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CZJ f4 135mm Sonnar
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 07, 2018 8:14 pm    Post subject: CZJ f4 135mm Sonnar Reply with quote
Bought this lens recently.

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Last edited by uddhava on Sat Jun 09, 2018 5:13 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like Dog

Recently got mine as well..just WOW.

Sharp and 3d punch wide open..no chromatic aberration wide open..colors crisp with smooth bokeh.

Insanely underrated lens..glad i got mine before more people figured it out.

That multi-coating is ace as well for bright light.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 5:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
GrahamR wrote:
Like Dog

Recently got mine as well..just WOW.

Sharp and 3d punch wide open..no chromatic aberration wide open..colors crisp with smooth bokeh.

Insanely underrated lens..glad i got mine before more people figured it out.

That multi-coating is ace as well for bright light.


Yes it is a nice lens. I just noticed a mistake in my post title, my copy is the f4 version
which I believe has no coating or only one coating. I changed the title now.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 small Good lens and nice pictures


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 10:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
uddhava wrote:
GrahamR wrote:
Like Dog

Recently got mine as well..just WOW.

Sharp and 3d punch wide open..no chromatic aberration wide open..colors crisp with smooth bokeh.

Insanely underrated lens..glad i got mine before more people figured it out.

That multi-coating is ace as well for bright light.


Yes it is a nice lens. I just noticed a mistake in my post title, my copy is the f4 version
which I believe has no coating or only one coating. I changed the title now.


yes, you should be pleased with this.
How do you think it compares to the Jupiter 11, if at all?
Tom


PostPosted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 9:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The Jupiter-11 is a faithful copy of the pre-war CZJ 13.5cm F4, except it is coated and switched to Russian glass around 1955 or so. The quality control was not as tight with later Russian lenses. The mechanical tolerances were close enough to the original that you can unscrew the barrel of the pre-war Zeiss lens from it's Contax mount and screw it into the LTM focus mount of a much later J-11. The J-11 is not a close-focusing mount, RF focus is accurate across the full-range.

Gunston Hall by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Gunston Hall by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Gunston Hall by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Wide-Open, all shots. The bloom on the uncoated optics is beautiful on this sample.

1937 CZJ 13.5cm F4 CZJ Sonnar in a 1970 J-11 mount, on the Leica M9.

Converted Sonnar by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

I put the J-11 barrel into the original Contax focus mount. I prefer the color rendition of the uncoated optics.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oldhand wrote:

yes, you should be pleased with this.
How do you think it compares to the Jupiter 11, if at all?
Tom


I never answered this.
They are similar, but I think the Sonnar is sharper
and easier to get good results.
Both special lenses.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Oldhand wrote:

How do you think it compares to the Jupiter 11, if at all?
Tom


uddhava wrote:

They are similar, but I think the Sonnar is sharper
and easier to get good results.
Both special lenses.


Have compared both my 2 copies of the Jupiter 11 (M39/LTM and M39/Zenit) with my CZJ 135/4 (late wartime production in M39/LTM).
Not even on my A7R II 42MP camera I was able to dedect any differences in performance between these 3 lenses.
At least my conclusion is therefore that the Russian clones are not worse than the German original.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
tb_a wrote:
Oldhand wrote:

How do you think it compares to the Jupiter 11, if at all?
Tom


uddhava wrote:

They are similar, but I think the Sonnar is sharper
and easier to get good results.
Both special lenses.


Have compared both my 2 copies of the Jupiter 11 (M39/LTM and M39/Zenit) with my CZJ 135/4 (late wartime production in M39/LTM).
Not even on my A7R II 42MP camera I was able to dedect any differences in performance between these 3 lenses.
At least my conclusion is therefore that the Russian clones are not worse than the German original.


Your comparison sounds more serious, so probably correct. Good to know.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
That sonnar is the same zebra versión with exakta mount?


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have a silver CZJ Sonnar 135 4, a zebra CZJ Sonnar 135 3.5, and a 1963 KOMZ Jupiter-11. Both Sonnars are M42. The Jupiter is 39mm with a 42mm adapter ring.

The silver Sonnar is significantly smaller and lighter than the zebra, and it's better in most circumstances, except that the zebra is a lot sharper at small apertures like f/16. The zebra is actually great for macro; the silver isn't so good for that.

My Jupiter-11 is very nice except that it's not sharp at all. It's a lemon in that regard. I guess mine is a "bad" copy, but really it's only bad at sharpness.

It's takes lovely, not-sharp-at-all pictures, so it's just fine for soft portraits and things like that.


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Like 1 Like 1 Sonnar! Tuzki with lens

Abilities well shown!

How compare to Pentacon? Smile


PostPosted: Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
KEO wrote:
I have a silver CZJ Sonnar 135 4, a zebra CZJ Sonnar 135 3.5, and a 1963 KOMZ Jupiter-11. Both Sonnars are M42. The Jupiter is 39mm with a 42mm adapter ring.

The silver Sonnar is significantly smaller and lighter than the zebra, and it's better in most circumstances, except that the zebra is a lot sharper at small apertures like f/16. The zebra is actually great for macro; the silver isn't so good for that.

My Jupiter-11 is very nice except that it's not sharp at all. It's a lemon in that regard. I guess mine is a "bad" copy, but really it's only bad at sharpness.

It's takes lovely, not-sharp-at-all pictures, so it's just fine for soft portraits and things like that.


Your Jupiter-11 is most probably the M39/Zenit version as you state you're using it with a 42mm adapter ring. In this case infinity sharpness isn't possible at all as M42 register distance (45.46 mm) is simply a little bit too long for Zenit (45.2 mm).
Use the right adapter and your Jupiter will shine. My recommendation is to use a standard M39/LTM adapter together with a 16.4 mm distance ring. That will give you the correct register distance. Such a distance ring is part of the standard M39 Zenit 4-ring set for macro shooting.


PostPosted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here are mine.
The black one is M42 and the chrome one is Exakta. Photos were taken with the black lens
which I bought because the other one was very stiff.
Now I have fixed that problem.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 06, 2024 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
uddhava wrote:
Here are mine.
The black one is M42 and the chrome one is Exakta. Photos were taken with the black lens
which I bought because the other one was very stiff.
Now I have fixed that problem.


Apologies for reviving an ancient thread. I also own a chrome/silver/alu Sonnar 135mm 4.0 that is very stiff. Mine if an M42. You say that problem has been fixed, so I assume you disassembled the lens and re-greased it?

Regards, C.
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