragm. I do not observe distortion. The color rendition is littered in the direction of green colors, it is treated by setting the correct BB... The picture is very flexible, the bokeh is excellent (as on me, everyone has different tastes). The transition from the zone of sharpness to the zone of unsharpness is very smooth, and not abrupt, as is usual with high-aperture lenses. Vignetting, in principle, should not be on the crop matrix. Also, the lens is very afraid of backlight and side light (in the examples there is one photo in backlight - the photo is covered with a kind of veil). Also, the picture has green outlines (aberrations) out of focus and purple outlines in front of the image.

Personal impressions:

there is no need to fear the weight of the Tair-3 lens, half an hour can be removed without a tripod, there are no problems with a tripod. My girlfriend shot Tair without any problems holding him in her arms, strong guys will be able to hold him all the more. Regarding the shooting - I really liked its sharpness, plasticity and its 300mm, the girl fell in love with this lens so much that it is possible to photograph distant objects without attracting attention. Below, actually the photo.

Refined Use of Tahir 3

Refined Use of Tahir 3

Ниже приведены sample photosmade on this lens and camera Nikon D90. The photographs are imprinted shooting options with EXIF module.


Catalog modern brand lenses 'Zenitar' и 'Helios' can look at this link.


Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.


Conclusions:

Tair-3-Phs 4.5 / 300 - big, heavy, interesting.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram

Add a comment: Konstantin

 

 

Comments: 211, on the topic: Overview of the Tair 3FS F4.5 300 mm lens

  • Alexander

    Great visibility, great lens. :)
    Yes, by the way, Tair 3A allows you to get infinity.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Indeed, with the desired adapter KP-A \ N Tair 3A can be used on the Nikon system with the ability to focus at infinity, I mentioned Tair 3A at the beginning of the review.

  • Denis

    As far as I know, all M42 lenses with a transition lens on the bayonet mount will give infinity, although some after file manipulations.

    the lens is really excellent, as, in principle, all the tires, they give especially interesting bokeh, with so many petals it is not surprising ...

    • Arkady Shapoval

      There are only 3 lenses in this Tair, why add more lenses to the scheme? It didn't work out with a file, because the lens was taken specifically for the test, maybe someone will use it later on Canon, it's infinitely easier there. Tair-11A is also present on the site.

  • Mikola

    If you take pictures with your hands (only the lens and the camera without a gun) then press the shutter lever on the lens ???? or to a friend how to take a photo. I would very much want to have such an obektiva to Olympus. before him I even got pissed.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      The lens has a diaphragm with an aperture shutter lever. This means that you manually set the aperture, but it remains fully open. When you need to take a picture - release the shutter, the aperture instantly closes to the desired value and take a picture. Although it is possible to photograph at a fully open aperture. You can focus without any problems and with closed up to F8.0. The lens works like all other manual lenses, only the focusing and aperture settings are unusual. I hope I answered your question.

  • Mikola

    Manual focusing is not a problem (there is a Helios 44m4, I’m already working) but I’ll buy Taira anyway. Then it will be clear that there will be a snee. I’m glad for your answer.

  • Yana

    But what is the cost of such a telephoto?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Cost is highly dependent on condition. This instance is in the region of 90.e. You can find out the exact information by contacting the appropriate contacts in the upper left corner of the site.

  • Novel

    Tair with m42 tail any sensible milling cutter will grind you to infinity and without lenses.

    This service is at any large photo forum. It costs from free to 500 rubles.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      The task of resharpening is not worth it; the review is devoted specifically to the capabilities of the lens.

  • Nicholas

    I did a little differently - I slightly modified the butt (installed two buttons under the trigger), and now I have a full-fledged “Photosniper” with the Sigma SD15. Optical stabilizers, it seems to me, will lose to this butt. I worked for 1/25 s from the butt - difficult, but possible. I have an export tair, 93rd year of release, MS. The back one holds decently, does not fill up. But he can catch a hare. Sharp open. HA in the out-of-focus zone on the open one are clearly visible; I have no other complaints about the lens. The lens, IMHO, is one of the best in its class. Nikkor with the same focal and aperture ratio is clearly inferior to him in quality (let alone price / quality I am silent).

  • Stas

    Good afternoon, and someone came across a Tair 33 lens, it’s kind of an analog of this lens, only
    under the SF?

  • Vlad

    Yuzal Tair-3s about a year ago, recently bought a new EXPORT option (Black Focus Wheel) as a live TV, very pleased. I advise everyone!!!

  • Anton

    My TAIR was altered from a thread to H without files and other things - infinity remained.
    On the body, at the very thread, three screws held it, I will call it a cylinder with a 42nd thread to the bayonet and with the thread of which it (the cylinder) was screwed into the lens, in general we unscrew the screws, take the adapter kp-a / n and put it instead of this cylinder, fix it with screws - truncated ready. Lens not A

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Thanks for the good advice.

  • I’m selling Tair 3-fs in excellent condition, there are small scuffs on the case. Glasses without dust and defects.
    Already with an adapter - adjusted by a specialist to infinity for Nikon cameras.
    We put and shoot on Nikon) + 3 light filters as a gift.
    I sell it out of necessity - I got rich and bought an auto focal lens.
    Geographically Ukraine) I will send anywhere.
    icq 218160998
    http://vk.com/id27486220

  • Evgeny Raylyan

    Just yesterday I bought it for myself and tested it at KVN. I was very pleased with it. Here are the pictures: Tair-3FS + Nikon D90

  • Anton

    I have the very first sample of this lens, also with 39 threads. took an adapter - lost infinity. long puzzled how to get it back) he even sawed off one part of the lens. BUT literally I just got an idea of ​​how to return infinity without filing in an elementary way =) if anyone is interested, please contact me.

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Describe if not difficult.

  • Anton

    oh just noticed) my teska saw my finalization today =)

  • Sergei

    Anton, how fast should you look for a lens so that it doesn’t lose infinity with an adapter? I plan to use it with a 4/3 carcass.

    • Kostya

      On a 4/3 system, you will have infinity with any adapter.

  • Demof

    I have been using Nikon D90 for two years ... A friend gave TAIR-3 and put me in a dead end, how can the T-3 (M39 thread) be fitted to the D-90 ... Everything ingenious is simple! I bought an adapter KP A / H, removed the shank and installed the adapter. But somehow the quality of the pictures does not surprise ... (... the whale native 18-105mm still YES happy! .......... ATTENTION !!! QUESTION FOR EXPERTS !!! Maybe the lens needs to be adjusted? And then only I will be surprised at the quality of the pictures? Thanks in advance !

  • Vadik

    On good, it is advisable to align any lens. Demof, you did not write what exactly is not surprising in the quality of the pictures, but if it is sharpness-sharpness, then do not forget that the focal length is three times that of the whale. Accordingly, removing it from your hand at shutter speeds of 1 / 30-1 / 60, as with a whale, is very problematic. For starters, try to take a few frames from a tripod, if it isn’t also ice, then adjust it.

    • Demof

      Vadik, thanks for the advice ... and the picture quality was overexposed and the sharpness-clarity was indistinct ... BUT it was worth installing the hood and the quality changed for the better, pleasantly surprising with an unexpectedly simple solution.

  • Valera

    Infinity in this miracle can be obtained if I’m not mistaken you need to loosen it a bit, the focusing locking ring (spiridi, unscrew the 3 small bolts, unscrew the ring a little and twist them back) - the focusing course increases, which is necessary for Nikon, you can use the transition ring without any lenses.

  • Valera

    This method was tested today, it began to focus normally at 500 meters, literally 1 mm was not enough to infinity ... maybe wherever you can, you can tweak anything else to achieve the desired result ...

  • Ivaaaaaaaaaaan!

    please tell Arkady that tair 3 or 33 is better ??? and what is the difference between tair-3A and tair-3fs ??

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Tair-3A - with replaceable adapter-shank. Tair-3FS is a lens for a photographic gun (FS is a photo sniper), usually under the M42. The versions differ in frames.
      Tair 33 is a lens of the same optical design, but designed for medium format cameras. I would take Tair-33

  • IVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

    Sorry for the perseverance) I have a Nikon 5100 and what is better for example Tair 33 rather than 3A? Tai33 has even more weight and why taira 33 has few years of production compared to 3 taira which is already from 58 to 2005. produced ??? and how will they get up?

    • Arkady Shapoval

      Comments on Radozhiv as in order to ask questions and make impressions.
      The medium format of the T-33 will not give vignetting on crop at all, but a little bit on the full frame (maybe when we move on to the full frame). If you carry heaviness, then Tair-3 and Tair-33 are heavy and require special transportation. They simply produced less, and Tair-3 more, since photo weapons were built on its basis. Tair-33 will rise through the adapter, depending on the bayonet mount B (KP-6 \ N) or C (another adapter). More details in the Soviet optics section.

  • IVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

    thanks arkady!

  • IVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

    and what optics is similar to tair

    • Arkady Shapoval

      around 300mm there are very few such

  • IVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

    with which adapter do you need to use tair 33 so that it is infinite ???

    • Arkady Shapoval

      There are two types of Tair-33, for B and C mounts. In the first case, you need KP-6 / N (Pentacon-six to Nikon F mount), in the second case, Salyut-N, in more detail in the Soviet optics section.

  • sashko

    yak on a new hood tighten ?? on t3 and 33

    • Arkady Shapoval

      On the T3, often comes with a rubber hood, which is elementarily mounted on the lens. I didn’t work with the T-33, so I can’t tell you.

Add a comment

Copyright © Radojuva.com. Blog author - Photographer in Kiev Arkady Shapoval. 2009-2023

English-version of this article https://radojuva.com/en/2011/03/obzor-tair-3-300-mm-otzuvu/comment-page-1/?replytocom=518375

Versión en español de este artículo https://radojuva.com/es/2011/03/obzor-tair-3-300-mm-otzuvu/comment-page-1/?replytocom=518375