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

[johannielscom]

Tom,

can you provide a link to the auction? I'm interested but cannot locate it myself.

I've seen that crude engraving on the barrel before, I'm interested in the way it doesn't match the engraving on the lens head. Also, the engravings on the barrel look kinda dated, not the engravings any 1990 polish lens hacker would have used. The lettering is more like wartime German script, Gothic script used in newspapers etc.

I got a little theory (completely unsubstantiated) that the lens heads were taken from the factory and fit into a focusing mount during WWII by a Zeiss employee. These must have sold for a nice price on the black market, since the military claimed a lot of lenses produced, if not all.


A similar lens sold recently fron Czech seller Cameramate, the engravings were identical. Three years ago I bought a Jupiter-8 in Prague, it had the identical diamond-cut rear cap in aluminium, I sold the lens but kept the cap. I would have like to find this lens to go with it!

 

[dexdog]

http://cgi.ebay.com/Leica-SM-Sonnar...=ViewItem&pt=Film_Cameras&hash=item255acee748

Seller is cameramate- I erred in saying foto-hobby.

 

[fbf]

I just found one but haven't received it yet. We will see how it turns out.

 

[johannielscom]

I just found one but haven't received it yet. We will see how it turns out.

Exciting! Looking forward to pics of and from your 50/1.5 Sonnar!

 

[squinza]

Hi Tom, you're perfectly right, we've got to show something more...
This is my sample, on M8:







I've got a Velvia 50 roll waiting for developing with quite a lot of 50mm shots 🙂
I must admit, though, that for my recent holiday trip to Spain and Portugal I preferred taking with me my other Sonnar lens, being the Canon 50mm/1.5...

 

[squinza]

Here comes a few more, straight from yesterday stroll with a friend o' mine.
First, a couple stopped down (the first one has been PP in LR quite a lot, obviously):


Pioggia lontana by Il conte di Luna, on Flickr



Manerba by Il conte di Luna, on Flickr

And now a couple of portraits, wide open (focusing is very difficult, indeed - vignetting added in LR):

Mara by Il conte di Luna, on Flickr


Mara by Il conte di Luna, on Flickr



Mara by Il conte di Luna, on Flickr

(maybe the last one is @ f/2)

Well, nice lens, especially, as someone has said, for colour. Focusing knob is very smooth and has a long throw. Maybe is a little stiff, but nothing to be worried about. Focus shift is clearly visible in many shots, though.

Cheers

 

[squinza]

BTW, look at the horizon in the first shot. Is that the (in)famous sonnar distortion? (the photo has been cropped at the bottom)

 

[johannielscom]

How about this one: eBay item 260579819205.

Seems a true 58/1.5 Carl Zeiss Sonnar, early serial number. All signs are correct: small 'm', commas instead of decimal points in apertures, etc. Maybe Brian can comment on the number of screws to be seen on the lens, since that is also a tell-tale of authenticity?

I've never seen a 58/1.5 look as legit as this one, most are quite obvious later-time 're-creations'

If its a true one, its really ridiculously cheap😱

 

[john neal]

My guess is that it's a Russian built reparations lens, but I'm sure Brian will correct me on that 😉

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I never know what to think about these lenses until taking them apart. This one looks like a semi-custom job, not a factory job. The engraving is not as well done as my wartime Sonnars, or the ZK Sonnar. The RF cam is indexed, but left in aluminum finish. A proper lens has the side of the cam finished in black. The aperture goes to F11, but no wings on it. Unusual lens, I would want to take all the elements out to verify it is actually a Sonnar formula lens.

 

[john neal]

Gentlemen,

May I offer the following from my '43 Sonnar?

Shot at the Old Warden military display a few weeks back - I focussed on the "Enigma machine" and let the rest fade away - about f2.8 on Acros 100. Low res scan from the neg, so a bit fuzzy here and there.

I have a few more from this and my V1 Summilux - will try to add some from the Sonnar here, includiing one of these gents with a Hurricane behind them (!)

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Is that a working Enigma machine? A recreation as well?

Look forward to some more pictures.

 

[john neal]

Brian,

I think it is a repro machine - probably cobbled together from some old teletype / computer gear with the cogs being specially machined. The box looked far too new and the instructions pasted in the lid were definitely a photocopy. Oh, and din't a real one have more of the setting cogs?

Unfortunately, the guy who new about it wasn't around, and there were far too many aircraft to look at.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

About the enigma machine; As the war wore on the number of encoding wheels increased, certainly on the Kriegsmarine code machines.

 

[ampguy]

still used

still used

I have a couple of friends with these, 4 rotors I think. Were using them as recently as 10 years ago, for fun, they lived within 10 miles of each other.

About the enigma machine; As the war wore on the number of encoding wheels increased, certainly on the Kriegsmarine code machines.

 

[john neal]

OK, three more from the Sonnar. Unfortunately, I screwed up developing the 2nd film - managed to get a big light leak into the tank :bang:

I'll see if I can salvage anything for another day. As for these, you might notice that I was looking for juxtaposition......

 

[john neal]

For comparison, here are three from my V1 Summilux, on Ektar

 

[Mr_Flibble]

Hmm. Hurrican, Fiesler Storch (?), Stearman, Brisfit and SE5a....very nice.
I love the old warbirds.

 

[john neal]

Rick,

10 out of 10 for aircraft recognition 😉 This was a very special day - military aircraft from 1914 to the 1960's flown in a very attractive manner, and only yards from the crowd (the big thing about OldWarden is that you are so close - only 10 or 15 ft from parked aircraft and less than 400yds from flying ones). They capped it off with flights by the oldest Europen flying British aircraft (oddly, a Deperdessin) and the world's oldest flying aircraft - a 1909 Bleriot, which managed about 50ft of altitude. Sadly, the shots of that are on the B&W that I messed up.

Imagine that - fying a plane that is 101 years old - what a rush!

I have some shots of a Mustang somewhere (couldn't locate them last night), now that guy could really fly and gave one of the best warbird displays I have seen in 20 years. The noise from the supercharger was something else!

Tom,

You should come back for a visit.

They were very concerned about not ground running the Merlin in that Hurricane for a moment longer than necessary - apparently it has a habit of overheating and cracking cyl heads, which is somewhat expensive.

 

[Mr_Flibble]

2 weeks ago when I visited the Louwman museum I was surprised to find a Farman pusher and a Bleriot on display. Mr Louwman's collection contains more then just cars apparently.

It's been a decade since I've visited Duxford Air Museum and saw a Mustang cutting through the air. Must've been 5 years since I saw an airborne Spitfire.