The first test shots with my new-to-me Meyer-Optik Görlitz Orestegor/Pentacon f/5.6 500mm lens

So the Meyer-Optik Görlitz Orestegor f/5.6 500mm lens arrived last Monday night. And let me say something about this lens.

IT IS BIG. It measures nearly 16 inches from camera to front element. And it’s HEAVY AS ANYTHING. I could do barbell curls with it.

And that lens cap? It barely stays in place. I’m going to need a new over-the-front lens cap to protect the lens from dust and scratches. There’s also a tripod mount ON the lens, which is nice – it actually balances right in the lens’ center of gravity. So there’s a lot to work with on this howitzer shooter.

But I need to know if it will work. So I attached this beast to my Pentacon Six TL camera, slapped a pack of Kodak TMAX 100 black and white film into the unit, tried to take some pictures, discovered that this lens needs a tripod or I’m going to need hernia surgery … and I took some photos from downtown Albany.

I should be able to get some nice distance shots with this.

Here’s my first test shots. Tell me what you think.

I would say my shooting location was at least three blocks away from St. Joseph’s Church. So there’s that.

Let’s try another.

The lens can get a bit soft in very long distance shots, but I did have to crop this a lot to get the subjects I wanted.

Now let’s try something with some detail to it.

Nice. In this one, I was just a little under-exposed, but I can get decent distance on this lens.

So now that I know that this Meyer-Optik Görlitz Orestegor/50mm f/5.6 lens works … let’s give it a real test.

And I know just the place to test it. This coming Saturday morning. It will be an official “I’m using this gear for a possible entry into Competition Season” shoot. And all this testing with the Pentacon Six TL camera and the telephoto lens and all the other fun stuff … this is where we either reach success or we grit our teeth.

And I want success.