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Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50mm F4 Pentacon Six
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2024 7:30 pm    Post subject: Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50mm F4 Pentacon Six Reply with quote
From 90-th I own Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50mm F4 Pentacon Six Medium Format Lens. Which was produced in the year 1974 (zebra). I used it long ago on the film Kievs cameras. After I obtained Medium Format digital camera I gave to that lens the new use.

Recently I obtained MC version ($120, but not in the best condition, however the optic part is good, and the diaphragm also works fine (but it was hardy used and unprofessionally serviced - is completely absent lever for the diaphragm repetition)). The serial number is for digits, and I am not able to clarify the year of production. I decided to compare them both in the test. To my surprise, the oldest showed little better sharpness, saturation and eve contrast! There are test samples:

Phase One 645 DF+ P25 back

Zebra lens:


f/4.0



f/8.0



MC version lens:

f/4.0



f/8.0



There is MC file with f/8.0 after it was hardly corrected in the Photoshop



Last edited by LittleAlex on Fri Sep 06, 2024 8:40 pm; edited 3 times in total


PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2024 7:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I decided also to compare Flektogon with Mamiya 55mm f2.8 Sekor C 645 – Lens. To my surprise Flektogon showed much better results.

Mamiya 55mm f2.8 Sekor C 645

Phase One 645 DF+ P25 back

f/4.0



f/8.0




PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2024 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
What is very unusual, the MC sample has two little screws at the ring with inscriptions. I had to search hard to find sample with the same screws:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3VcAAOSwUQZmpmfx/s-l1600.webp


Commonly it is absent from the lenses. Wonder, why it was done at all.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 7:52 am    Post subject: Re: Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50mm F4 Pentacon Six Reply with quote
LittleAlex wrote:
From 90-th I own Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50mm F4 Pentacon Six Medium Format Lens. Which was produced in the year 1974 (zebra). I used it long ago on the film Kievs cameras. After I obtained Medium Format digital camera I gave to that lens the new use.

Recently I obtained MC version ($120, but not in the best condition, however the optic part is good, and the diaphragm also works fine (but it was hardy used and unprofessionally serviced - is completely absent lever for the diaphragm repetition)). The serial number is for digits, and I am not able to clarify the year of production. I decided to compare them both in the test. To my surprise, the oldest showed little better sharpness, saturation and eve contrast! There are test samples:

Phase One 645 DF+ P25 back

Zebra lens:


f/4.0



f/8.0



MC version lens:

f/4.0



f/8.0



There is MC file with f/8.0 after it was hardly corrected in the Photoshop



Files are impressive.

Always wanted to try middle format. Didn't want to invest so much money so instead I stitched some pics. But I fully understand the merits of such tools.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 8:06 am    Post subject: Re: Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 50mm F4 Pentacon Six Reply with quote
lumens pixel wrote:

Always wanted to try middle format. Didn't want to invest so much money so instead I stitched some pics. But I fully understand the merits of such tools.


Today, if you are patient, you are able to gather entier system piece by piece for the very affordable prices. As I did for Phase One 645 system.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 11:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
LittleAlex wrote:
What is very unusual, the MC sample has two little screws at the ring with inscriptions. I had to search hard to find sample with the same screws:

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/3VcAAOSwUQZmpmfx/s-l1600.webp


Commonly it is absent from the lenses. Wonder, why it was done at all.


If we're looking at the same thing, those are holes that were drilled so a spanner could be used to remove the name ring in order to service the lens. If the name ring is very tight or siezed, or if the technician doesn't have a large enough soft tool to grip the ring well, then these holes are drilled. This is common on lenses with very large name rings like the 50 Flek and 180 Sonnar, but sometimes seen on smaller lenses as well.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 12:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Noritar wrote:
, those are holes that were drilled so a spanner could be used to remove the name ring in order to service the lens.


Yes - firstly I suggested it myself. But there are not the simple holes, but in them are the tiny screws. And I don't imagine at all any service men who would care to do that. And for what reason?

Manly that kind of screws are intended to prevent the ring from self unscrewing in time. By the factory producing it.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 8:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
LittleAlex wrote:
And for what reason?


My guess is the technician did this as an upgrade to prevent seizing in the future. Don't need to tighten as much if using set screws, and less risk of the ring coming loose. Or maybe the name ring threads are damaged? Open it up and find out!


PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2024 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Noritar wrote:
Open it up and find out!


I rather wouldn't! Laugh 1

"Curiosity dead the cat!" (с)


PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2024 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
lumens pixel wrote:

Files are impressive.

Always wanted to try middle format. Didn't want to invest so much money so instead I stitched some pics. But I fully understand the merits of such tools.


Resolution looks fine, but not really impressive (I downloaded the "Zebra" f8 image and looked at it in Photoshop). The tiny Minolta MD 2.8/35mm on a Sony A7RII would give a similar resolution.

As to the Mamiya / Zeiss comparison:

The Mamiya has visibly better resolution in the upper corners (= further away), the Zebra Zeiss has better lower corners (= closer distances). That means you have an issue with proper focusing here, or possibly with the adapters (play and / or missing parallelism ??).

That said, I very well may get a used large MF back for my Mamiya 645 system at some point - just for fun.
Or a used 100MP Fuji ... since the 50 MP Fuji wasn't better at all compared to my 43 MP Sony A7RII Wink

S


PostPosted: Wed Sep 18, 2024 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Phase One 645 DF+ P25 back

f/11.0 15,0 s; ISO 400

Tripod



PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2024 11:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:


Resolution looks fine, but not really impressive

S


Really to say - the resolution is only part of the general impression from photography.

For example - I consciencely had chosen Sony a7s because it has only 12 mega pixels. However Sony A7RII of course would have (theoretically) much more resolution. Because they are "fat" pixels. Which makes much more impression, like the "analog impression". Same with Canon 5d mark one.

Same with lenses.


PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2024 1:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
LittleAlex wrote:
stevemark wrote:


Resolution looks fine, but not really impressive

S


Really to say - the resolution is only part of the general impression from photography.

For example - I consciencely had chosen Sony a7s because it has only 12 mega pixels. However Sony A7RII of course would have (theoretically) much more resolution. Because they are "fat" pixels. Which makes much more impression, like the "analog impression". Same with Canon 5d mark one.

Same with lenses.


Sure, I'm aware of that. I recently looked at images taken 20 years ago with my first Konica Minolta Dynax 7D. The colors are incredibly nice indeed (CCD sensor plus Konica knowledge about colors and film plus Minolta knowldge about color metering ... lots of expertise there!!).

However in 2020, when I was about to get the Fuji GFX 50 MP, I compared it side-by-side with my A900 and A7RII FF cameras - and couldn't find a real advantage (but many disadvantages). So I decided not to buy it - and I spent my money buying a few nice lenses including the nFD 1.2/85 L, the nFD 1.2/50 L, and a beautiful Nikon F2 set including the super rare ED Nikkor Ai 4/300mm (non-IF!).
That was probably a good decision.

However, if I'd find a cheap CCD back for my Mamiya 645 System I probably would buy it too - just for fun and experiments Wink!!

S


PostPosted: Thu Sep 19, 2024 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
stevemark wrote:


However, if I'd find a cheap CCD back for my Mamiya 645 System I probably would buy it too - just for fun and experiments Wink!!

S


Well, I obtained my P25 for $1000 on Ebay in the very good condition.

However, to use it you need to obtain firs an AF camera body.
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