List of Sonnar Lenses

What are the current RFF market values? Please feel free to attach estimates below:

1) Zunow 5cm f/1.1
2) MS Optical 50mm f/1.3
3) Nikkor 5cm f/1.4
4) Nikkor 5cm f/1.5
5) Canon 5cm f/1.5 ...........................$300
6) Jupiter 3 50mm f/1.5 .................... $100
7) Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 M-mount
8) Zeiss 5cm f/1.5 LTM
9) Simlar 50mm f/1.5
10) Zeiss 6cm f/1.5
11) Nikkor 8.5cm f/1.5
12) Nikkor 5cm f/2 ........................ $300
13) Steinheil Quinon 50/2
14) Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 ...................... $30
15) Nikkor 8.5cm f/2 .......................... $300
16) Zeiss 8.5cm f/2 LTM
17) Zeiss 85mm Sonnar f/2
18) Jupiter 9 85mm f/2 ..................... $100
19) Nikkor 10.5cm /2.5 ............................... $300
20) Rollei 40mm f/2.8
21) Nikkor 135/3.5 ............................ $150
22) J-11 135mm f/4 .................................... $75
 
Updated on the first page.

1) Zunow 5cm f/1.1 ...........................$4000
2) MS Optical 50mm f/1.3 ...........................$1100
3) Nikkor 5cm f/1.4 ...........................$450
4) Nikkor 5cm f/1.5 ...........................$2000
5) Canon 50mm f/1.5 ...........................$300
6) Jupiter 3 50mm f/1.5 .................... $100
7) Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 M-mount ...........................$900
8) Zeiss 5cm f/1.5 LTM ...........................$1500
9) Simlar 50mm f/1.5 ...........................$300
10) Zeiss 6cm f/1.5 ...........................$300
11) Nikkor 8.5cm f/1.5 ...........................$950
12) Nikkor 5cm f/2 ........................ $300
13) Steinheil Quinon 50/2
14) Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 ...................... $30
15) Nikkor 8.5cm f/2 .......................... $300
16) Zeiss 8.5cm f/2 LTM ...........................$2350
17) Zeiss 85mm Sonnar f/2
18) Jupiter 9 85mm f/2 ..................... $100
19) Nikkor 10.5cm /2.5 ............................... $300
20) Rollei 40mm f/2.8 ...........................$600
21) Nikkor 135/3.5 ............................ $150
22) J-11 135mm f/4 .................................... $75

raid said:
What are the current RFF market values? Please feel free to attach estimates below:

1) Zunow 5cm f/1.1
2) MS Optical 50mm f/1.3
3) Nikkor 5cm f/1.4
4) Nikkor 5cm f/1.5
5) Canon 5cm f/1.5 ...........................$300
6) Jupiter 3 50mm f/1.5 .................... $100
7) Zeiss C Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 M-mount
8) Zeiss 5cm f/1.5 LTM
9) Simlar 50mm f/1.5
10) Zeiss 6cm f/1.5
11) Nikkor 8.5cm f/1.5
12) Nikkor 5cm f/2 ........................ $300
13) Steinheil Quinon 50/2
14) Jupiter 8 50mm f/2 ...................... $30
15) Nikkor 8.5cm f/2 .......................... $300
16) Zeiss 8.5cm f/2 LTM
17) Zeiss 85mm Sonnar f/2
18) Jupiter 9 85mm f/2 ..................... $100
19) Nikkor 10.5cm /2.5 ............................... $300
20) Rollei 40mm f/2.8
21) Nikkor 135/3.5 ............................ $150
22) J-11 135mm f/4 .................................... $75
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If a Zeiss 5cm 1.5 LTM costs $1500, how do you know whether its a LTM from the Zeiss factory or whether the change was done later on?
 
A couple of thoughts...
1) would anyone really pay that much for a CZJ LTM 50/1.5? Yikes!
2) I would think the 6cm/1.5 would be worth more than that...
3) to answer your question on best lenses - in LTM I'd grab the Canon first. Extremely well made & high optical quality.

But really, if you want to understand the whole reality of why the Sonnar is, then you need a Contax/Kiev mount body and some prewar uncoated lenses. It's really important to understand that the whole Sonnar/Ernostar design came about because it was the best way to get a truly fast lens with sane corrections before the advent of coatings. It is very easy to forget but lens coating changes EVERYTHING.

The Planar was a so-so design before coating - now it's nearly all there is.

The Sonnar was the best fast lens prior to coating but it was expensive & complex to make (still is, comparatively). Yet it was the best way to deal with available darkness before coating.

To be sure, Leica tried. But does anyone rank the Summarit in the same category as the Sonnar? Really until fairly late post-war, Leica was the cheaper "high end" camera. If you couldn't afford Zeiss, you made do with Leica. That's certainly changed since then, but there was a while where it was true.

Realistically, if you want to understand why I say these things, you'll need to study photographic optics at some level. Rudolf Kingslake wrote a number of excellent books on the subject & I'd recommend "A History of the Photographic Lens" or "Lenses in Photography: The Practical Guide to Optics for Photographers" or even "Lens Design Fundamentals" as interesting places to start.

Hope these thoughts are of some use & really wishing Brian were still here,

William
 
raid said:
If a Zeiss 5cm 1.5 LTM costs $1500, how do you know whether its a LTM from the Zeiss factory or whether the change was done later on?
Click to expand...

TYPO: I think it should have been $600, not $1500 and the 6cm is left blank. Must have cut and paste the wrong line.
 
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Hacker said:
Are you referring to the Canon 50mm f/1.4? Is it a Sonnar? I thought the Canon range had only one Sonnar, the 50mm f/1.5.
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Canon 50/1.5. It is a super lens, excellent performer, small in size, very well built. Same comments for the Nikkor 50/2. These are two lenses I have kept though the turmoil of my buying and selling. I actually have a very nice Jupiter 8 too. Three very good Sonnar type lenses.
 
I like the results from the uncoated Zeiss Sonnar 5cm 1.5 and the 5cm 2.0. With a lens hood, and some PS massaging when needed, such lenses are great for B&W and for color images. I don't see a need for other Sonnar "copies".
 
The Jupiter-17 50/f2 is also a Sonnar type, a slightly modified version of the Jupiter-8 with an air element in the middle group (like the modern ZM lens). It's a very rare lens (but then so are some of the others on the list). You can find lens diagrams for some Soviet lenses on http://www.baierfoto.de/russobj/objektive.html if you don't mind the German text. His "ÄK" lens is actually a "3K" lens (he confuses the Cyrillic letters З and Э, the latter very roughly corresponding to the German letter Ä).

I'm not sure about the Jupiter-11 134/f4 lens and other similar lenses qualifying as a "Sonnar"; it's a four-element lens in three groups with a middle group of two cemented elements and a rather small and thin rear lens.

Are the Canon 85/2 and 85/1.9 Serenars Sonnar designs, too?
 
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What is the most obvious design effect on optical lens "behaviour" when comparing a Sonnar design with a Gauss-type design? For example, the Canon 85mm/2.0 and the Canon 85mm/1.8.
 
I have a Zeiss 50mm 1.5 Opton # 718... Sonnar near mint that I have with my Contax IIa that I had Henry S Refurbish in 2005. (took 1 1/2 years to work up his waiting list)

How does the Opton Sommar fit with the rest of the Sonnar models? What is the value of this lens in relationship to others? When we say Sonnar are we talking different models of Sonnars from Ziess?

Leo
 
I've updated the price of the Zeiss 5cm LTM and added the Jupiter 17 in the first post.

1) Does anyone know the prices of the say the Zeiss 6cm and the Zeiss 8.5cm LTM? Also, what would be the indicative price of the Jupiter 17?

2) Is the Quinon a Sonnar?

Cheers,

Stephen
 
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