Carl Zeiss Jena Werra lenses on NEX

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi folks

Ever since Attila posted his wonderful results from his Cardinar 4/100 I have wanted to adapt one for use on my NEX. Thanks to Attila I became the proud owner of a mint Cardinar at a very good price and I already had a Werra Tessar 2.8/50 in my pile of odds n ends, so I needed a broken Werra to steal the mount from as this also contains the aperture ring. Again, Attila came to the rescue and found me a broken Werra.

I took the mount off the Werra then took it apart, threw away the shutter and rotating advance ring, then cut off the remaining aluminium behind the aperture ring and mounted the remaining mount part on some NEX extension tubes, luckily, the diameter of the back of the Werra mount fitted precisely inside the extension tube threads so a bit of epoxy was all was needed to join the two together.

As soon as the rain stops I'll get outside and make some samples, will probably need to make some very minor adjustments to get infinity spot-on. It controls the aperture perfectly, so I'm very happy and very grateful to Attila for his help in making this happen!

[Attila]

Sound is pretty promising, finger crossed to have good light soon!

[iangreenhalgh1]

Sadly no light here atm, but I did do a quick test shot with the Tessar at f5.6:

[Attila]

Great result ! I just love Werra !

[martinsmith99]

Yes, nice image. Good work on the conversion.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Cheers guys, really looking forward to trying the Cardinar.

[stingOM]

Wow, looks great!!

BTW just found a great link here on the Werra:
http://www3.telus.net/public/wcpha/WCPHA%20NewsletterJan-Feb08R.htm

[iangreenhalgh1]

We got a little bit of sunlight today so I ran out and shot a few pics with the Cardinar. Wow, what a lens, sharp as hell, great contrast and colours, only a tiny bit of CA, just superb. These are all wide open:


#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

[Attila]

Great results again!

[iangreenhalgh1]

Thankyou so much for finding this lens for me, I definitely don't need another 90/100mm lens now, this one is as good as I could find I think.

[pich900]

I don't know this lens but seems to be for sure a great performer! The portrait (#14) is great, nice rendering (with great hair's colour ) but the bokeh seems to be a little bit strange on the left bottom side ...does it comes may be from the smoke of the cigarette or the PT???

[iangreenhalgh1]

Well spotted Pascal, it's cigarette smoke. This lens is not well known as it was only produced for the Werra camera and no-one makes an adapter to use Werra lenses, I had to make one out of a broken Werra camera.

[atiratha]

Portrait 14, now this Purple fringing is going to be one heck of a nuisance to remove in LR

[sburley]

Hi Ian or Attila,
Any details or possibly pics on how exactly to remove the mount from a Werra 3. Is it a hacksaw job or can the camera be disassembled to remove the barrel/mount. I have one that is 3/4 stripped already, but i'm no closer to figuring out a straightforward way to remove the mount. I have a Cardinar and Tessar crying out for use on either my Nex or Canon EOS, so ideally I'd like to convert two of these mounts eventually. many thanks.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I can't remember exactly how I did it, sorry, but I do remember I didn't need to resort to the hacksaw to get the mount off the body. Once the mount was off, there was some aluminium sticking out that had to be cut off with the hacksaw. I should have documented what I did, sorry.

[patrickh]

You are brave men - I would never dare do any of that - my fingers all think they are thumbs


patrickh

[Orio]

Congratulations, both lenses perform great!
I don't think I'll be able to sleep after having seen #14

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hehe, beware of the purple haired men in your dreams!

I haven't used the Cardinar since, I have misplaced the adapter, I must find it again so I can use these lenses, particularly the Cardinar, as you say, it is a great performer.

I still want a Werra and the Flek to complete the set, I saw a Flek go on ebay UK for 30ukp today, I was tempted but I just bought a Kiev 6C, Biometar 80 and Jupiter 9 so my finances are somewhat depleted.

[sburley]

Many thanks for the fast reply. I'm now basically down to the front half of the shell and the barrel still firmly attached. I can see (looking inside towards the barrel) in both film compartments what might be the ends of 4 screws (screwed from the barrel side) that might need drilling out, does that sound familiar..? I'll give it a go later today anyway and report back. Thanks again.

[sburley]

Right lens barrel finally off. It was the large screw/grommit(?) that frames the shutter mechanism that foxed me. Just the excess aluminium you mentioned (that looks like it is screwed down, but refuses to budge) to remove and a suitable barrel replacement prepared. If you manage to find your Nex mount Ian could you tell me the distance from tip to toe, just so I have a rough ball park, cheers.

One thing I appreciated from (unnecessarily) stripping this Werra to the bone was how amazingly well built they are, quite complex, yet very strong. The shutter mechanism alone probably puts most watch movements to shame. I'm sure if everyday items today were (hand)built to these standards, very few people could afford them.

Determined now to also eventually source a mint Werra as a keeper.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Glad you got it off, I'll find my adapter and measure it for you. I felt the same about how well made they were.

I also felt I must find a working Werra too, real quality piece of kit.

[Kane1972]

Do you think I could make an adapter that would work on a Sony SLT-A65? I'd like to get some Werra lenses, especially the Cardinar.

I can only find working Werra cameras and it seems a shame to cut one up, but I really would like to use the lenses on my Sony.

I've never done anything like this, do you think it's quite easy to make an adapter from the Werra camera?

Thanks

[Attila]

[Kane1972]

Thanks Attila

Do you think I'm best fusing the mount taken from the Werra camera to an extension tube that fits the Sony/Minolta A mount or try to fix the mount to something thinner, like an M42 to A mount adapter? Is there anyway to find out the distance I'd need for infinity or near to infinity focus?

Thanks again for any advice

[Attila]

Easiest way to sort it out try to loan a lens and keep with your hands before your camera if distance is enough to make an adapter your can solve it, my temporary mount suggestion is an M42 adapter + electrical tape fix lens and try.