Paul Schilliger
7-Dec-2000, 18:10
A few month ago I submitted a question to try have some feedback on the Congo Te le 500/9.5. Since none seemed to have used that lens, I will relate my first imp ressions after the first film test.
After some unsuccessful stories of trying to put my hand on a Nikkor T500 at a d ecent price, I finally grabbed a near new Congo at a used price. I was a bit anx ious though as someone had suggested this was a piece of crap. Jeff at Badger wa s more than evasive when I asked him how it performed compared to the tenors fro m Fuji or Nikon but did not dissuade me.
So the very day it came on the post, it was mounted on my Technika for some test shots. I made some shots at close range (about four meters) and most at 100m to infinity. To have a comparison, I made the same shots with an Apo-Ronar 360. So here I have the Velvia's on my light table and I'm impressed! I dug out some 4x 5 I made with a Nikkor T500 borrowed from a friend and, well, it appears to me t hat the Congo has nothing to want as far as resolving power and contrast are con cerned. Under the 10x loupe, the 6x9 are as sharp as the Apo-Ronar's and maybe ( but this is not a real lens test) sharper than the Nikkor's! The only flaw is a slight vignetting in the sky on a 4x5 but this should be easily corrected by mou nting the lens on the right lensboard, as I used a lensboard that puts the lens off center.
For this is the concession to be made! The lens has only a tight coverage of the 4x5 format! No movements. But this is not too annoying for me for the kind of photography I want to use it for. As for other specs, the lens is a Tele-Xenar design on Copal 1, very light for a tele of this power: only 500g! Filter thread is 67 and length 15 cm. (yes a bit long compared to a Fujinon C 450! But when the bellows are not there...) It focusses infinity at 280 mm. It is multicoated, finish looks good. Perhaps a stain on the coating of an inner lens element, visible only under certain lighting (invisible when looking throu gh the lens). Should not affect the quality at all and if this is the reason the price was so low, it is quite acceptable to me! Will have to work for a while t o be sure the lens is really good but looks promising!
After some unsuccessful stories of trying to put my hand on a Nikkor T500 at a d ecent price, I finally grabbed a near new Congo at a used price. I was a bit anx ious though as someone had suggested this was a piece of crap. Jeff at Badger wa s more than evasive when I asked him how it performed compared to the tenors fro m Fuji or Nikon but did not dissuade me.
So the very day it came on the post, it was mounted on my Technika for some test shots. I made some shots at close range (about four meters) and most at 100m to infinity. To have a comparison, I made the same shots with an Apo-Ronar 360. So here I have the Velvia's on my light table and I'm impressed! I dug out some 4x 5 I made with a Nikkor T500 borrowed from a friend and, well, it appears to me t hat the Congo has nothing to want as far as resolving power and contrast are con cerned. Under the 10x loupe, the 6x9 are as sharp as the Apo-Ronar's and maybe ( but this is not a real lens test) sharper than the Nikkor's! The only flaw is a slight vignetting in the sky on a 4x5 but this should be easily corrected by mou nting the lens on the right lensboard, as I used a lensboard that puts the lens off center.
For this is the concession to be made! The lens has only a tight coverage of the 4x5 format! No movements. But this is not too annoying for me for the kind of photography I want to use it for. As for other specs, the lens is a Tele-Xenar design on Copal 1, very light for a tele of this power: only 500g! Filter thread is 67 and length 15 cm. (yes a bit long compared to a Fujinon C 450! But when the bellows are not there...) It focusses infinity at 280 mm. It is multicoated, finish looks good. Perhaps a stain on the coating of an inner lens element, visible only under certain lighting (invisible when looking throu gh the lens). Should not affect the quality at all and if this is the reason the price was so low, it is quite acceptable to me! Will have to work for a while t o be sure the lens is really good but looks promising!