raid
Dad Photographer
Are these beauties all war time Sonnar in LTM? This is quite a collection. Are they all genuine Zeiss made?
photovdz
Well-known
supposedly they are, after scrutiny by Charles B.
So you have from left to right
2726485 1,5 T on contax mount (typical mixed metal mount and body found on a Gxxxxx III)
2936226 2 T on contax mount (badly damaged came on a french contax II, should be from the end of the war, mixed metal)
2724947 1,5 T LTM (full heavy metal mount, nice glass, perfectly working)
2859321 1,5T LTM (mixed metal, badly damaged mount, but nice glass, sadly to be reconstructed)
2859393 1,5T LTM (came on a IIIc red curtain, american officer provenance, very nice glass, ugly grey metal mount, needs some care)
2789989 1,5T LTM (strange artisanal alloy mount, not Zeiss, not Jup3, Could have been done by a parrallel workshop starting from a contax mount ... I recently came across a 85/2 of the same serial batch with the same bizarre engravings... to be studied)...
not on the picture are other rare sonnars...
2687429 2T LTM ... a sonnar head on an early industar 26 mount
2202696 2T contax... a very early coated lens (1937)
and
658553 Opton 85/2 TF coating (super rare non standard coating, no one knows what it means...)
So you have from left to right
2726485 1,5 T on contax mount (typical mixed metal mount and body found on a Gxxxxx III)
2936226 2 T on contax mount (badly damaged came on a french contax II, should be from the end of the war, mixed metal)
2724947 1,5 T LTM (full heavy metal mount, nice glass, perfectly working)
2859321 1,5T LTM (mixed metal, badly damaged mount, but nice glass, sadly to be reconstructed)
2859393 1,5T LTM (came on a IIIc red curtain, american officer provenance, very nice glass, ugly grey metal mount, needs some care)
2789989 1,5T LTM (strange artisanal alloy mount, not Zeiss, not Jup3, Could have been done by a parrallel workshop starting from a contax mount ... I recently came across a 85/2 of the same serial batch with the same bizarre engravings... to be studied)...
not on the picture are other rare sonnars...
2687429 2T LTM ... a sonnar head on an early industar 26 mount
2202696 2T contax... a very early coated lens (1937)
and
658553 Opton 85/2 TF coating (super rare non standard coating, no one knows what it means...)
raid
Dad Photographer
Are the first two lenses in Contax mount?
I have only one 5cm/2 LTM that was identified by Charles Barringer and Marc Small to be one out of 200 lenses that were made for Sweden in return for metal ore. The 5cm/2 LTM are rarer than the 5cm/1.5 as fewer were made. You seem to be focusing on Sonnar LTM lenses. How do you go about figuring out which lens is genuine Zeis and which is a FSU fake when buying online?
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photovdz
Well-known
the two first are contax mount (but early wartime T coeted)... the others are LTM
I have two 50/2 in LTM, one is a prewar prototype or private conversion (full heavy metal... the optical part comes from a batch know as allowed to contaflex TLR) but very well made,
the other is a quoted supra... a wartime T on an industar 26 mount.
How to know if they are real ?
- none where advertised as such (this is a good precaution against fakes) and they were all reasonably cheap even unexpensive.
- the mix of metal or the use of heavy nickel or chrome parts is a good indicator as JUP3 or later Jena production is always lighter...
- the quality of the engravings ...
- the provenance (usually coming with a camera... all those lenses came as a bonus with a camera, at least for the sellers eyes)
and with a specialist evaluation ... a drink with Charlie Barringer when he comes to Belgium...
Problem with those lenses : they have been used, and the mixed metal mount is not very accurate... of all the lenses shown in the pict, only the contax mount ones and the full heavy chrome one are fully operationnal... the others have minor problems of focusing... the optical part was never designed for LTM and the focal length is said to be a bit longer than the Leitz 50mm, this implies that the rangefinder cam is not straight forward and must be corrected. It seems that all sonnars in LTM were made from stock contax mount lens (post conversion), there must have been a workshop somewhere working on this...
Stephan
I don't have the tools to fix those lenses... but there is someone around (not too far from Belgium) with the experience, I would love to fix those focusing problems...
I have two 50/2 in LTM, one is a prewar prototype or private conversion (full heavy metal... the optical part comes from a batch know as allowed to contaflex TLR) but very well made,
the other is a quoted supra... a wartime T on an industar 26 mount.
How to know if they are real ?
- none where advertised as such (this is a good precaution against fakes) and they were all reasonably cheap even unexpensive.
- the mix of metal or the use of heavy nickel or chrome parts is a good indicator as JUP3 or later Jena production is always lighter...
- the quality of the engravings ...
- the provenance (usually coming with a camera... all those lenses came as a bonus with a camera, at least for the sellers eyes)
and with a specialist evaluation ... a drink with Charlie Barringer when he comes to Belgium...
Problem with those lenses : they have been used, and the mixed metal mount is not very accurate... of all the lenses shown in the pict, only the contax mount ones and the full heavy chrome one are fully operationnal... the others have minor problems of focusing... the optical part was never designed for LTM and the focal length is said to be a bit longer than the Leitz 50mm, this implies that the rangefinder cam is not straight forward and must be corrected. It seems that all sonnars in LTM were made from stock contax mount lens (post conversion), there must have been a workshop somewhere working on this...
Stephan
I don't have the tools to fix those lenses... but there is someone around (not too far from Belgium) with the experience, I would love to fix those focusing problems...
raid
Dad Photographer
Stephan,
Thanks for the tips. I have a special place in my heart for old lenses with history behind them.
My 5cm/2 also has glass that was made for the Contaflex. It is a very good lens. Don Goldberg (DAG) worked on it for me, and he told me that he was surprised how clean the glass was and how rough the lens was mechanically. It is now a wonderful lens to use for portraits.
Thanks for the tips. I have a special place in my heart for old lenses with history behind them.
My 5cm/2 also has glass that was made for the Contaflex. It is a very good lens. Don Goldberg (DAG) worked on it for me, and he told me that he was surprised how clean the glass was and how rough the lens was mechanically. It is now a wonderful lens to use for portraits.
W
wlewisiii
Guest
Stephan,
This is some really fun to read information. My lens from this era is a nice alloy metal contax mount Sonnar 50/2 T Nr 2709686 that I'm told by the folks on the ZICG mailing list is from a batch of about 500 ending in Dec 1942. I use it on my 1937 Contax II as my daily carry lens. It came to me cheap as well - ~$50 total with CLA by Eddie Smolov.
Thank you for sharing the information about your lenses.
William
This is some really fun to read information. My lens from this era is a nice alloy metal contax mount Sonnar 50/2 T Nr 2709686 that I'm told by the folks on the ZICG mailing list is from a batch of about 500 ending in Dec 1942. I use it on my 1937 Contax II as my daily carry lens. It came to me cheap as well - ~$50 total with CLA by Eddie Smolov.
Thank you for sharing the information about your lenses.
William
raid
Dad Photographer
I will snoop around for another Sonnar 5cm lens. This is fun.
photovdz
Well-known
there is an angenieux 50mm 1,5 on ebay... but it's exacta mount
raid
Dad Photographer
There is one for RF at $1000.
raid
Dad Photographer
These image crops are from portraits taken with the Canon 50mm/1.4 at apertures 1.4/2.0/2.8/4.0.
at 1.4:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
at 1.4:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
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raid
Dad Photographer
If such a sequence of images is useful, I could post images by other lenses. I know that sometimes my "model" moves, and then I keep on changing lenses without being able to retake images because I want all images on one roll offilm.
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raid
Dad Photographer
For the Nokton CV.
at 1.5:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
at 1.5:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
raid
Dad Photographer
These two lenses have a cult following. Do you see major differences?
Maybe I could add images from the J-3.
Maybe I could add images from the J-3.
raid
Dad Photographer
Zeiss Sonnar 5cm/1.5.
at 1.5:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
at 1.5:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
raid
Dad Photographer
J-3:
at 1.5:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
at 1.5:
at 2.0:
at 2.8:
at 4.0:
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raid
Dad Photographer
The light came from an open home door from the front, supported by artifcial light. My wife liked the results.
jmkelly
rangefinder user
This sounds very much like a description of the CZJ I contributed to this test (Raid's #20, I think?). Stephan, you are a member of the ZICG?
raid
Dad Photographer
photovdz
Well-known
yes i follow ZICG...
how does your Sonnar look like ? mine has non standard engrvaings (the font is nor Zeiss nor russian and bizarre rings knurlings (i'm not sure of the word...)
Three weeks ago there was a 85/2 sonnar with the same engravings and knurlings on sale on ebay... but far too expensive for me at the moment...
how does your Sonnar look like ? mine has non standard engrvaings (the font is nor Zeiss nor russian and bizarre rings knurlings (i'm not sure of the word...)
Three weeks ago there was a 85/2 sonnar with the same engravings and knurlings on sale on ebay... but far too expensive for me at the moment...
hofrench@mac.co
Established
Canon 1.5
Canon 1.5
Raid,
These tests have been tremendously informative.
Can you show us anything more from the Canon 1.5?
I'd particularly like to see it compared in portrait crops against the Sonnar.
Cheers, Howard
Canon 1.5
Raid,
These tests have been tremendously informative.
Can you show us anything more from the Canon 1.5?
I'd particularly like to see it compared in portrait crops against the Sonnar.
Cheers, Howard