Carl Zeiss LTM Finally! ~ I bought a "wartime" 1943 CZJ Sonnar T f1.5/50 in LTM

[johannielscom]

Tom,

that is a great shot. I love the subject separation and the painterly background from that Sonnar!

Had a 4.0/135 CZJ Sonnar myself (you might recall) and really hope the current owner is making it sing like you do yours!

Looking forward to some shots in the pin-up department from this lens!

 

[punctum]

Mr. Miyazaki Sonnar1.5/50 conversion

Mr. Miyazaki Sonnar1.5/50 conversion

Hi
Just received my Sonnar F1.5 50mm back from Japan, now converted
to m mount. I found it as a lens head in an industrial mount of some sort,
it has no apertures and has been left without. The lens is marked "Carl Zeiss
Nr 2550674 sonnar 1:1,5 f=50mm" so is it 1939?
You may have seen a picture of the lens on Japancamerahunters flickr, I'll post some pic's of my own soon.

Regards
Sven

 

[S.H.]

Hi guys!

I got my oddball 50 Sonnar back, it had to be recalibrated. The repairman verified the s/n at the back of the lens, it is the same as the front ring. He also said that it was well-made, quite complex (different from the postwar and Jupiter lenses) : probably not a one-man job but possibly a prototype. With a 1942 s/n, anything could be possible : prototype, wartime or postwar factory conversion, ...

It works well on the M8!


Untitled by s81h, on Flickr

 

[johannielscom]

Hi guys!

I got my oddball 50 Sonnar back, it had to be recalibrated. The repairman verified the s/n at the back of the lens, it is the same as the front ring. He also said that it was well-made, quite complex (different from the postwar and Jupiter lenses) : probably not a one-man job but possibly a prototype. With a 1942 s/n, anything could be possible : prototype, wartime or postwar factory conversion, ...

It works well on the M8!

Sounds intriguing! Any shots of the lens, and possibly the insides of it? :angel:

The fake 50mm 3K Sonnar from 1947 is still on my 1942 Leica II, it'll have to do for time to come... 🙂

 

[S.H.]

No pictures of the innards. But here : http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2034447&postcount=756 you can see that the RF cam is threaded in the mount, not smooth. Never saw this before. If you want a close up shot of the rear, just ask.

 

[Austrowolf]

Here is my 1941 Leica IIIc with a 1941 CZJ Sonnar 2/50 mm. The lens has been found here in Czech Republic and has spent most of its postwar life attached to an amateur photographer's Leica II.

btw. Has anyone of you ever heard of or saw a lens cap painted in Wehrmacht Erbsgrün, or any other WH paint? The paint is 100% original, and has been covered with silver paint postwar. It was showing on the edges underneath, so I have washed the silver paint off carefully to restore the cap to its original look.

 

[johannielscom]

Austrowolf,

welcome to the forum!

that is an impressive first post, some people have all the luck 😀 Your wartime Sonnar 2.0/50mm looks completely real, and the lens cap is unique to me, never seen one before... Maybe they were discarded over the years, since unmarked with a brand or anything.

I've been to the Czech Republic twice over the last few years, but mostly the area between Liberec and Hradec Kralové. Not too many good camera shops there... 😉 Although I suspect one could run into a nice lens like yours anywhere... Also was a Foto Skoda in Prague, and would be happy to go there again in the future...

Post some shots taken with the lens!?

 

[Austrowolf]

Hi, thanks for a nice welcome! 😉

I have found the lens being advertised on internet, and even though the seller was a relative of the original postwar owner, he's had no clue about the origins of the lens, and how it came in his relative's (uncle's, I think) possession.

Regarding the lens cap, I saw many unmarked Zeiss lenscaps exactly like this one, but never one in army colour. I've almost jumped through the ceiling when I've found, that the "half peeled off chrome layer" on it is actually just a simple silver spray paint. I've carefully rubbed it with acetone, and it came of like a charm, leaving just the lovely semi-gloss Erbsgrün paintjob underneath.

The glass has certainly seen better days, and I am seriously thinking about replacing the optical cell with a cell from another 2/50 Sonnar, but for the time being, it is resting comfortably amongst other pieces from my Leica collection.

Due to the cleaning marks on the front element, the lens is quite soft and prone to flare, but it works quite alright for some portraits.

 

[johannielscom]

Austro,

use a lens hood and reduce some flare. I don't think lens is that soft at all, but focusing a Sonnar wide open and close up always gives a bit of focus shift: the eyes of your lovely model are a bit soft in the first shot, but the watch band on her arm is sharp!

To tame a Sonnar is to know how much to 'misfocus' when shooting ones lens wide open and close up!

It takes experience with your particular Sonnar lens to get it right (or just take multiple shots and 'guestimate' the focus shift).

Looking forward to seeing more shots from lens, and model! 🙂

 

[Austrowolf]

It was shot with a lens hood. Only the focus seems to be the issue, just as you wrote. But the real problem is the flaring. I tried shooting it on a sunny summer day, and even stopped down and with a hood, the flare was quite extreme sometimes. But I'll sure give it a try again to find the optimal conditions for using it... 😉

 

[johannielscom]

Great posts Tom, I'm getting all soft about the CZJ wartime lenses I had and sold again, haha!

Did you get my email with the serial number of my Leica II, which you requested? According to a previous owner it still had its Elmar 3.5/50mm in 2001, when it was owned by a fellow in Malmö, Sweden. Maybe the Leitz ledgers also list the lenses supplied wih the camera? I'd be interested in the serial number of that Elmar!

Those Xenons you mention sure sound intriguing to me! And, you still have that soft collapsible Sonnar with the strange knurling?

 

[johannielscom]

Buying Toms lenses from the classifieds and swapping the optical cells out is probably your best bet, those collapsible Sonnars are rare as hens teeth and Toms lenses really are very reasonably priced...

I'd get them myself if I had any coin to spend, even while I do not particularly need them to shoot, I own two fine 50mm lenses already!

 

[johannielscom]

HU:

eBay item nr. 161004227350 is a Leica IIIc Red Curtain with Summitar 2.0/50mm, both from 1940. Camera was upgraded to a Leica IIIf RD but curtain was left untouched. Very likely this was an original combination, due to identical production year.

BIN EUR 499.00


Just sayin', I simply ran into it just now and am not going to get it so might as well share it with the fellas here!

 

[FUJINON]

Hi,
Is this lens a genuine Carl Zeiss wartime 5cm 1.5 Sonnar or a fake?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carl-Zeis...=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item2329976fcb

 

[johannielscom]

Seems legit to me. Early 1945/1946 Russian-sparked CZJ, with the black nose and the index mark for aperture already transitioned from a thin black line to thered dot that all later Jupiters had.

Nice condition, and is that brass shimmering through on the edge of the black front rim? In that case it has to be legit, the Russians never made optical cells in brass.

To be a 100% certain, you would have to unscrew the optical cell and see it the matching number with the front ring is also neatly stamped into the rear element collar, not scratched.

Having said all that, it's too darn expensive! Will likely go to a Russian collector pretty quick though.

 

[S.H.]

I doubt it will sell, has been on sale for some weeks already I think.

 

[Jacques M.]

I asked the selller about this lens.
He dismounted the lens block: the Zeiss serial number is there but does not match the one of the beauty ring: (2)862306 instead of 2860381.
So, it's a genuine Zeiss Sonnar, but not original: it was certainly mounted at Krasnogorsk from Zeiss parts, like another Sonnar I have. And these parts belong to the same batch.

All that sounds logical.

Amitiés. Jacques.

 

[Brian Legge]

Does anyone have pictures of where the serial number(s) are, what authentic ones look like, etc? I don't have any candidates but have been curious in the past.

I have a Contax mount J3 had looked like brass in the front but scratches revealed it to only be on the surface. The date was way out of range as well. I was curious enough to take it apart to see if it looked like a mixed lens but didn't know exactly what I was looking for anyway. A 1951 J8 looked like it was potentially in the right range of years and performed nicely but I'm 95% sure its pure russian. Those lenses still are killers. 🙂

As an aside, are the optics from the Kiev/Contax and LTM lenses interchangeable? What part is moved - just the optics modules themselves (ie is the aperture ring moved or just the glass)?

 

[johannielscom]

I doubt it will sell, has been on sale for some weeks already I think.

What I tell you? Sold.

The moment a Sonnar like that turns up in this thread it flies out the shop. Everytime.

Seems we have a lot of lurkers on this thread, reading along and hitting the 'Buy' button the moment something is declared 'legit'.

So, who got it? Now's the time to step forward and into the circle 😀

 

[S.H.]

The price is way too high, and I saw this seller peddle some obvious fakes. If the s/n do not match, it may well be because it was a damaged lens put together from spare parts. Can be a dog, can be a good one.