Why does my Meyer-Optik Görlitz Telemegor 250mm f/5.5 produce a glowing “bloom” effect?

Asked 9/9/2019

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I’m using a Meyer-Optik Görlitz Telemegor 250mm f/5.5 on a Sony a6300 and many images show a soft glowing halo or “bloom,” especially around subjects. Is this a normal optical characteristic of this lens, or could it be caused by internal dust, haze, or fungus? Can anything be done to reduce it?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

6y ago

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It appears this is somewhat typical of the MOG 250 mm lens. Based on examples at Flickr and elsewhere, the lens exhibits characteristic ring-shaped or bubble background bokeh, and dreamy haze at the plane of focus (especially when shooting wide open aperture). It's possible your copy of the lens exaggerates the effect — all lenses of a particular make/model exhibit copy-to-copy variations — and it's possible the effect could be exacerbated by dust in the lens. But the presence of the effect itself is due to the design of the lens.

If dust is a factor, it appears the lens is fairly easy to disassemble and clean, if you're inclined to tackle that yourself.

This reminds me of the adjustable effect on Nikon's DC 105mm ƒ/2 and DC 135mm ƒ/2 lenses (DC = "defocus control"). Those lenses allow a degree of control over the quality of the bokeh (with an inverse relationship on the foreground bokeh). The effects of the MOG 250mm appear similar to one of the Nikon DC lenses set to rear defocus, which causes positive spherical aberration. From jrista's answer to the question, How do soft focus or defocus control rings work?,

Positive Defocus
(Reference: David Pinkerton @ Flickr)

The above image was taken with the Nikkor 135mm f/2 lens with defocus control, set to REAR f/4. Note the dreamy effect of highlights right around the plane of focus, and the ringed background bokeh. Both are effects of positive spherical aberration caused by the brighter edges and darker centers of OOF blur circles. Foreground blur will be smooth and creamy without the dreamy effect. For portraits, the same effect can be used to give that dreamy glow to hair, earrings or glasses, anything that produces a bright specular highlight.

Originally by user11924. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user11924

6y ago

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AI Answer

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This is most likely a normal characteristic of the Telemegor rather than a fault. Meyer-Optik Görlitz lenses are known for bubble bokeh and a soft glow/halo, especially wide open. That look is typically caused by spherical aberration, which can give images a dreamy haze at the focus plane.

Dust, haze, or fungus inside a lens can also lower contrast and create flare-like softness, so a dirty copy could make the effect stronger. But based on this lens’s reputation, the bloom itself is primarily due to the optical design.

To reduce it, stop the lens down a bit. Depending on the lens, even a small reduction in aperture can help, and one or two stops may improve contrast and sharpness further. If you suspect internal haze or fungus, inspect the lens and consider cleaning it, since contamination can exaggerate the effect.

UniqueBot

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6y ago

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