Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 (6000)

Carl Zeiss · Rollei 6000 · 1976 · Tele-Tessar, 5 elements in 3 groups

Also known as: Rollei Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 HFT · Rolleiflex 6000 Tele-Tessar 500mm F8 · Carl Zeiss Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500 Rollei · Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 PQ · Tele Tessar 500 PQS Rollei 6008 · Rollei Tele-Tessar 500 EL · Rollei 6006 500mm f8 Zeiss · ローライ テレテッサー 500mm F8 HFT · ローライフレックス 6000 テレテッサー 500mm · カールツァイス テレテッサー 500mm F8 PQ ローライ

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking) Rollei 6000 1976 — —
Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500 PQ (1988–) Rollei 6000 1988 — —
Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500 PQS (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 — —
Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500 EL, internal focusing, order no. 86 761 Rollei 6000 — — —
  1. Construction (5 elements in 3 groups), f/8–64, 8.5 m closest focus, 100 × 316 mm, 1,995 g and the 86 mm thread are from the English Wikipedia list of SLX/6000/Hy6 lenses, drawn from Rollei's brochures; rolleigraphy.eu gives 5/3, a 9° diagonal and 6° horizontal field and M 86 × 1; Japanese Wikipedia gives 3群5枚, 8.5 m and φ86 for the PQ. The English list gives one set of dimensions for all versions.
  2. Years. 1976 is the start of the original lens generation, not a documented date: the lens is absent from Rollei's 1984 SLX table as reproduced on English Wikipedia, and the first documents the English list draws on that could carry it are the 1985 6006/6002 brochure and later. 1988 is the 6008 professional's year for the PQ, 1990 the arrival of PQS lenses. The EL is undated. No end dates were found.
  3. The 'Tele-Apotessar 8/500 HFT PQS' that rolleigraphy.eu lists beside this lens (5 elements in 3 groups, M86, 'apochromatic telephoto lens with high image quality') is not established as a version of this lens. Zeiss's Tele-Apotessar 8/500 for Hasselblad of 1982 is a separate, apochromatic computation that replaced the Tele-Tessar 8/500 there; whether the Rollei-mount Tele-Apotessar is that computation in a 6000 shutter, or a renamed Tele-Tessar, is not settled by any source consulted, and no other document for it was found.
  4. Relatives. Hasselblad's Tele-Tessar 8/500 (1960–82) is also 5 elements in 3 groups; the SL66's long lens is a different Tele-Tessar 5.6/500 of 6 elements in 5 groups (Japanese Wikipedia), not this lens.
  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 8–64 with an 'A' position; 86 mm front thread, 316 mm long, 2 kg
  • Nothing beside the aperture numbers on the original lens; 'PQ' or 'PQS' on the later ones; 'EL lens' in white on the internally focusing Economy Line version with its telescopic hood and tripod socket (rolleigraphy.eu)
  • Not the SL66's Tele-Tessar 5.6/500 (no shutter, f/5.6, SL66 bayonet) and not the Hasselblad Tele-Tessar 8/500 with its Synchro-Compur speed ring

Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500, original SLX-type lens (no PQ marking):

  • No PQ, PQS or EL marking beside the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu); shutter-priority and manual exposure only
  • M86 × 1 filter thread and a 100 × 316 mm, 1,995 g barrel shared by every version (English Wikipedia list)

Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500 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 8/500 PQS (1990–):

  • 'PQS' beside the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu); top speed 1/1000 s on the 6008, 6003, 6001 and Hy6

Tele-Tessar HFT 8/500 EL, internal focusing, order no. 86 761:

  • 'EL lens' printed in white to the right of the aperture numbers (rolleigraphy.eu)
  • Internal focusing, a telescopic lens hood and a tripod socket; M86 × 1 thread, Rollei order no. 86 761 (rolleigraphy.eu)
  • Electrically a PQ lens: aperture-priority and program modes, 1/500 s

Specifications

Formula
Tele-Tessar, 5 elements in 3 groups
Construction
5 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/8–f/64
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
8.5 m
Dimensions
100 × 316 mm
Weight
1995 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 8/500 is the super-telephoto of the Rolleiflex SLX and 6000 system: five elements in three groups, f/8 to f/64, focusing to 8.5 m, 100 mm across and 316 mm long, just under 2 kg, with an 86 mm filter thread. Rollei’s brochure called it a telephoto lens of the top class and, in its Economy Line form, a “cutting-edge supertelephoto” with six times the reproduction ratio of the standard lens, for wildlife, science and expeditions. It carries its own electronically timed leaf shutter and linear-motor diaphragm, driven by the body through the ten-contact bayonet, the arrangement every 6000 lens shares. It is a different lens from the SL66’s Tele-Tessar 5.6/500, a six-element design without a shutter, and the same five-in-three layout as Zeiss’s Tele-Tessar 8/500 for Hasselblad, though no source says the computations are identical.

Four versions were listed. The original lens, unmarked, is recorded as an SLX type but is missing from Rollei’s 1984 table of SLX lenses, so it probably arrived in the 6006 years; the PQ of the 6008 era adds aperture-priority and program exposure; the PQS of 1990 onward has a 1/1000 s shutter and motors the pre-1988 bodies cannot drive; and the EL, order number 86 761, is an internally focusing lens with a telescopic hood and a tripod socket, sold with threaded filters as the economy line. Rolleigraphy.eu also lists a Tele-Apotessar 8/500 PQS, apochromatic, with the same element count and thread, which may be Zeiss’s later Hasselblad-era computation in a Rollei shutter or may be a renaming; nothing consulted settles it.

No test or review of the lens was found and no list price. When buying, the shutter and diaphragm can be exercised only on a body or a tester, the ten contacts should be inspected, and the generation marking beside the aperture numbers should be matched to the body, since a PQS does not work on an SLX, 6006 or 6002. The EL is the version to look for if internal focusing and the tripod socket matter, and the one most likely to be confused with the PQ, which it electrically equals.

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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 500mm f/8 (6000)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

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Related: Tele-Tessar 500mm f/8 · Tele-Apotessar 500mm f/8 · Tele-Tessar 500mm f/5.6 (SL66) · Tele-Tessar 350mm f/5.6 (6000) · Tele-Tessar 1000mm f/8 (6000)

Sources (4)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.