When is a Carl Zeiss lens NOT a Carl Zeiss lens?

aoleg · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 1387 Location: Berlin, DE

I stumbled upon this VERY interesting discussion. Starting from a controversial post, it really is loaded with historical information on East vs. West Zeiss companies. Check it out:

http://photo.net/classic-cameras-forum/00M21d

my_photography · Expire: 2016-12-25

Interesting find - a thread that started in Jul 2007.

no-X · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:13 am Post subject:

I don't know the guy who started the discussion, but it seems to me he needed to hear some reasons why he paid so high amount of money for his west-germany lenses...

Well... CZJ lenses made by Russians? Laughing

Not only CZJ lenses were manufactured by the same people, who manufactured pre-war Zeiss lenses, but even many of the optical diagrams were pre-war or pre-Oberkochen (Biotars, Sonnars, Biometars...). Some engineers went to Oberkochen, some stayed at Jena. Very easy to check it - patents with their names are available online.

Some later west lenses were slightly better (maybe the main reason was better quality control), but lenses like Pancolar 80/1.8 or Sonnar 135/3.5 are at least at the same level. Btw. CZJ Sonnars are always Sonnars - Oberkochen Sonnars are in fact ernostars (easier to manufacture).

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Poster has no clue about lenses and Carl Zeiss either. Just simple ignore it.

koji · Expire: 2012-12-27

aoleg · Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 1387 Location: Berlin, DE

hk300 · Joined: 30 Oct 2008 Posts: 1041 Location: Hong Kong

interesting read ...

It also shows that some people are very biased, and think that they know everything (the thread starter), and for this reason they think they have the right to handle.

It is in my eyes more about Politics.

Seele · Joined: 17 Apr 2009 Posts: 742 Location: Sydney Australia

I was aware of this thread soon after it started, and decided not to participate. Misinformation can hang around for a very long time and keeps on misinforming. Besides I am aware of the fact that, the danger of arguing with an idiot, is that bystanders might not be able to tell who is the idiot.

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

even Zeiss seems misinformed of his own history, otherwise why did they destroy Jena prototypes

trifox · Expire: 2014-05-29

What a PRICK!! I can not believe that ..

tf

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Steven Moseley , Jul 28, 2007; 07:17 a.m.

Hi,

Q: When is a 'Carl Zeiss' lens not a 'Carl Zeiss' lens?

A: When it is a Carl Zeiss 'JENA' lens....

I am posting this because as a Contax/Zeiss user, I am concerned that an increasing number of people are potentially getting misled into thinking that the old M42 screw mount Carl Zeiss 'Jena' lenses are proper Zeiss lenses, when in fact they are nothing of the sort.

In particular there has been a mushroom effect in people using older lenses with adaptors on digital SLR's and sellers on a certain auction site are most certainly IMO trying to con bidders into thinking these old M42 Zeiss 'Jena' lenses are the real thing...in other words misleading bidders into thinking they are the equivalent of the 'proper' Contax Zeiss lenses.

Just for the record..these M42 screw Carl Zeiss 'jena' lenses were made in Eastern Germany (DDR) run by the Russians after the end of world war two and up until the fall of the Berlin wall. The only real connection to Carl Zeiss is that they were made in the old Zeiss factory in Jena, which was 'inherited' by the Russians. It was just quite literally four walls and a roof.

The proper Carl Zeiss company in Western Germany was furious that the Russians were making lenses with the Zeiss name on them and pursued a legal case for years, but this was very difficult across the west/east divide and the russians got around the issue by putting Carl Zeiss 'JENA' on their lenses.

These 'Jena' lenses were mostly made for the low end Praktica cameras and are of generally low end quality with poor build and design. Some of the lenses have proven to be of good optical design, but these are very much in the minority and all the lenses suffer from poor build issues and poor longevity.

You can get good results with some of the lenses, but should be aware that they are nothing like the same build quality as proper Zeiss lenses.

I am stunned at how much some of the M42 Jena lenses are now fetching, indeed some buyers are now paying almost as much as you would for proper Contax Zeiss lenses! which does lead me to think they are imagining they are actually buying the real thing, when they are not.....

cheers Steve.

trifox · Expire: 2014-05-29

I'll find him, personally! Smile

tf

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

a20010494 · Joined: 15 Feb 2010 Posts: 396 Location: Perú.

Also, looks like the people in that thread is not well informed about right/left wing.