Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 
Log in or register to remove ads.

Third-Party Pentax Lenses - Reviews and Database » Russian and Zenitar Lenses » Prime Lenses
TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5 Review RSS Feed

TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5

Sharpness 
 9.7
Aberrations 
 8.5
Bokeh 
 9.5
Handling 
 7.4
Value 
 9.4
Reviews Views Date of last review
19 131,141 Fri November 24, 2023
spacer
Recommended By Average Price Average User Rating
100% of reviewers $78.65 9.26
TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5

TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5
supersize
TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5
supersize
TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5
supersize
TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5
supersize
TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5
supersize

Description:
There are several versions of the 4 element Tair 300mm f4.5:

Tair 3 This is the original one, different structurally to the later ones, conventional milled focus ring at the front of the lens, no preset. Often found in M39 mount (needs review page).
To adapt original M39 mount tair 3's to eg mirrorless, Thomas Bernardy on mflenses recommends: "a Zenit M39 4 ring set (cheaply available from Russia) and a M39/LTM to mirrorless adapter ...
The Zenit ring set includes a 16.4mm distance ring which is exactly the difference between M39/LTM (28.8mm flange focal distance) and Zenit M39 (45.2mm). Obviously this was done to enable the usage of Zenit/M39 lenses on the old Russian M39/LTM cameras like the Zorkis and FEDs. "

Tair 3S/3C/3 PhS (or FS). This one - the classic "Photosniper" variants of the Tair 300mm f4.5 designed to be mounted on a stock with focus operated by a disk on the underside of the lens.
Tair 3A/ 300-A The most conventional of the variants: preset t-mount lens, focus at the rear end of the lens (reviews here).
Tair 33 This is a larger medium format lens designed for the kiev (= hasselblad bayonet) mount cameras. Lenses for those are very difficult to adapt to other cameras. The optics are similar to the other versions and there is an interesting comparison with a nikkor ED 300mm f4.5 and a mamiya-sekor 300mm f5.6 here .

The Tair-3 300 mm f/ 4.5 was manufactured at three plants:

Tair-3 4.5/300 – S. A. Zverev Krasnogorsk Mechanical Plant (KMZ).
Tair-3A 4.5/300 - Zagorsk Optical Mechanics Plant, Sergiyev Posad (ZOMZ).
Tair-3 4.5/300 – Kazan Optical Mechanics Plant (KOMZ).

Optics: 4 elements in 3 groups.
Weight: 1.6 Kg (excluding trigger mechanism and stock)
Length: 24.6 cm
Width (diameter plus focus wheel): 12 cm
Preset Lens: 4.5 to 22 in full stops, but mechanism permits infinite variability between minimum aperture set, and fully open.
Diaphragm: 16 straight blades.
Trigger Mount (can be used for Tripod): 3/8 inch (needs adapter to standard 1/4 inch thread) fixed to body rather than rotatable.
Mount: M42, but can easily take T2-PK instead.
If trigger mount is used for tripod, either the tripod head must allow the lens to be flipped, or the mount needs to be loosened and rotated, to switch between portrait and landscape.

Scan of original user manual posted here.
Mount Type: M42 Screwmount
Price History:



Add Review of TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5
Author:
Sort Reviews by: Date | Author | Rating | Recommendation | Likes (Descending) Showing Reviews 16-19 of 19
New Member

Registered: February, 2012
Posts: 17
Review Date: February 25, 2013 Recommended | Price: $50.00 | Rating: 8 

 
Pros: Sharp, fast, handles well, good bokeh
Cons: Huge and heavy
Sharpness: 9    Aberrations: 8    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 9    Value: 9   

The picture shows the full Photosniper 3 kit, including the trigger mechanism, rifle stock and the bundled Zenit camera; I believe it was sold between 1974 and 1982. The big lens at the heart of it is the TAIR-3. Mine is rather battered, has quite a lot of dust in it, and is missing the trigger mechanism and stock.

The other Photosniper on this site is the later Photosniper 12 based on the TAIR-3S. The maximum aperture is the same, but the lens tube is different.

The focus wheel under the main body of the lens works well. In spite of the 1.6 Kg weight I have no difficulty hand-holding and manually following focus from the touchline of a Rugby match.

The inscriptions on mine are all in Cyrillic; it self-identifies as a TAИP3-ФC 4,5/300 9668.

If 9668 is a serial number either they didn't sell very many, or mine is earlier rather than later.

Although it is an M42 lens, the M42 screw piece is attached in the same way as the outer piece of a T2 adapter is secured to its rotatable core, and it is the same depth. I managed to find a T2 adapter whose rotatable core matches the Tair 3 tube precisely, and so mine now has a PK bayonet.

Wide open the images straight from the camera are somewhat lacking in contrast, although the detail is all there. This lens is sharper than my Sigma 70-300 f4-5.6. However, wide open, pixel peeping fine texture (eg. tree bark) that should be pretty much black reveals itself to be very dark purplish-reddish, whilst highlights acquire a turquoise tinge. Unfortunately, these defects are simply magnified when I attempt to use a 2x or 3x teleconverter; the image looks soft, and the CA becomes intrusive. On most of my lenses, the Kiron 7 element 2x and Kenko 7 element 2x converters clearly outperform the Kenko 4 element 2x teleconverter, but on this lens they are all equally bad.

The 16 aperture blades ensure that the aperture is always round, and the bokeh is excellent.

Because this lens, even with the T2-PK bayonet, lacks the aperture sense lever of a proper PK or PKA lens, the Pentax 1.7x AF adapter doesn't add autofocus. But I find the CA of images taken with this combination (510 mm f7.65) acceptable.

Under challenging shooting conditions (hand-held in a strong wind) I was able to get sharper images with the Samyang 500 mm f6.3 mirror, though the differences aren't great (and neither are the photographs ); the longer exposure time due to f7.65 versus f6.3, or even random variations in 'seeing' (a townscape shot on a misty evening in a strong wind with the clouds changing minute by minute) may explain this.

Stacking the Pentax 1.7x AF adapter with a 1.5X PK Teleconverter (DOI or Kiron Matchmate) (which provides the necessary aperture lever) allows the AF to function, but the images are mushy.

The two 1.5X Teleconverters I have tried by themselves actually work well. The Kiron Matchmate 1.5X gives a sharp image, but Lateral Chromatic Aberration is apparent. The DOI 1.5X doesn't give any lateral Chromatic Aberration, but is less sharp. I prefer the Kiron, but the DOI is perfectly acceptable, and detail is apparent that you cannot see if you simply increase the size of the base digital image by 50 percent.

Overall, I recommend it.
   
Pentaxian

Registered: April, 2011
Location: Lost in translation ...
Posts: 18,076

1 user found this helpful
Review Date: December 31, 2012 Recommended | Price: None indicated | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Sharp, Bokeh, Preset possible
Cons: Somewhat large & heavy, focus wheel ...
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 7    Value: 10   

Bonjour,

This was be far my best thrift store score to date ... the photos (above) for this review page are mine and got everything in super condition for less than $10.00! My copy is only missing the shoulder stock ... hopefully I will find one someday.

The lens shoots great, just look at the samples already provided ... a really fun lens too use, too.

I will try to add some additional images later ... J
   
Veteran Member

Registered: April, 2012
Location: Melbs
Posts: 1,237

2 users found this helpful
Review Date: December 30, 2012 Recommended | Price: $140.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: Cheap
Cons: Heavy
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 9    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 7    Value: 10   

My version is the Grand Prix Edition (img stolen from mflenses.com) Optically the same, but cosmetically different in that that it behaves like a standard preset lens. Mine is also has a M39 thread (register distance the same) with a m39-m42 adapter.

Now. Its a big lens. So much so I went and bought a monopod just so I could aim and focus it as the same time. Make no mistake, this thing weighs about 3x your camera body.

With a 3rd arm supporting the weight, using it becomes wonderful. Focus is smooth and quick (despite its age) And as below, its very very usable wide open, The example below was shot with an afternoon sun setting, (hello purple) with no post processing. Focus the thing accurately and its fantastic



Click for much Bigger

I probably paid to much for it, but i wanted something bigger then 200mm "shrugs" and it matchs the other Soviet lens I've been collecting anyway :P

Oh, It will also focus down to 2.8m approx, and the tripod collar is adjustable, Happy Happy Happy
   
Veteran Member

Registered: September, 2010
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,429

6 users found this helpful
Review Date: July 27, 2012 Recommended | Price: $50.00 | Rating: 10 

 
Pros: SHARP, BOKEH, IQ, Preset
Cons: heavy
Sharpness: 10    Aberrations: 10    Bokeh: 10    Handling: 7    Value: 10   

I bought this lens last year. It came with the photosniper stock setup, which really works well with my Kx. The lens itself takes a little getting used to because of the focus wheel. It focuses more like a telescope than a camera lens. It is also rather heavy at nearly 4 lbs.

All that aside, it is an EXCELLENT lens. The sharpness is unbelievable, right from wide open. The huge amount of aperture blades makes the bokeh extremely smooth at all apertures. The colors are outstanding. This is my go-to lens for wildlife photography.

This lens also renders very 3D images, thanks to its front aperture. Just a GREAT lens, I can't recommend it enough

Here are a few photos taken with this lens.


Mule-Deer-18-Feb-2012-1 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Elk-18-Feb-2012-4 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Elk-18-Feb-2012-1 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Mule-Deer-18-Feb-2012-2 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Mule-Deer-18-Feb-2012-6 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


29-Feb-2012-2 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Airport-14-April-2012-3 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Diamondback-22-April-2012-1 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Eclipse-at-Sunset-v2 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Great-Blue-Heron-2 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Theodore-Roosevelt-NP-4 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr


Indian-Peaks-Wilderness-11 by Colorado CJ, on Flickr
Add Review of TAIR-3S - Fotosniper 12 ensemble 300mm F4.5



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 04:50 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top