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Manual Focus Lenses Forum

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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Tessar the sharp
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:59 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:59 pm
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I was in Athens yesterday. I could no find the new Ektar 100 anywhere so I used the cheap 200 asa Lidl film

The contax pancake tessar gived incredible resolution on the cheap 200 asa film, look at this crop corresponding to a 20Mp dslr
I know that few can read it but you can feel the resolution

whole pic

45mm (=28mm on cropped) is a nice standard focal


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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:36 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 9:36 pm
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impressive 100% crop!


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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:09 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 10:09 pm
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I'm with Orio on the crop. A great showing of the inherent resolution of the lens. Wow!


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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:42 pm
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Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 11:42 pm
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Agree with Orio as well, that is one sharp lens!


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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:43 am
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:43 am
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You could shave with it Wink


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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:31 am
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:31 am
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Great examples of what this old lens can do. It brings back memories for me.
My first lens on an SLR was the f2.8 Tessar on a Practica FX 2 way back in 1965, when I was schoolboy.
It was regarded as a very good lens, the slightly cheaper option then was the Meyer-Optik Görlitz Domiplan 50mm f/2.8.
The last shot is a great example, shame it is only web size. I would love to see a 12 inch print!


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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:54 am
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 6:54 am
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Maybe this is common knowledge, but I remember reading somewhere that the Tessar was such a simple design and so resistant to flare that it was far more successful than Planar/Sonnar (which were designed earlier). The Planar/Sonnar stuff only started to take off once the coatings got good enough to combat the more flare-prone designs.

I'm guessing a Tessar with Zeiss T* coatings must be pretty flare-proof?


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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:20 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 12:20 pm
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wintoid wrote:
Maybe this is common knowledge, but I remember reading somewhere that the Tessar was such a simple design and so resistant to flare that it was far more successful than Planar/Sonnar (which were designed earlier). The Planar/Sonnar stuff only started to take off once the coatings got good enough to combat the more flare-prone designs.


Actually, the flare problem was mostly with the Planar (which, incidentally, is the oldest design), because of the large glass-air surfaces.
The Tessar came after and it improved on the flare. However, the Tessar also isn't flawless. It has more chromatic aberrations and can not be very fast.
The Sonnar is the latest of the three and replaced the Tessar in the mid-high price range because of the less CA and faster speed.

wintoid wrote:
I'm guessing a Tessar with Zeiss T* coatings must be pretty flare-proof?


I guess yes. However it's not merely a matter of lens design, the quality of the optical glass that is used is decisive. The same Tessar design with top quality glass (as in Zeiss SLR lenses) and with plastic "glasses" (such as in cell phones) can give results that are world apart.


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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:29 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 2:29 pm
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thanks for nice comments
nice to know that cheap negative still rock @ 20mpix resolution
I forget the pic of the lens


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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:14 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:14 pm
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That is gorgeous!


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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:23 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:23 am
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Haha, I've just read Orio's post carefully. I got that completely wrong! Sorry for the misinformation, and thanks Orio for setting me straight Very Happy

I blame my aging memory.


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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:40 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:40 am
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Wow, fantastic results.

Looks loke a cute little lens-baby ...

Cheers
Tobias


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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:36 am
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:36 am
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Nice subject shot with a great piece of gear. Full marks!

Btw, hope you had a good time while in Athens, the weather was not quite up to our usual local Spring standards (it's even getting worse - starting today).


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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:26 pm
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 10:26 pm
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SVP wrote:
Nice subject shot with a great piece of gear. Full marks!

Btw, hope you had a good time while in Athens, the weather was not quite up to our usual local Spring standards (it's even getting worse - starting today).

Thanks! I was lucky with the weather and stay only for the journey
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