The 5cm F2 Sonnar and Descendants

Sonnar Brian

Sonnar Brian

Product of the Fifties
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This thread is for pictures of and with the 5cm F2 Sonnar and descendants.
This includes the original Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F2 Sonnar from 1932 up through the Bertele Sonnar being introduced by Skyllaney next year.

To start things off: Three versions of the pre-war Carl Zeiss Jena 5cm F2 Sonnar. A 1933 Rigid lens, 1935 Rigid, and much more common Collapsible 5cm F2.







The left most- this was a short-lived design, has no threads for filters, and a horrible mechanism for holding the barrel into the mount. The barrel is screwed into place in the mount, and Threads for a the set screw are drilled into the two pieces of metal. The set screw holds the barrel into place. The front element is stamped in place. There is also a version of the F1.5 like this.



The middle Sonnar- rare. It uses the same mount as the F1.5 lens. An extra piece of metal is used to fit the barrel into the mount. Construction is similar to the standard collapsible mount- but the namering is different.



The Sonnar on the right is the standard collapsible.

 
Disassembly of the 175 block Rigid:

Remove set screw holding the barrel into the mount, the tap is shown here:













You must unscrew the "extension", take off the retaining ring for the aperture ring. Aperture ring off, reveals set screws holding the name ring in place. Remove the name ring allows access to the front groups. The CZL Sonnar has the front element and triplet stamped into metal with the SN of the lens on each. The rear doublet simply unscrews, also has the SN stamped in.

On the Wartime 5cm F1.5 Sonnars: Hidden set screws also hold the namering in place, and the rear fixture in place. Disassemble the F1.5 Sonnars with SN above 268xxxx like this.
 
Hello... I have a Sonnar 50/2 with SN. 1449878. Would anyone know the year of manufacture? I doesn't look like any of Sonnar Brian's three examples.

I have an assortment of adapters so I use it on Leica LTM and M and Contax IIA and an Olympus Micro-four-thirds.

Thank in advance for your help.

Arthur
 
Arthur said:
Hello... I have a Sonnar 50/2 with SN. 1449878. Would anyone know the year of manufacture? I doesn't look like any of Sonnar Brian's three examples.

I have an assortment of adapters so I use it on Leica LTM and M and Contax IIA and an Olympus Micro-four-thirds.

Thank in advance for your help.

Arthur
Click to expand...

Is yours marked 50mm or 5cm? The West German post-war lenses started over with serial numbers. Yours is probably mid 1950s, made in West Germany. The "Carl Zeiss Jena" lenses made in post-war East Germany continued the serial number sequence start by Zeiss, the West German lenses "reset" the serial number sequence after WW-II.

http://camera-wiki.org/wiki/Carl_Zeiss_serial_numbers
 
The Post-War West German Zeiss Opton 50mm F2.

Front view, then flipped-over.







Two distinct types. Note difference in the Font and fixtures for the elements.
These Serial Numbers are ascending order, left to right. BUT- I have seen overlap in these two designs. I've also seen two different styles of West German 50mm F1.5 Sonnars.

The East German 5cm F2 Sonnar is another type altogether- I have one coming in and will add it when it gets here.
 


Japanese 5cm F2 Sonnar formula lenses.

Tanar, late Nikkor, and Collapsible Nikkor 5cm F2 in LTM. Both Rigid lenses focus to 18".









The late Nikkor: F-Stop numbers are stationary, the indicator on the ring is used to select the value.
 
Same lens on film, with the Leica CL. The real one.
Wide-Open:




Leica CL Monochrome... (C41 B&W film. Which is no longer made)

Wide-Open



F4


 
Sonnar Brian said:


Japanese 5cm F2 Sonnar formula lenses.
Click to expand...


Nice set of Japanese 5cm f2 Sonnars there. I have a 'black belt' Nikkor-H like yours and it is a wonderful lens. The close focus feature makes it unique among Leica mount 50s. I tested mine once and found the MFD to be exactly 45cm.


25585895987_8959d4910e_c.jpg
Nikkor-H.C 1:2 5cm MFD test


In practice its a bit of a challenge to shoot this lens at MFD, but it can be done. Here's a shot of a lupine at MFD at around f2.8.


48037291236_98d704f704_c.jpg
Lupine


Apart from the unique close focus feature, this lens is a great general purpose 50. Focus throw is a bit long for snapshooting, like all the early 50s, but 35mm is better for snapshooting anyway 😉


A snapshot:


49398324312_fee8499ebf_c.jpg
Swishing



The Nikkor-H is sharp in the center and good for isolating subjects at larger apertures at mid distances, and great across the frame from mid apertures.


f2 or 2.8

44181792340_fcab82a346_c.jpg
CIR Kenshu


Around f5.6


48641655763_f3f327ac7e_c.jpg
onions


On my 1f 😉


43327353522_751856819a_c.jpg
Untitled
 
I'll be adding more Jupiter-8 Images here, will be updating over the weekend. I have a pair of 1952 J-8's and a 1957 J-8 originally in Contax mount that was converted to LTM using an I-61 mount. I also have a 1970s J8M converted to Leica mount using a Canon 50/1.8 focus mount- bought off Ebay.



Most of the J-8's are very good. This one is from 1975.



Like the J-3 and other lenses made to the Zeiss standard, they usually need to be adjusted for use on a Leica.





Taking a J-8 apart, getting the front element and triplet in place and centered can be an issue. Unlike the Sonnar optics, they are not stamped into metal. The tripley and front element are both held in place by the namering with a spacer between the two. Easy to misalign.

F2 is more forgiving than the F1.5 of the J-3.





Optimized for close-up/wide-open, you can typically use out to infinity.
 
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