Carl Zeiss LTM Odd CZJ Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 !

[chambrenoire]

Just bought a bunch of rather odd and unusual camera stuff at the local auction house and among the lot there was this CZJ Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 in LTM. I've searched the net etc to find a picture of a similar one but cannot find anything, all LTM Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 look totally different.

Another thing, it had a Leica LTM to C-mount adapter on it, made of brass. The lens itself is very heavy and weights 229 grams according to my scale.

Anyone know what year it's from and is it some sort of custom adapting to LTM from a Contax lens or what? Is the lens worth anything?

Thanks for your time and help!

http://imgur.com/a/zSQUJ

 

[raid]

It looks like a well made lens. Maybe it is special somehow. Does the serial number of the lens help to figure out when this lens was made?

 

[B-9]

C-mount adapter is a pretty common hack. I can imagine they used it as a fast tele on a cine camera.

Looks like a very cool lens!

 

[View Range]

Serial number 142,xxx was made about 1911, before the Sonnar was designed.
Serial number 1,42x,xxx was made about 1933, which is consistent with the Sonnar and Contax I production.
Serial number 14,2xx,xxx was made about 1984 assuming Jena made about 300,000 lenses per year from 1969 to 1984.

 

[furcafe]

The black & nickel finish of the lens supports 1933 as the year of production.

Serial number 142,xxx was made about 1911, before the Sonnar was designed.
Serial number 1,42x,xxx was made about 1933, which is consistent with the Sonnar and Contax I production.
Serial number 14,2xx,xxx was made about 1984 assuming Jena made about 300,000 lenses per year from 1969 to 1984.

 

[chambrenoire]

Yes, '33. But the LTM adaption must have been made later?

 

[CameraQuest]

Just bought a bunch of rather odd and unusual camera stuff at the local auction house and among the lot there was this CZJ Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 in LTM. I've searched the net etc to find a picture of a similar one but cannot find anything, all LTM Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 look totally different.

Another thing, it had a Leica LTM to C-mount adapter on it, made of brass. The lens itself is very heavy and weights 229 grams according to my scale.

Anyone know what year it's from and is it some sort of custom adapting to LTM from a Contax lens or what? Is the lens worth anything?

Thanks for your time and help!

http://imgur.com/a/zSQUJ

it appears to be an adapted pre war Sonnar originally for the Contax I.

Stephen

 

[f16sunshine]

Looks like quite a catch. Congratulations!

 

[chambrenoire]

Thanks everybody for the info! 🙂 Have a nice Saturday or Sunday, wherever you may be.

 

[sevo]

You might want to look whether this is a permanent converter or simply is (stuck?) in a LTM/Contax adapter. It appears to have two focus stops, which is a bit odd - one of them might be the bayonet release of the adapter...

 

[chambrenoire]

Sevo, I took a turn at it and yes, I managed to unscrew the adapter.

 

[ray*j*gun]

the glass is uncoated so be sure to use a hood or you may get some serious flare .... looks like a nice lens good luck

 

[uhoh7]

Wow, you should show that to Brian at LP

Very Very cool. Be very very careful cleaning, or don't. These old sonnars develop a natural coating which enhances performance, but is fragile.

That lens is easily worth 500USD.

 

[Harry Lime]

Is it just me or does the focus ring with infinity stop remind anyone else of the one that is on the Elmar 3.5/50?

 

[raid]

I have a Zeiss 5cm 2.0 ltm that seems to have been implanted on an Elmar body.

 

[goamules]

Man, I'd be very pleased with that lens, and start shooting it right away! I don't know much about the Zeiss idiosyncrasies, but I bet it'll shoot good.

 

[chambrenoire]

Wow, you should show that to Brian at LP

Very Very cool. Be very very careful cleaning, or don't. These old sonnars develop a natural coating which enhances performance, but is fragile.

That lens is easily worth 500USD.

I just swiped the front and back lens a bit. The glass seems very soft like the older Summarit 50/1.5 and such.

Who is Brian? LP?

Thanks.

 

[chambrenoire]

Man, I'd be very pleased with that lens, and start shooting it right away! I don't know much about the Zeiss idiosyncrasies, but I bet it'll shoot good.

I'll use it for indoor pics this Christmas.. Wide open 🙂

 

[chambrenoire]

I have a Zeiss 5cm 2.0 ltm that seems to have been implanted on an Elmar body.

OK! Do you have a picture of it, to compare? Thank you

 

[sevo]

These old sonnars develop a natural coating which enhances performance, but is fragile.

I have never heard that from any German source. It may have originated in Britain, where "tarnishing" coating by controlled ageing was a TTH patent, widely used by them in the era between the wars, so the assumption that other makers used similar processes may have been common. "Natural" coatings do not develop over time, by the way, but are a lucky result of accidents in the polishing - and as such, they are rare on high end makers products.

Hereabouts, I have never come across Zeiss lenses with either natural or "fabricated natural" coatings - where they are coated, the coatings are regular vacuum coatings (which they also offered as a service option for older lenses). Things may be different abroad, where local workshops offered soft (dip) coating upgrades - but even these (while soft) are not "natural".