Tele-Tessar 350mm f/5.6 (6000)

Carl Zeiss · Rollei 6000 · 1976 · Tele-Tessar, 4 elements in 4 groups

Also known as: Rollei Tele-Tessar 350mm f/5.6 HFT · Rolleiflex 6000 Tele-Tessar 350mm F5.6 · Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350 Rollei · Tele-Tessar 350mm f/5.6 PQ · Tele Tessar 350 PQS Rollei 6008 · Rollei SLX 350mm f5.6 · Zeiss Tele-Tessar 350 HFT 6006 · ローライ テレテッサー 350mm F5.6 HFT · ローライフレックス 6000 テレテッサー 350mm · カールツァイス テレテッサー 350mm F5.6 PQ ローライ

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking) Rollei 6000 1976 — —
Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350 PQ (1988–) Rollei 6000 1988 — —
Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350 PQS, order no. 65 631 (1990–) · As the PQ, with lighter shutter blades timed to 1/1000 s (PQS); the second-generation linear motors draw more current, so the lens does not work on the SLX, 6006 or 6002 Rollei 6000 1990 — —
  1. Construction (4 elements in 4 groups), f/5.6–45, 5 m closest focus, 90 × 227 mm and 1,650 g are from the English Wikipedia list of SLX/6000/Hy6 lenses and the SLX lens table on the Rolleiflex SLX article, both drawn from Rollei's brochures; rolleigraphy.eu gives 4/4, a 13° diagonal and 9° horizontal field, 'approx. 4.4× magnification over the standard lens', and M 86 × 1; Japanese Wikipedia gives 4群4枚 and 5 m for both the SLX-era and the PQ lens.
  2. The filter fitting is disputed in the lesser sources. The English Wikipedia list and rolleigraphy.eu give M86 × 1 for every version, and Japanese Wikipedia φ86 mm for the PQ; the SLX table on English Wikipedia prints '68', and Japanese Wikipedia gives 'シリーズVII' for the SLX-era lens. 86 mm is the better-evidenced figure, and the SLX table's '68' reads as a transposition. The same SLX table names the lens 'Sonnar HFT'; no other source calls the 350 anything but a Tele-Tessar.
  3. Years. 1976 is the SLX's launch year and the start of the original generation; the lens is in Rollei's 1984 SLX table, and no document consulted dates its own introduction. 1988 is the 6008 professional's year for the PQ, and 1990 the arrival of PQS lenses (rolleigraphy.eu). No end dates were found.
  4. Relatives. Zeiss's Tele-Tessar 5.6/350 for Hasselblad (1972) is also 4 elements in 4 groups; whether the 6000 lens is the same computation is not stated by any source consulted. The SL66 line had no 350.
  5. Not found: the number of diaphragm blades, a list price, production figures, and any published test.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Rollei 6000 bayonet with ten contacts and no shutter-speed ring; aperture ring 5.6–45 with an 'A' position; 86 mm front thread (the Tele-Tessar 500 is the other M86 lens in the system; the Sonnar 250 takes Bayonet VI, the Apo-Tele-Xenar 300 M95)
  • Nothing beside the aperture numbers on the original lens; 'PQ' or 'PQS' on the later ones (rolleigraphy.eu)
  • Not the Hasselblad Tele-Tessar 350, which has a Synchro-Compur or Prontor shutter with a speed ring and Hasselblad's bayonet

Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking):

  • No PQ or PQS marking beside the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu); shutter-priority and manual exposure only
  • M86 × 1 filter thread, 90 × 227 mm, 1,650 g: the same body as the later versions (English Wikipedia list)

Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350 PQ (1988–):

  • 'PQ' engraved or printed to the right of the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu)
  • Aperture-priority and program exposure on the 6008 and later; 1/500 s top speed

Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350 PQS, order no. 65 631 (1990–):

  • 'PQS' beside the aperture numbers; Rollei order no. 65 631; supplied with a screw-on lens hood (rolleigraphy.eu)
  • Top speed 1/1000 s; Rollei's text calls its 'relatively high speed and compact design, which allow even hand-held use', the reason it was 'a favorite among the long focal lengths' (quoted on rolleigraphy.eu)

Specifications

Formula
Tele-Tessar, 4 elements in 4 groups
Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/5.6–f/45
Shutter
Electronically timed leaf shutter built into the lens, 30 s–1/500 s, its blades and the diaphragm driven by linear motors through the 10-pin contact; speeds are set on the body
Min. focus
5 m
Dimensions
90 × 227 mm
Weight
1650 g
Filter
86 mm
Years manufactured
1976
Country
Germany
Coating
HFT multicoating

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

History

The Tele-Tessar HFT 5.6/350 is the Zeiss long telephoto of the Rolleiflex SLX and 6000 system: four elements in four groups, f/5.6 to f/45, focusing to 5 m, in a barrel 90 mm across and 227 mm long that weighs 1.65 kg and takes 86 mm screw-in filters. Rollei’s brochure described it as a compact telephoto whose “approx. 4.4× magnification over the standard lens” compresses perspective, and, in the PQS version, as a favourite among the long focal lengths because its speed and size allow hand-held use. Like every lens of the system it carries its own electronically timed leaf shutter and linear-motor diaphragm, driven by the body through the ten-contact bayonet.

It was in the line from the SLX years: Rollei’s 1984 table of SLX lenses lists a 350 f/5.6 at these figures, oddly labelled “Sonnar HFT” with a “68” filter in the copy English Wikipedia reproduces, where every other source names it a Tele-Tessar with an 86 mm thread. The PQ of the 6008 professional era adds aperture-priority and program exposure; the PQS, order number 65 631, from 1990, has lighter blades timed to 1/1000 s and motors the pre-1988 bodies cannot drive, and came with a screw-on hood. The generation is marked beside the aperture numbers, or not marked at all on the original lens. Zeiss’s Tele-Tessar 5.6/350 for Hasselblad of 1972 has the same four-in-four construction; whether the two are one computation is not something the sources say.

No test or review was found. It is the lightest of the three Zeiss long lenses by a wide margin against the 2 kg Tele-Tessar 500 and the 8.7 kg 1000, and a stop slower than Schneider’s Apo-Tele-Xenar 300, which is the lens a 6000 user wanting speed at this length would weigh it against. When buying, run the shutter and diaphragm on a body or tester, since neither moves without power, inspect the ten contacts, and match the generation to the body: a PQS will not work on an SLX, 6006 or 6002.

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This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Tele-Tessar 350mm f/5.6 (6000)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

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