Just got a C-Sonnar!

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I've been wanting to get a 28mm ZM lens for my Leicas for a while and was going to get one now since i've earned a little extra money this last couple weeks. At the same time, I have been noticing a lot of really cool photos shot with the 50mm C-Sonnar. The focus shift issue bugged me and I was thinking I didn't really want one, get the 28mm! After looking at a lot of photos I decided that if I did get a Sonnar, I wanted one of the older ones optimized for f2.8 focus, because I use 50mm lenses most often at f4, 5.6, and 8, all of which are in focus with the f2.8 version. I rarely use f1.5 and since the f1.5 versions are basically unusable at anything but wide open or really stopped down, I wanted the 2.8

Well, I saw one on ebay at a good price, emailed the seller, who said that it was optimized for f2.8, so I bought it. Arrived today...the 28mm will have to wait a while. Oh well, I have 28mm lenses for my Olympus and Nikon cameras, I can use them when I need to go wide. The Sonnar seemed unique among 50mm lenses, and I use 50mm 80% of the time.

So, I shot a roll of focus tests and some portraits of my son. WOW!

Shot on Tri-X in a Leica M6 with the 50mm C-Sonnar at f4

I focused on the eyes, they and the eyelashes are TACK SHARP.

 

[helen.HH]

Looks Great....Congrats
You are now becoming a Zeiss-a-holic...🙂

 

[cmogi10]

congrats! that's my go to 50, always. Such a versatile lens, tack sharp and contrasty stopped down and all dreamy like wide open. Enjoy!

 

[gb hill]

What an excellent lens! & you're right the sonnar is indeed tack sharp. BTW your son is really growing! Has he shown an interest in photography yet?

 

[coelacanth]

Looking really good.

Chris, your "Just got..." threads are very dangerous. That's how I fell and got the C-Biogon 35/2.8, and now C-Sonnar?? 😀

I really like how 50mm Sonnar draws for portraits although I've only got Nikkor-HC 50/2. I've been mildly thinking about it, but like you, focus-shift was kind of putting me off.

It's a tough choice. I rarely need fast lens, but when I do, I'm not sure if I actually want to use 1.5 or OK with 2.8. Have you seen cases where the focus shift is actually causing noticeable problems on film camera?

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Sonnars are exquisite... Their sharpness and nice OOF rendering are a delight... It's stopped down nearly three stops, and the wall is not too far from your son, and yet the separation is wonderful... Great lens!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Looking really good.

Chris, your "Just got..." threads are very dangerous. That's how I fell and got the C-Biogon 35/2.8, and now C-Sonnar?? 😀

I really like how 50mm Sonnar draws for portraits although I've only got Nikkor-HC 50/2. I've been mildly thinking about it, but like you, focus-shift was kind of putting me off.

It's a tough choice. I rarely need fast lens, but when I do, I'm not sure if I actually want to use 1.5 or OK with 2.8. Have you seen cases where the focus shift is actually causing noticeable problems on film camera?

The focus shift is real and very big. The lens is unusable as an f1.5 or f2 unless you're willing to guess how much to offset the focus, or lean inward, or whatever other workaround people have come up with. I hate stuff like that; I get frustrated by things that do not "just work flawlessly with no guessing" so I will not bother using it wider than f2.8. At 2.8 it is very sharp and accurately focused. Same for all the apertures smaller than f2.8 but f2 and f1.5 are both way off.

I used to have a CV 50/1.5 Nokton and regret having sold it. It was very sharp at f1.5 and had no focus shift so it was a good all around 50mm, but the bokeh wasn't as nice as the Sonnar (though it was not bad). I'd get one of those if you need f1.5 or f2 or you need a do-everything lens that can be used at very wide apertures when the need arises. I'm probably going to get another someday when I have some extra $$.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

What an excellent lens! & you're right the sonnar is indeed tack sharp. BTW your son is really growing! Has he shown an interest in photography yet?

He's 13 now! Will be in 8th grade when school starts next week. He is a very good photographer. He uses a Nikon D70 that I gave him that I never used since I went back to film. He's not interested in photography for the production of single images though, he's using it to do stop-motion animations with Lego blocks. Check out his 'studio':

I taught him to use the D70 in manual mode and showed him how to edit RAW files in Photoshop. He and some friends taught themselves to do the stop-motion animation after a teacher a couple years ago mentioned the technique. He's experimenting with blue-screens for changing backgrounds and he taught himself that too. I have been blown away by the stuff he's done in Photoshop! Check out his movies on youtube.

 

[Darshan]

when I have some extra $$.

You mean when you sell another one of your pics for a book cover? 😀😀

Dan.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

Wow! Your son's great! He's serious on his movies: those require LOTS of work... Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Here's a 100% crop from the full resolution 4000 DPI scan

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Wow! Your son's great! He's serious on his movies: those require LOTS of work... Thanks for sharing!

Cheers,

Juan

Thanks Juan. He is doing some cool stuff and yeah its a lot of work for such short film clips. I am amazed, I have no idea how to do that stuff. I can cut something off the background and draw in lightsabers and blaster fire but I don't know a thing about making movies from the photos. He and his friends taught themselves by reading about it online. I wish we'd had the internet when I was his age!

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

He'll be successful on anything he wants in the future... I hope my sons get that early sense of self discipline when they grow up... Cool!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[gavinlg]

Wow thats a nice 'look' at f4. I wouldn't have picked you as a sonnar kind of guy - all your shots are of such high technical quality. Looks like the original 'optimized for f2.8' version is going to work well for you though...

 

[MCTuomey]

congrats on the lens, chris. and kudos to your son!

enjoy the sonnar. it's my favorite 50. like yours, opt at f2.8. plenty of magic background melt there - f2.8's a sweet spot for close portraits.

a lot of my gallery club shots were taken with the sonnar at f1.5 at middle distances where the focus shift isn't much of a factor.

 

[gb hill]

Your son's movies are fantastic. Reminded me of Gumby & Pokey except at the next level! cool!!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Here's some more. Thanks for checking out Mack's movies, he was excited when I told him that you guys said they were good 🙂

 

[cmogi10]

Roland gave me a great tip when using the C sonnar wide open (if it's optimized for 2.8)
After your focus just lean in a couple inches, after a couple goes you'll figure out how much, it's not too much lean, just a smidge. Pretty soon you'll be nailing shots wide open and rolling your eyes at the people that say the focus shift ruins this lens. The signature wide open is so unique in modern rangefinder lenses. It really is a special lens.

 

[leicashot]

Roland gave me a great tip when using the C sonnar wide open (if it's optimized for 2.8)
After your focus just lean in a couple inches, after a couple goes you'll figure out how much, it's not too much lean, just a smidge. Pretty soon you'll be nailing shots wide open and rolling your eyes at the people that say the focus shift ruins this lens. The signature wide open is so unique in modern rangefinder lenses. It really is a special lens.

Gotta say, not the best way to shoot wide open for accuracy, but if you love the lens enough, you'll put up with it's quirks. Congrats on the lens!

 

[f6andBthere]

I understood that when the Sonnar is optimized for f1.5 your focus point will be at the front of your depth of field!