My new favorite M portrait lens--CZJ Sonnar

[james.liam]

The Barber




M9 Monochrome, 1937 CZJ Sonnar 5cm/ƒ/2 (coated) converted M mount

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Photo is missing.

 

[james.liam]

I see it there, plain as day. That's strange

 

[raid]

I love using the CZJ 50/2. Mine is also a converted lens to ltm. Someone or Leica used an Elmar lens barrel to convert the lens to ltm.

The posted image looks great.

 

[helen.HH]

Looks Great !
lovely rendering !

 

[dexdog]

A great portrait with a fine old lens. Who converted it to M-mount? I have a couple Contax mount CZJ lenses converted to LTM by Sonnar Brian; they are a joy to use.

 

[james.liam]

A great portrait with a fine old lens. Who converted it to M-mount? I have a couple Contax mount CZJ lenses converted to LTM by Sonnar Brian; they are a joy to use.

Skyllaney. It is the reference lens used for its upcoming Sonnar that was fully converted to M Mount and 6-bit coded. After a bit of back and forth, arrived at a fair price.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

With a deep yellow or orange filter, the Sonnar sharpens up considerably as chromatic aberration is reduced.

My 1934 5cm F2 CZJ Sonnar, converted to LTM. This one is uncoated, but has a beautiful bloom and very clean glass. I also have a 1940 5cm F2 coated, converted to LTM.
I will be testing those against the Skyllaney Bertele Sonnar due to arrive to me towards the end of the Summer.

Chris at Skyllaney does amazing work.

 

[bluesun267]

I know it might be blasphemy, but Brian, do you think it would be possible to convert a Sonnar to LTM using a Hexar 50/3,5 collapsible barrel? I have one with some cleaning marks that might be a good candidate.

 

[dexdog]

I have informed Skyllaney that I am interested in purchasing the Bertele Sonnar, and hope that it actually happens.

 

[dexdog]

I have a 1952 J8 and 1952 J3 in LTM re-worked by Skyllaney, and both are outstanding.

 

[rfaspen]

Wish I had one of those CZJ sonnar things. But I do have a '57 Sweeny-ized J-3. It does all right. 🙄

Thanks Brian S.

 

[james.liam]

With a deep yellow or orange filter, the Sonnar sharpens up considerably as chromatic aberration is reduced.

My 1934 5cm F2 CZJ Sonnar, converted to LTM. This one is uncoated, but has a beautiful bloom and very clean glass. I also have a 1940 5cm F2 coated, converted to LTM.
I will be testing those against the Skyllaney Bertele Sonnar due to arrive to me towards the end of the Summer.

Chris at Skyllaney does amazing work.

It really is solid. Chris wrote that this particular sample was selected out of almost 100 tested because it was the sharpest of the lot and served as the design basis for the Bertele's optical formula. The small uploaded image does not do it justice. Even at ƒ/2 the image is quite sharp. I have a yellow filter but perhaps will search out an orange one with the 0.5mm thread pitch.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I know it might be blasphemy, but Brian, do you think it would be possible to convert a Sonnar to LTM using a Hexar 50/3,5 collapsible barrel? I have one with some cleaning marks that might be a good candidate.

Sorry I missed this!

It's very easy, and much less expensive of a lens, to use a Jupiter-8 focus mount for the conversion. The Tabbed J-8 is best.

I suspect some machining would be required to use the Heliar. I would not let a few cleaning marks stop anyone from using this lens.

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I remember one English person been photographing remaining traditional livestock farmers with old Leitz lenses.
He custom made hoods to minimize flaring from non-coated optics. It is very impressive documentary and environmental portraits work.

 

[Bingley]

I have a 1943 CZJ Sonnar 5cm f1.5 in LTM mount. I don’t shoot much portraiture, but the lens is excellent for landscapes and street photos.

Listening by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr

Ceci n'est pas une voiture... by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr