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Recommend An Old Zeiss Lens
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 9:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tb_a wrote:
Many thanks for your help. I'll see if I can manage that. Wink
BTW, short to medium distance it performs rather excellently.


Just in case, Brian also works for third parties if you want him to perform that (at least he did...)


PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kds315* wrote:
tb_a wrote:
Many thanks for your help. I'll see if I can manage that. Wink
BTW, short to medium distance it performs rather excellently.


Just in case, Brian also works for third parties if you want him to perform that (at least he did...)


Thanks for the info, Klaus. I don't know if it's worth the effort to send such a lens around the globe for adjustment (shipping charges and possible customs troubles).
I'll see what I can do. Otherwise I'll simply take another lens for infinity. Wink


PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can trade a little bit of up-close/wide-open performance for infinity focus. The easiest way to do this: unscrew the rear triplet, use a layer of nylon tape (used for plumbing), and back out the rear fixture very slightly- 0.02mm makes a noticeable difference even on film.

I've "retired" from taking on lenses, I can retire from my job as computer engineer- but it has been busier than ever. I pick up "as is" basket case lenses from Ebay and camera shows for fun, and relaxation. Somehow I've accumulated over 100 lenses in Leica mount. For the 5cm F1.5 Sonnar/Jupiter-3 Line- I've got representative lenses from 1934 Zeiss, 1949 Russian, through to the C-Sonnar and Jupiter-3+. The latter is quite good.


PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 8:42 pm    Post subject: Re: Recommend An Old Zeiss Lens Reply with quote

I only have limited experience with old Zeiss lenses - but my favourites are the classical BERTELE* lenses deveopped for Contax RF:

Biogon 4.5/21 mm
Biogon 2.8/3.5 cm
Sonnar 1.5/5 cm
Sonnar 2/8.5cm
Sonnar 4/13.5 cm
Sonnar 2.8/18 cm

All of theses lenses were ground-breaking constructions, especially the 1.5/5 cm, the 2.8/18cm and the 4.5/21mm.

These days, for practical work on 24MP FF, i prefer the Sonnars 2/85mm, 4.5/135mm and 2.8/180mm (the original computation for 35mm format, not the 6x6 version). All three have a high resolution even wide open, and the typical Sonnar rendering which is quite useful in certain situations.

Stephan


Ludwig Bertele lived just a few miles away from where i grew up.
His descendants, living near Zürich, can still be found in the Swiss phone directory.

Some German speaking readers may be interested in this book, published by his son:
https://vdf.ch/ludwig-j-bertele.html
https://www.fotointern.ch/archiv/2017/04/01/buchtipp-ludwig-j-bertele-ein-pionier-der-geometrischen-optik/


PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tb_a wrote:
...the Western Germany production of photographic lenses ended more or less with the sale of Voigtlaender/Braunschweig to Rollei in the early 1970's (the so-called "Zeiss" Ultron for the Icarex was developed and made by Voigtländer in Braunschweig). Since then Zeiss/Oberkochen was more a design bureau than a lens producer.


I'm familiar with the general story of Zeiss getting split up after the war, but I always wondered about West German Zeiss, because it seems you seldom hear much about them. Not compared to Zeiss Jena, at least.

Gott23 wrote:
I found an early Tessar 50mm f/2.8 in a job lot of photographic equipment I got for literally nothing on eBay (including a mint original Trip 35.. Very Happy ), and though it has really stiff focusing andis impossible to use without using live view because of mirror strike; I was blown away by it. The contrast and tones are amazing, so that was it. The model I have is a pretty early Jena one in that it was still branded "Germany".


A Tessar exactly like that was one of my first manual lenses. It's got amazing, vibrant color and sharpness, and the focusing is still stiff even after I cleaned and relubed the helicoils. I think hard focusing is normal with that model - even though it's not normal for my similarly designed Biotars from the same time frame.

calvin83 wrote:
Don't forget the Sonnar 85/2.0 (or early Jupiter-9) which is a excellent lens for portraits.


The Sonnar 85 interests me because I love my Jupter-9 so much.

Lightshow wrote:
Either of the 80/2.8's are well worth getting.
Biometar 80mm f2.8 more money, slightly better IQ than the Tessar.
Tessar 80mm f2.8 not as expensive, still very good IQ. I quite like mine.
Sonnar 135mm f4, there's a reason Sonnar's are loved.


Thanks! I'm going to keep an eye out for Biometars and Tessar 80s. I'd love a Sonnar 135, but I already have a boatload of 135s (many of which I really like), so unfortunately it's not high on my list.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 7:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Decided to register to this site after bumping into great valuable information and knowledge, thanks to all you guys I've been learning a lot.

Any input on this next question will be deeply appreciated. I'm about to buy my first "real" lens (on a budget) for a digital cinema camera and I'm looking for a lens that can deliver an organic-dramatic feel, so after heavy research I narrowed my options into two lenses (I know there are a lot of other good lenses out there but I'm totally conviced that these two are my final options) :

Option A. Zeiss Flektogon 20mm F2.8 (serial 1001xxxx)

Option B. Zeiss Contax Distagon 25mm F2.8. (serial 581xxxx)

I've read a lot about how quality control is greater on the Contax Line but at the same time I've read about some Jena's having great quality too. Cost of both is relatively similar on the web.

My priorities in this decission are: image quality, color rendering and of course, durability of the lens. I am not too worried about corner/edges softness because I understand that these 2 lenses suffer from it  (An I'm currently sitting on a 1.6x crop factor so I won't be dealing with the real corners)

Thanks a lot for your time.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:21 am    Post subject: Re: Recommend An Old Zeiss Lens Reply with quote

KEO wrote:
I don't need to be convinced that old Zeiss lenses are great. So far I've amassed an old silver Tessar 50/2.8, two old silver Biotar 58s, a slim Triotar 135 and a fat Triotar 135. They're all wonderful.

I know there are a lot of Zeiss fans on the forum, and I'm wondering whether there are any models you would particularly recommend. I don't rule out any price range, but I'm especially interested in lenses you think are underrated, underappreciated, and/or under-priced. Part of the reason I like the ones I already have is because, in retrospect, I'm amazed how little I paid for them.

Any focal length and any mount is acceptable, although I'm most comfortable with the most common ones (M42 and Exakta).

Hopefully a discussion of this topic will be helpful to more than just me. Thanks!

The 80/2.8 Tessar, it doesn't get the love the Biometar gets.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 10:09 am    Post subject: EAST\WEST\JAPANESE ? Reply with quote

sir,

You will meet several optinions on quality v\s provenance. i have several zeiss lenses. stiff focussing on the east zone ones, and the goo used to lublicate sheds oil on aperture blades, locking them. not easy to fix.western ZIV Ultron withfog inside, probably also a matter of lubrication evaporation.Difficulty adjusting infinity focus. Flektogon and cardinar for the Werra, no problem.japanese Kyocera licence production Contax mounts distagons , sonnars and vario sonnars, never any problem. It is worth noting that Tomioka was bought by Yashica who in turn had a licence agreement with zeiss.and then was taken over by Kyocera. The Y\C mount lenses are much more expensive than the DDR varieties, but if you have access to a good repairers they can be made qualitatively competitive.

p.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

EMBermudez wrote:
Decided to register to this site after bumping into great valuable information and knowledge, thanks to all you guys I've been learning a lot.

Any input on this next question will be deeply appreciated. I'm about to buy my first "real" lens (on a budget) for a digital cinema camera and I'm looking for a lens that can deliver an organic-dramatic feel, so after heavy research I narrowed my options into two lenses (I know there are a lot of other good lenses out there but I'm totally conviced that these two are my final options) :

Option A. Zeiss Flektogon 20mm F2.8 (serial 1001xxxx)

Option B. Zeiss Contax Distagon 25mm F2.8. (serial 581xxxx)

I've read a lot about how quality control is greater on the Contax Line but at the same time I've read about some Jena's having great quality too. Cost of both is relatively similar on the web.

My priorities in this decission are: image quality, color rendering and of course, durability of the lens. I am not too worried about corner/edges softness because I understand that these 2 lenses suffer from it  (An I'm currently sitting on a 1.6x crop factor so I won't be dealing with the real corners)

Thanks a lot for your time.

My c/y lenses never need it maintenance , all the M42 Zeiss did need it ; it might be other reasons ? I would take into account others opinions also, maintenance it's not easy neither cheap in some of them