Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50/1.5 in Contax mount: AWESOME

[uhoh7]

River Banks by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC03357-2 by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC03369 by unoh7, on Flickr


Hopeful Trio by unoh7, on Flickr

 

[mcfingon]

That sounds good, Mr Flibble. I will put my ZM Sonnar on my M6 for some shots too. I've got a IIa and 50/2 Sonnar, but the body needs shutter work. The quality of finish on these cameras is beautiful.

 

[Dante_Stella]

My 1934 lens is remarkable considering the age and lack of coating. After all, the design was optimized for contrast in the days before coating. It was quite a while before Leica caught up.

Dante, did you see my question a few posts up about the adjustment you mention?

Sorry. You basically back the rear group out a fraction of a turn until the zone of sharp focus moves backward to where you want it.

You do need to maintain tension on the system to keep the element square to the optical axis, which you can do with teflon tape on the threads (it can be challenging but works) or conceivably copper foil tape on the front or rear bearing surface of the group (which might be more easily repeatable). I heard from the guru on this that you can even use single strands of copper wire to create the spacer.

Needless to say, this is way easier with a digital body and a LensAlign target, since you can iterate, test, and iterate.

Dante

 

[Mark C]

Thanks. That is what I did, but only pulled the cell into place with some tape to hold position. If it ever shifts on me I may try the teflon tape idea.

I'm shooting film, but fine tuned it quickly after grossly overshooting the first try. I'm surprised how non-fussy it has been since.

 

[lundrog]

Love the Sonnar 50/1.5! Mine is with native nickel LTM mount, from 1933. A real rarity according to Zeiss experts.
Here's a portrait I took with the Sony A7R + helicoid adapter to come way closer than the 1m limit of the lens.

Love this picture!

 

[lundrog]

River Banks by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC03357-2 by unoh7, on Flickr


DSC03369 by unoh7, on Flickr


Hopeful Trio by unoh7, on Flickr

Reminds me of Minnesota in the summer, great shot.

 

[lundrog]

St. Cloud Minnesota Dunn Brothers Coffee. They Grind it in house.

Carl Zeiss Opton Sonnar 1.5 T. Contax mount. Purchased here recently from another member. Fuji X-E2.

Converted with Iridient X-Transformer, Processed with Lightroom. Click on each Image for Full Screen.

 

[mothertrucker]

Looking excellent lundrog!

 

[lundrog]

Looking excellent lundrog!

Thanks. Thanks for selling it to me 🙂

 

[rybolt]

Okay. Thanks for all of the data points on the previous three pages. I just picked up a near mint IIIA with the 50mm f1.5 Sonnar. Bluish coating so I'd guess that it's coated. The body, of course, has a dead shutter which means I'll sell it as is.
I am a fool for adapted lenses on the Fuji cameras. I'm seriously ready to order the $155 Amadeo adapter to mount this lens on the Fuji camera. I enjoy using the Russian copies of these Zeiss lenses and this one is so unbelievably clean and clear that I think I'll kick myself if I don't keep it. Any comments on the Zeiss/Fuji pairing?

 

[lundrog]

Okay. Thanks for all of the data points on the previous three pages. I just picked up a near mint IIIA with the 50mm f1.5 Sonnar. Bluish coating so I'd guess that it's coated. The body, of course, has a dead shutter which means I'll sell it as is.
I am a fool for adapted lenses on the Fuji cameras. I'm seriously ready to order the $155 Amadeo adapter to mount this lens on the Fuji camera. I enjoy using the Russian copies of these Zeiss lenses and this one is so unbelievably clean and clear that I think I'll kick myself if I don't keep it. Any comments on the Zeiss/Fuji pairing?

Loving mine. Have the Amadeo adapter as well. Using mine with a X-E2.

Gallery.

http://photography.rogerlund.net/Ga...n-Sonnar-15-T/Processed-Carl-Zeiss-Opton-Son/

A example wide open of my sales guy. Focused on his nose. 🙂

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 T (Oberkochen).

 

[Erik van Straten]

Nikon S2, Zeiss Sonnar black/nickel 50mm f/1.5 uncoated, 400-2TMY.

Erik.

 

[edwliang]

i am looking for a contax sonnar 50 1.5 too, cannot decide to buy a pre-war one or later red T one. are they of much different rendering?

 

[lundrog]

i am looking for a contax sonnar 50 1.5 too, cannot decide to buy a pre-war one or later red T one. are they of much different rendering?

Here is my gallery of my latter opton copy.

http://photography.rogerlund.net/Gallery/Lenses/MF/Carl-Zeiss-Opton-Sonnar-15-T

 

[f16sunshine]

I've started using an uncoated one on a fuji xt1 via an Amedeo adapter.
The soft contrast is so beautiful for color images.

This one is a jpeg from the camera.
Creating a proper well tuned jpeg from RAW would really shine .....alas it's just a test image.

f1.5

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

i am looking for a contax sonnar 50 1.5 too, cannot decide to buy a pre-war one or later red T one. are they of much different rendering?

If you're using it on a pre-war Contax the Jena lenses will be period correct for your body. Vice-versa for the post-war models which came with Oberkochen made Sonnars (can't recall if Jena put out any 50mm lenses after the war, someone will know).

I have a 1936 collapsible f/2 that came with my 1936 II and it is in quite good condition. I'm astounded at how sharp it is. But it has less contrast than my coated post war Carl Zeiss labelled 50mm f/1.5. This seems, from what I have seen so far, to be of more significance when shooting colour film than black and white. I would expect the uncoated Jena f/1.5 to be similar but have not personally used one. I have shot some film with a pre-war Jena, but it was actually a coated example (and was very similar, but slightly cooler, than the Oberkochen version on Provia 100F in back to back comparisons, I thought).

I do not think you would be disappointed with the performance of any of the Contax Sonnars providing whichever one you procure is in good condition. But you'll usually get more contrast from the coated examples than an uncoated one so for colour perhaps it depends on whether you're seeking more modern looking results or a more classic rendition? Of course, film type will be a factor, no matter which sort of lens you acquire.
Cheers,
Brett

 

[edwliang]

Here is my gallery of my latter opton copy.

http://photography.rogerlund.net/Gallery/Lenses/MF/Carl-Zeiss-Opton-Sonnar-15-T

thanks a lot.

 

[edwliang]

I've started using an uncoated one on a fuji xt1 via an Amedeo adapter.
The soft contrast is so beautiful for color images.

This one is a jpeg from the camera.
Creating a proper well tuned jpeg from RAW would really shine .....alas it's just a test image.

f1.5

very sharp wide open, very nice photo.

 

[edwliang]

If you're using it on a pre-war Contax the Jena lenses will be period correct for your body. Vice-versa for the post-war models which came with Oberkochen made Sonnars (can't recall if Jena put out any 50mm lenses after the war, someone will know).

I have a 1936 collapsible f/2 that came with my 1936 II and it is in quite good condition. I'm astounded at how sharp it is. But it has less contrast than my coated post war Carl Zeiss labelled 50mm f/1.5. This seems, from what I have seen so far, to be of more significance when shooting colour film than black and white. I would expect the uncoated Jena f/1.5 to be similar but have not personally used one. I have shot some film with a pre-war Jena, but it was actually a coated example (and was very similar, but slightly cooler, than the Oberkochen version on Provia 100F in back to back comparisons, I thought).

I do not think you would be disappointed with the performance of any of the Contax Sonnars providing whichever one you procure is in good condition. But you'll usually get more contrast from the coated examples than an uncoated one so for colour perhaps it depends on whether you're seeking more modern looking results or a more classic rendition? Of course, film type will be a factor, no matter which sort of lens you acquire.
Cheers,
Brett

thanks a lot for your information.