Bingley
Veteran
Out to Sea. Leica IIIc, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f1.5 LTM, TMax 400:
Out to sea by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Out to sea by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Very Early Coated Lenses- the first 10 years from 1935 to 1945.
- Thread starter Sonnar Brian
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Bingley
Veteran
Winter, Pomponio State Beach,CA. Leica IIIc, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f1.5 LTM, TMax 400:
Winter fishing by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Winter fishing by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Bingley
Veteran
Live Oak, John Muir Historic Site, Martinez, CA. Leica M3, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f1.5, TMax 400:
Live Oak, late afternoon by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Live Oak, late afternoon by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Erik van Straten
Veteran
This one is uncoated, but what a lens it is.
gelatin silver print (czj sonnar 50mm f1.5 1935) nikon s2
Halfweg, sugar factory, 2023
Erik.
gelatin silver print (czj sonnar 50mm f1.5 1935) nikon s2
Halfweg, sugar factory, 2023
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
A brighter version from the same print.
gelatin silver print (czj sonnar 50mm f1.5 1935) nikon s2
Halfweg, sugar factory, 2023
Erik.
gelatin silver print (czj sonnar 50mm f1.5 1935) nikon s2
Halfweg, sugar factory, 2023
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
gelatin silver print (sonnar 50mm f1.5 1935) nikon s2
The painter K. Nevenzel at home, 2023.
Erik.
The painter K. Nevenzel at home, 2023.
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
As soon as coating was available, Summars were coated.
gelatin silver print (coated summar 50mm f2) leica lll
Amsterdam, 2023
Erik.
gelatin silver print (coated summar 50mm f2) leica lll
Amsterdam, 2023
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica lll
Amsterdam, 2023
Erik.
Amsterdam, 2023
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
gelatin silver print (summar 50mm f2) leica m3
Amsterdam, 2023
Erik.
Amsterdam, 2023
Erik.
Erik van Straten
Veteran
gelatin silver print (sonnar 50mm f1.5 (1935)) nikon s2
Amsterdam Central Station 2023
Erik.
Amsterdam Central Station 2023
Erik.
Bingley
Veteran
Calm Day, Tahoe Vista, CA. Leica M6, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f1.5 (1943) (coated), serial no. 272***, Kodak Pro Image 100:
Calm Day by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Calm Day by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Bingley
Veteran
The Paddle Boarder, Leica M6, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f1.5 LTM, Kodak Pro Image 100:
The Paddle Boarder by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
The Paddle Boarder by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
1935 CZJ Sonnar 5cm F1.5, front element is coated. I've seen two from the 175xxxx batch like this one.
This is the first Sonnar that I converted to Leica mount.
This is the first Sonnar that I converted to Leica mount.
Bingley
Veteran
Leading lines, Tahoe Vista, CA. Leica M6, Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f1.5 LTM, Kodak Pro Image 100:
Sight lines by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Sight lines by Steve Macfarlane, on Flickr
Hcompton79
Established
Some commentary on a couple more Ektra lenses I was fortunate enough to acquire.
First up, the Ektar 90mm f/3.5. This would be the primary portrait or long focus lens of the series. Kodak was very clear in the literature that it is a long focus lens and not a telephoto, whereas the 135mm and 153mm lenses were physically shorter than their focal length and this telephoto lenses.
Kodak also intended to make another fast portrait lens, an 85mm f/1.8 for the Ektra system, but this never left the design stage.
Anyway, back to the 90mm f/3.5. I expected that this would probably be the weakest performing lens of the Ektra Ektars, it is only a three element air spaced triplet after all.
In hindsight, I don't know why I had this concern. I've never met a bad performing Kodak Ektar, and the 90mm doesn't deviate from this. I was expecting it to have good center sharpness and probably some softness near the edges. Nope, it's very sharp to the edges and also very contrasty, even wide open. This might actually be my favorite lens from the lineup, I really like how it renders out of focus areas. It's an excellent lens for portraits, if you can see by my less than living subject matter.
Ilford FP4+, f/11
Ilford FP4+, f/8
Kodak Gold 200, f/4
Kodak Gold 200, f/5.6
Impromptu flare test, Subjects lit from behind slightly to the left, I took off my lens hood so sunlight was falling directly on the front of the lens. Some flare present in upper left corner, but not bad, and slightly lower contrast overall, but the lens coatings were doing their job.
Kodak Gold 200, f/3.5
First up, the Ektar 90mm f/3.5. This would be the primary portrait or long focus lens of the series. Kodak was very clear in the literature that it is a long focus lens and not a telephoto, whereas the 135mm and 153mm lenses were physically shorter than their focal length and this telephoto lenses.
Kodak also intended to make another fast portrait lens, an 85mm f/1.8 for the Ektra system, but this never left the design stage.
Anyway, back to the 90mm f/3.5. I expected that this would probably be the weakest performing lens of the Ektra Ektars, it is only a three element air spaced triplet after all.
In hindsight, I don't know why I had this concern. I've never met a bad performing Kodak Ektar, and the 90mm doesn't deviate from this. I was expecting it to have good center sharpness and probably some softness near the edges. Nope, it's very sharp to the edges and also very contrasty, even wide open. This might actually be my favorite lens from the lineup, I really like how it renders out of focus areas. It's an excellent lens for portraits, if you can see by my less than living subject matter.
Ilford FP4+, f/11
Ilford FP4+, f/8
Kodak Gold 200, f/4
Kodak Gold 200, f/5.6
Impromptu flare test, Subjects lit from behind slightly to the left, I took off my lens hood so sunlight was falling directly on the front of the lens. Some flare present in upper left corner, but not bad, and slightly lower contrast overall, but the lens coatings were doing their job.
Kodak Gold 200, f/3.5
Hcompton79
Established
Next up, the venerable Ektra Ektar 50mm f/1.9.
This was the fast normal lens for the Ektra system, and based on surviving examples, more popular than the 50mm f/3.5. I suppose those who were willing to shell out $235 in 1940s dollars, were also willing to spend an extra $65 to get the faster lens.
This is a modified double gauss design, with the front element converted into a doublet.
It is similar to, and definitely a contender with the Leica Summitar 50mm f/2 with the benefit of coatings, which the prewar Summitar generally lacked. However it isn't a Summitar copy, as the optical groups are slightly different. The Ektar was also in the design and prototyping stage in 1939 prior to the release of the Summitar.
Objectively, this lens is a touch less sharp than the 50mm f/3.5 and has a bit lower contrast. However, it is leaps and bounds ahead of my uncoated Ektar 47mm f/2.0 on my Bantam Special.
Ilford FP4+, f/5.6
Ilford FP4+, f/8
Kodak Gold 200, f/2.8
Kodak Gold 200, f/8
Kodak Gold 200, f/11
This was the fast normal lens for the Ektra system, and based on surviving examples, more popular than the 50mm f/3.5. I suppose those who were willing to shell out $235 in 1940s dollars, were also willing to spend an extra $65 to get the faster lens.
This is a modified double gauss design, with the front element converted into a doublet.
It is similar to, and definitely a contender with the Leica Summitar 50mm f/2 with the benefit of coatings, which the prewar Summitar generally lacked. However it isn't a Summitar copy, as the optical groups are slightly different. The Ektar was also in the design and prototyping stage in 1939 prior to the release of the Summitar.
Objectively, this lens is a touch less sharp than the 50mm f/3.5 and has a bit lower contrast. However, it is leaps and bounds ahead of my uncoated Ektar 47mm f/2.0 on my Bantam Special.
Ilford FP4+, f/5.6
Ilford FP4+, f/8
Kodak Gold 200, f/2.8
Kodak Gold 200, f/8
Kodak Gold 200, f/11