Tair 3S and The Soviet Fotosnaiper
Greetings!
Today I come to you with another unique and interesting lens, the soviet Tair 3S and by extension an (incomplete) Fotosnaiper kit.
There isn't much that I can tell you about the history of this lens that is not already covered in various articles and videos already on the internet, but from only getting my hands on it this morning I can say that my expectations are blown away with excitement to use this piece of history. I don't yet have any meaningful photos to share but I intend to go out and use it very soon if the weather permits.
On my copy the glass could do with a good clean but from what I've been able to tell it's not bad enough to where it affects image quality for now but I intend to give it a good clean very soon since it certainly deserves to be kept in good shape. My kit doesn't have maching serial numbers and is missing some items most notably are the Zenit 12FS camera made specifically to work with this kit, and the Helios 44M-4 lens but I mostly got this kit for the stock and Tair 3S anyway and at a bargain price too!
Here's some photos of the kit and I intend to go out and use it soon to share how it looks through the lens. I'd also like to non-permanently adapt the stock to be able to fire my DSLR by jerry rigging a remote shutter control to it just for fun so that it's not totally a wall-hanger, though even then I don't picture myself going outside and using it very often for I may get some worried looks to say the least haha
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Very excited to see how that bad boy works! Just curious how big is the front element? It looks huge, it's a 300mm lens if I recall.
Quote from SpruceBruce on July 8, 2021, 8:50 pmVery excited to see how that bad boy works! Just curious how big is the front element? It looks huge, it's a 300mm lens if I recall.
300mm indeed, and the lens diameter is about 77mm or so
Quote from Herd on July 8, 2021, 10:21...though even then I don't picture myself going outside and using it very often for I may get some worried looks to say the least haha
That was my first thought! Though I bet you could find some secluded spots to give it a go. I do think the remote idea would be a cool project at least to experience the trigger.
That thing is huge! I have shared a bit of this already, but it's even larger than my Olympus TCON-300S extender I just got for my Olympus E-20. It's long, but not nearly as wide across and probably not nearly as heavy.
(it's the large one on the left. It's attached in a similar fashion, with a brace that screws into the tripod mount)
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Alright, yesterday I took a trip to the Royal Observatory and local deer reserve to try out the Tair 3S and I'm pretty happy with the results.
My first impressions of this lens started right as I had left the house as this lens is heavy! My copy weighs in at 3.5lbs or about 1.6kg, which doesn't seem like much to read but the weight really bears down on you when coupled with the rest of what was in my camera bag and walking around with it for a decent amount of time lifting it up or holding it steady for prolonged shooting (especially when my M42 adaptor felt a little loose I made sure to keep a tight grip!).
The focusing mechanism on this lens is quirky and fun as focus is achieved by rotating a disk under the lens rather than rotating the lens barrel itself, though this aided in holding and gripping the lens acting as a sort of foregrip allowing me to hold it quite tightly to myself for steady shooting.
The method for adjusting aperture is again quirky, though I would say for more serious shooters especially those who wish to stay quiet for wildlife photography probably won't appreciate this feature nearly as much as I do. To change aperture you must first cock the action, only then can you select your desired aperture and you must then depress the lever under the lens to trigger the release of the aperture blades. As you can imagine this is a rather long and especially loud process with the triggering of the blades being quite noticable even on the lower end but very loud at higher settings with a big cer-chunk sound. I find it to be good fun though!
I'm not at all qualified to talk about optical quality so I'll try and let the photos do the talking, keep in mind that my optics are in need of a decent cleaning but I don't have a lens wrench yet so that'll have to happen later.
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Quote from Herd on July 10, 2021, 9:32 amAlright, yesterday I took a trip to the Royal Observatory and local deer reserve to try out the Tair 3S and I'm pretty happy with the results.
My first impressions of this lens started right as I had left the house as this lens is heavy! My copy weighs in at 3.5lbs or about 1.6kg, which doesn't seem like much to read but the weight really bears down on you when coupled with the rest of what was in my camera bag and walking around with it for a decent amount of time lifting it up or holding it steady for prolonged shooting (especially when my M42 adaptor felt a little loose I made sure to keep a tight grip!).
The focusing mechanism on this lens is quirky and fun as focus is achieved by rotating a disk under the lens rather than rotating the lens barrel itself, though this aided in holding and gripping the lens acting as a sort of foregrip allowing me to hold it quite tightly to myself for steady shooting.
The method for adjusting aperture is again quirky, though I would say for more serious shooters especially those who wish to stay quiet for wildlife photography probably won't appreciate this feature nearly as much as I do. To change aperture you must first cock the action, only then can you select your desired aperture and you must then depress the lever under the lens to trigger the release of the aperture blades. As you can imagine this is a rather long and especially loud process with the triggering of the blades being quite noticable even on the lower end but very loud at higher settings with a big cer-chunk sound. I find it to be good fun though!
I'm not at all qualified to talk about optical quality so I'll try and let the photos do the talking, keep in mind that my optics are in need of a decent cleaning but I don't have a lens wrench yet so that'll have to happen later.
It sounds like the photography equivalent of loading and firing a musket! So fascinating to use and experience, I'd say optical quality is superb!
I'd be worried about being approached by cops haha
