Uncommon, Rare, and Collector's Delights.

[Kai-san]

So I found another Zorki ZK 1:2 f=5cm for sale, this time in Contax mount. I quite like the serial number. It came with a nice Zeiss yellow filter as well, not bad for 40 dollars. But the previous owner has put in a pan head screw (see second picture) in stead of a flat head screw in the bayonet, so I cannot mount it. Any idea where to find the correct screw?

 

[Sonnar Brian]

For the screw- check with Chris at Skyllaney.

https://skyllaney.com/

He probably has spares from converting Sonnars to Leica mount.

 

[Kai-san]

Thanks Brian, I'll give it a try.

 

[furcafe]

The focus helical on my 35/2.8 Biometar completely seized up due to that great Eastern Bloc build quality, so I may have the optics taken out to be put into a compatible LTM barrel.

As an update, I did get my 35/2.8 Biometar converted to M mount by Skyllaney using the Omnar platform. 1st photo from Skyllaney. The "Wetzlar Chrome" finish for the focusing ring, focus tab, & mount is Cerakote by Camerakote.

 

[newst]

topcor 1.8 by newst54, on Flickr

An item I never considered buying, and have never seen for sale. The LTM Topcor-S 1.8/50. Originally intended for the Leotax-G rangefinder, but Leotax went bankrupt before that camera went on the market. The story is that the receiver had another firm manufacture 500 Leotax-G cameras from parts fabricated before the bankruptcy. At any rate, even the Topcon Club website doesn't say how many of these were produced.

I got this one from a Japanese seller who listed a Leotax T2 with the common Topcor-S 2/50 lens. As I looked at the listing images I noticed the error. I contacted the seller who confirmed that the lens was, indeed, the 1.8, which is a Planar lens as opposed to the Biotar design of the 2/50.

I took it out for a hike the other day. The results were satisfactory,

2022-07-09 Firefighters Nicca 3s Topcor 50-18 Proimage 100 376690023 (2) by newst54, on Flickr

 

[Mos6502]

Schneider Xenon + Rheinmetall Exa by Berang Berang, on Flickr

Rheinmetall Exa.

I'm not actually sure if these are truly "rare" despite the online claims that they are. Construction of the Exa was contracted out to Rheinmetall by Ihagee Dresden, and took place for about one year. The cameras were claimed to be of inferior quality to the Ihagee ones, but from all outward appearances mine looks better than the Ihagee Exas in my collection. Mechanically it feels rougher, the film advance is more "notchy", but the shutter on mine is at least as accurate as any others in my collection and I've shot many rolls through it without issue.

 

[kermaier]

The Pentax-L 43mm 1.9 is a hard to find/rare ltm lens, I think. So is the Rollei 40mm/2.8 ltm.

How about a black Rollei 40/2.8 Sonnar in LTM? I think there were relatively few produced. Bought this from an RFF member some years ago.

 

[kermaier]

Adding to the large assortment of f/2 collapsible lenses in this thread:

Canon LTM Serenar 5cm f/2 collapsible -- I don't know how many were made, but they're not common in the market, so far as I can tell. I sold this one some years ago, but I still have the hood/filter set somewhere around.





Good performer, too -- this one was wide open at 1m focus on an Epson R-D1s:

 

[dexdog]

Your lens is in really nice condition! Peter K's book on Canon RF lenses says that 1300 such lenses were produced in 4 slightly different versions, and your example is called the Type 4.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Canon 50mm, Leica Mount by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

I Need to update this- added a 5cm F3.5 Serenar. Ten Canon LTM 50mm lenses in all, Nine shown here.

The 5cm F2 gives Swirlies to Match a Leica.

Sully Plantation by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

Wide-Open.

Sully Plantation by fiftyonepointsix, on Flickr

 

[splitimageview]

It would be cool to have a 50/2 collapsible Serenar to fill out this collapsible set but haven't come across one yet.

The Fujifilm Cristar 50/2 collapsible is probably the most rare lens I've had. Here it is next to other collapsibles.

 

[Räuber]

OK, I do not have anything near as exotic as Brian, but will play the game anyway. The lowest number 5cm/1.5 Sonnar on record according to the Thiele book on CZJ lenses. I bought this lens on eBay in 2009 for about $600.


I donated this lens to the Zeiss archives in Jena in 2018.

I think the donation is a fine move. I would have considered it too if I would own it. But I would have donated it to the Technische Sammlungen in Dresden instead. It is a (camera) museum in the rooms of the Ernemann Werke later Zeiss Icon where Ludwig Bertele was working on all prototypes of the Sonnar 5cm.

 

[dexdog]

Maybe the Zeiss archives will send it there for display. I contacted the public relations folks at Zeiss, and got an inquiry from the archives, so that it where I sent it.

 

[wes loder]

It is heavy. As it has NKT Logos, either late 1940s or early 1950s. I do not know much about this Nikon Auto-Collimator, except I saved it from the scrap heap.

The box, finish and NKT tag on box exterior would indicate a late 1950s production.

 

[Räuber]

I've got this little fellow last year that completes your Sonnar black nickel collection in this thread nicely. ;-)

A Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm F2 with v1 optical design. Serial 1.383.940 from 1932. Came with a nice Contax Ib and leather case from France.

 

[peterm1]

Contax II made in 1936 marked on pressure plate "For Manchoukuo". Looks just like any other C serial number Contax II on the outside.

Now this is very interesting. But it demands some historical background......................................Manchoukuo (Man-chu-kwo) was the Japanese name for Manchuria which effectively they annexed in 1932, installing Puyi as Emperor of the "independent" nation of Manchoukuo (but in reality a puppet of the Empire of Japan) in 1934. He was famously "The Last Emperor" of the movie by that name. This action was taken by the Kwantung Army of Japan without the permission of the Japanese civil government, taking advantage of an old cultural quirk from samurai times, called "gekkokujo" under which samurai were given latitude to seize power if they felt their seniors were not acting in the interests of the nation / Emperor. This kind of high-handed ultra nationalist behavior was not unusual in Japan in that time, as the Japanese Army was responsible only to the Emperor of Japan, not to the civil government, and he was wholly incapable of controlling them either. Instead, the weak civilian government ultimately fell into supporting the army when it was found that its behaviour was wildly popular amongst ordinary Japanese. Due to their lack of accountability the army repeatedly took such actions forcing successive Japanese governments to fall into line, a factor which ultimately contributed to the War in the Pacific occurring as no one could or would reign them in (and to be fair their ultra nationalism was pretty popular through-out the nation anyway and was just a more extreme version of the official governmental line on building a true Japanese Empire in Asia.
I wonder if anyone knows how a German made Contax came to be labelled as it is, evidently for use in a state controlled effectively by the Japanese military. There were certain international trade embargoes with Japan around that time, (though I cannot recall specifics) enacted due to their transgressions in Asia. I wonder if this was a device to avoid these (was it instead intended for export to Japan). And of course in 1936 Germany was controlled by the Nazi party which had close associations with the Empire of Japan. As I say, very interesting.

 

[maigo]

Contax II made in 1936 marked on pressure plate "For Manchoukuo". Looks just like any other C serial number Contax II on the outside.

To go along with this camera:

The Development of Japanese Modern Photography in Manchoukuo - Jo TAKEBA | shashasha 写々者 - Photography & art in books

Published on the occasion of an exhibition at the Nagoya City Art Museum, “The Development of Japanese Modern Photography in Manchoukuo” (edited by Jo Takeba) traces the puppet state of Manchukuo (...

www.shashasha.co

 

[Räuber]

I've got this little fellow last year that completes your Sonnar black nickel collection in this thread nicely. ;-)

A Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm F2 with v1 optical design. Serial 1.383.940 from 1932. Came with a nice Contax Ib and leather case from France.

This is a rare lens after all. You can find 2 active auctions for it and all are about 900-1000 $.

Those early Sonnar 5cm F2 suffer from a common issue. The used glass is pretty soft. Most front elements will be scratched from cleaning and so is mine. I'm not sure if this is all are scratches but not some kind of oxidation or evaporation deposits. Brian wrote about the bloom of a Sonnar maybe it has to do with it. The other open question is if those first Sonnar 5cm F1.5 have the same issue with soft glass elements.

It draws very vintage. It is a quite dark lens and soft and it is uncoated too. It peaks at F4 but gets very dark at F8 and higher. It is not unusable but expect very vintage looking results.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

This is a rare lens after all. You can find 2 active auctions for it and all are about 900-1000 $.

Those early Sonnar 5cm F2 suffer from a common issue. The used glass is pretty soft. Most front elements will be scratched from cleaning and so is mine. I'm not sure if this is all are scratches but not some kind of oxidation or evaporation deposits. Brian wrote about the bloom of a Sonnar maybe it has to do with it. The other open question is if those first Sonnar 5cm F1.5 have the same issue with soft glass elements.

It draws very vintage. It is a quite dark lens and soft and it is uncoated too. It peaks at F4 but gets very dark at F8 and higher. It is not unusable but expect very vintage looking results.

The Sonnar 5cm F1.5 uses hard glass for the front element- my 90 year old "First Batch" Sonnar 5cm F1.5 has beautiful glass on it.

The 5cm F2 Sonnar uses soft glass on the front element, same as the Summar. I have a Sonnar 5cm F2- the first one I ever bought, and later converted to LTM that is near perfect. It had a filter on it from long ago, one of the first with a 40.5mm thread. Before that, push on filters were used.

 

[raid]

My old Sonnar 5cm 2 has clean glass. It has a lens hood. Maybe this saved its front element from being scratched over the years?