CZJ Pancolar 1.8/50 capturing night lights

[alex ph]

Here goes a follow up of the discussion on Yashica ML 1.4/50 performance at night. This time I took the famous Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 1.8/50 and put it on the same Sony Nex-5. This one is a newer (not zebra) version of the lens, still without MC indication on the beauty ring.

The lens has two intermediate clicks of the diaphragm in between f1.8 and f2.8. The following shots are taken with one or the other, presumably around f2.2 and f2.5 (?). All at ISO 800. Exposure and contrast of the shots are tweaked with simple adjustment of rulers, in order to better balance the images in the given light conditions. This way saturation is stronger in some shots (like #1) and lowered in some others (#3) to neutralize yellow cast.

The places are not precisely the same as taken with Yashica, so this is less a test in strict terms, although it gives an idea. Pancolar seems to stay pretty well for contarsty scenes and stray urban lights. It has less CAs than Yashica with slightly closed diaphragm and a more moderate but very pleasant colour rendition.


#1 With PP exposure compensation strongly lit spots do not look washed out (not too much, still Yashica's multicoating gives a better control of light contrasts)


#2 Coloured lights look rather natural for such a situation, given that some 50s react with more abberations


#3 The lens behaves well with artificial light


#4 Direct xenon lights do not give strong fringing, even if there is a moderate inclination towards red halos, though nothing comparable to chromatic fireworks produced by Rollei Planar 1.8/50 on Sony Nex


#5 Simple BW conversion looks rather convincing, making more visible the sharpness of the lens

[Ultrapix]

I own the zebra version, and I like it very much, even with its yellowing. A bit harsh rendering, but a strong performer anyway

[alex ph]

Interesting, I never thought of Pancolar as of a harsh lens.

[uddhava]

[Ultrapix]

[jamaeolus]

I have a zebra version of the 1.8 and it unfortunately suffers from "CZJ grease" quite stiff and inonsistent focus throw so a bit of a pain to use, but i always love the images it creates. Someday I may dismantle and relube the thing.

[alex ph]

Thank you, Uddhava!

Ultrapix, I don't have a fresh shot which would target bokeh better than that. In general, I find Pancolar's OOF rendering neutrally pleasing, both in zebra and newer versions.


Jamaeolus, I had a similar issue in one of my lenses. I lubed it without dismantling, just put a drop of grease with help of a toothpick and then rotated the focus ring 30-40 times. That worked as a temporary solution.

[Ultrapix]

[alex ph]

You might be right, I tend to forget about the FF/APS-C difference after the shots are taken, and never tested intentionally this difference for in- to out-focus transitions.

I found an older shot snapped with zebra version Pancolar on Sony A7. It's not the best illustration of in-to-out of focus interplay, as it gives a more conventional idea of background bokeh (uncertain if it was WO). There still seems to be a pretty homogenious OOF character through the frame.