akptc
Shoot first, think later
furcafe said:
Do you mean this one? - "On The Trail of the Contax: Volume II: Contax History From 1945 Until Today," by Hans-Jurgen Kuc
All the different Sonnars 1.5?
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Do you mean this one? - "On The Trail of the Contax: Volume II: Contax History From 1945 Until Today," by Hans-Jurgen Kuc
furcafe
Veteran
Right! There's also a Volume I, which covers the pre-1945 period.
akptc said:
akptc
Shoot first, think later
furcafe said:
Would anyone have it used for sale? It's $67 on Amazon... I know, I can try the library, but it's a long drive 🙂
dexdog
Veteran
These books show up on eBay occasionally. I bought both volumes for a combined total of $75 last year.
akptc
Shoot first, think later
dexdog said:
Ha! I just found it on ebay. - Thanks for the tip.
harry01562
Registered semi-lurker
According to the latest book on the lenses by Thiele, your lens was part of a group of 9000 released to production on 28-3-1951. It might have been actually made several months later than that date. They released numbers in large quantities, ans used them as needed.
Apparently, it is a genuine late model 50/1.5 produced in Oberkochen (West Germany) by the CZ firm. Nice pick up. I don't know what you paid for it, but its certainly a wonderful lens to use, if in nice shape.
Harry
Apparently, it is a genuine late model 50/1.5 produced in Oberkochen (West Germany) by the CZ firm. Nice pick up. I don't know what you paid for it, but its certainly a wonderful lens to use, if in nice shape.
Harry
akptc
Shoot first, think later
harry01562 said:
Harry, thanks a bunch for looking it up. I cannot believe I now own a lens with a pedigree! 😀
The two lenses were acquired as a set for dirt cheap (I am ashamed to say how little) in accordance with my ingenious plan to have equipment pay for itself (sell the lens you don't want and the 2nd one is free). But now that I've seen some of the pics taken with the 13.5 cm lens, I definitely want to try it out, so both may end up staying in the stable 🙂
akptc
Shoot first, think later
The lenses have arrived - more questions
The lenses have arrived - more questions
The CZ Sonnar 50/1.5 and the 135/3.5 Nikkor Q-C arrived today. It seems I need to get one or two bodies (that I don’t have) to try them out.
I posted lots of photos of the 2 lenses here http://www.flickr.com/photos/akptc/ (also posted a couple pics below).
They both look pretty clean, except that the Sonnar has what appears to be a faint oil spill (I think) behind the front glass. I already got a reasonable quote from DAG on the cleaning. But right now it would be great to know if they look complete or are there any parts missing? I guess it would be nice to know if I should try to mount them onto something or use them as pretty paperweights.
I am especially perplexed by the mount on the Nikkor, never seen a beast like this before. I’d appreciate any feedback.
The lenses have arrived - more questions
The CZ Sonnar 50/1.5 and the 135/3.5 Nikkor Q-C arrived today. It seems I need to get one or two bodies (that I don’t have) to try them out.
I posted lots of photos of the 2 lenses here http://www.flickr.com/photos/akptc/ (also posted a couple pics below).
They both look pretty clean, except that the Sonnar has what appears to be a faint oil spill (I think) behind the front glass. I already got a reasonable quote from DAG on the cleaning. But right now it would be great to know if they look complete or are there any parts missing? I guess it would be nice to know if I should try to mount them onto something or use them as pretty paperweights.
I am especially perplexed by the mount on the Nikkor, never seen a beast like this before. I’d appreciate any feedback.
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Brian, there is a red "C" on the lens.
Sonnar Brian
Established
That stands for "c"oated. The 'C' for 'C'ontax is on the barrel near the distance scale. I do not see one. It would be in white.
Only Nikon. It makes a huge difference. The Tanar lenses are worse. The 'C' for 'c'ontax is on the underside of the mount, is extremely small, and the lens will not mount on a Nikon if it is present.
Only Nikon. It makes a huge difference. The Tanar lenses are worse. The 'C' for 'c'ontax is on the underside of the mount, is extremely small, and the lens will not mount on a Nikon if it is present.
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Brian, thank you, the mystery of the 13.5cm lens is now solved for me. Would it be safe to say that optically both the Contax and Nikon versions are the same?
VinceC
Veteran
Yes, they're optically identical. Just a very slight difference in the way the mounts couple.
furcafe
Veteran
The "oil spill" looks like it could be separation, which can't be fixed w/cleaning, only by re-cementing, which is a trickier & more expensive job for a tech to do (John Van Stelten of Focal Point, http://www.focalpointlens.com, can also do this type of work). I've read that this a relatively common affliction for many of the later Carl Zeiss (as opposed to Zeiss-Opton) lenses & was caused by a change in the cement that Zeiss used around that time (late '50s-early '60s) & my limited experience has borne this out (my CZ 50/1.5 Sonnar for Contax & CZ 50/2.8 Tessar for Contarex both have some separation). The good news is that the lens will probably perform just fine, w/possible increase in flare if you're shooting directly into strong light sources.
akptc said:
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Yep, I got a quote from John on fixing the separation, basically it would cost more than buying this lens in mint condition.. I am waiting for my Contax to come back from the shop to try it out, hopefully you are right in that the lens can still be used. Otherwise, shiny paperweight anyone ? 🙂furcafe said:
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Nikkor 13.5cm on Kiev
Nikkor 13.5cm on Kiev
Just a quick follow-up question. I mounted the 135mm Nikkor on my Kiev, it mounted easily, the rangefinder is coupled, , everything seems to work mechanically-speaking. This was today, so no pics yet.
So the question I have is - is it correct to say that the only way this combination (Kiev + a Nikon S mount lens) can produce focused pics is if I avoid shooting wide open?
Also, (calling Brian Sweeney) - from reading your posts it seems that with shims, this particular lens could be adapted to the Contax mount? Or it is only true for going from the S mount to the Contax mount? (sorry if this questions was already answered, would appreciate a pointer to an old thread if so).
Thanks a bunch,
Nikkor 13.5cm on Kiev
Just a quick follow-up question. I mounted the 135mm Nikkor on my Kiev, it mounted easily, the rangefinder is coupled, , everything seems to work mechanically-speaking. This was today, so no pics yet.
So the question I have is - is it correct to say that the only way this combination (Kiev + a Nikon S mount lens) can produce focused pics is if I avoid shooting wide open?
Also, (calling Brian Sweeney) - from reading your posts it seems that with shims, this particular lens could be adapted to the Contax mount? Or it is only true for going from the S mount to the Contax mount? (sorry if this questions was already answered, would appreciate a pointer to an old thread if so).
Thanks a bunch,
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Brian Sweeney said:
Brian, thank you for the idea. Ok, I looked at the mount end of the lens, there seems to be a black, shim-like ring with two tiny (turning) holes along the diameter. The ring won't budge, looks like a special tool would be needed, something like pliers with tiny pin-ends. I think it's probably easier (safer) to add a shim than to remove one. Hm.., this seems to be a dead end for this contraption. Or, I need to get me a Nikon S 🙂
akptc
Shoot first, think later
It won't budge. Any more twisting and I will have twisted metal in my hands. It seems it's stuck. I think I am grabbing the right parts of the lens (read and re-read your lasts 2 posts several times). If you find the time, a couple of pics would be great.
VinceC
Veteran
I'll take a stab at it.
Attached photo shows two Nikkor 13.5cms. One intact, one unscrewed. The brass ring is the shim ring. I see that in my long-ago camera doctor days, I also inserted a carboard shim, the irregular white band still on the lens. I used to adjust lenses by putting the camera on tripod, setting it to T, then focusing on a lit candle about 6 feet away. Used scotch tape over the opened shutter crate, at the film plane, to verify focus, using a 35mm or 28mm lens as a loupe. Haven't done that in 15 years, though.
Attached photo shows two Nikkor 13.5cms. One intact, one unscrewed. The brass ring is the shim ring. I see that in my long-ago camera doctor days, I also inserted a carboard shim, the irregular white band still on the lens. I used to adjust lenses by putting the camera on tripod, setting it to T, then focusing on a lit candle about 6 feet away. Used scotch tape over the opened shutter crate, at the film plane, to verify focus, using a 35mm or 28mm lens as a loupe. Haven't done that in 15 years, though.
Sonnar Brian
Established
Back from the basement. I have a lot of "stuff".
Vince has it covered. Until you see it, you would not think it just unscrews. Same with the lens module itself, comes apart at the aperture. I have a "near perfect" lens after learning that trick, it did have haze. Went nuts trying to figure out how to get at it.
Nikon even made a focus mount for the Nikon F that the 13.5cm/3.5 RF lens module screwed into. The LTM, Nikon-S, Contax, and even exakta version all shared the same lens module, just the focus part changed.
Vince has it covered. Until you see it, you would not think it just unscrews. Same with the lens module itself, comes apart at the aperture. I have a "near perfect" lens after learning that trick, it did have haze. Went nuts trying to figure out how to get at it.
Nikon even made a focus mount for the Nikon F that the 13.5cm/3.5 RF lens module screwed into. The LTM, Nikon-S, Contax, and even exakta version all shared the same lens module, just the focus part changed.
VinceC
Veteran
The disassembled lens in my picture has a long history.
I bought one mail order, only to have it arrive being a 'C' for Contax mount. Strangely, it had A LOT of play in the focus mount. If I used the thumb-wheel to tighten it up in one direction, it seemed happy on Contax/Kiev, if I turned the thumbwheel the other way until it was snug, it seemed happier on Nikon-S. Weird and unwieldy, to say the least.
I ordered another one and made sure it wasn't a 'C'. It arrived and is the one pictured disassembled. It seemed to work marvelously. But when I took it on my honeymoon to Turkey, some of the photos seemed to have a lot of flare for a lens that is otherwise crisp and flare-free. I took it apart and reassembled it several times, and even swapped the module with the Contax-mount version (which, I suppose, is where that cardboard shim came from). I even tried swapping the lens module and separate lens elements with an SLR version.
I couldn't lick the flare problem, so I ordered a THIRD 13.5cm lens. (They're the cheapest Nikkor, after all, and were less than $100 in those days). The one in the background arrived and has always worked like a champ. Then I noticed that it had some black felt glued into the inch-long tube between the rear lens element and the rear of the lens mount. The flare-prone lens didn't have this felt and instead had shiny black metal that reflected stray light, causing flare. Proably its felt had come unglued and fallen off. I cut up an old (clean) black sock and glued some of the fabric into the tube, and voila, no more flare, two good 13.5cm lenses.
I bought one mail order, only to have it arrive being a 'C' for Contax mount. Strangely, it had A LOT of play in the focus mount. If I used the thumb-wheel to tighten it up in one direction, it seemed happy on Contax/Kiev, if I turned the thumbwheel the other way until it was snug, it seemed happier on Nikon-S. Weird and unwieldy, to say the least.
I ordered another one and made sure it wasn't a 'C'. It arrived and is the one pictured disassembled. It seemed to work marvelously. But when I took it on my honeymoon to Turkey, some of the photos seemed to have a lot of flare for a lens that is otherwise crisp and flare-free. I took it apart and reassembled it several times, and even swapped the module with the Contax-mount version (which, I suppose, is where that cardboard shim came from). I even tried swapping the lens module and separate lens elements with an SLR version.
I couldn't lick the flare problem, so I ordered a THIRD 13.5cm lens. (They're the cheapest Nikkor, after all, and were less than $100 in those days). The one in the background arrived and has always worked like a champ. Then I noticed that it had some black felt glued into the inch-long tube between the rear lens element and the rear of the lens mount. The flare-prone lens didn't have this felt and instead had shiny black metal that reflected stray light, causing flare. Proably its felt had come unglued and fallen off. I cut up an old (clean) black sock and glued some of the fabric into the tube, and voila, no more flare, two good 13.5cm lenses.
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