W/NW Sonnar Lenses

Filzkoeter

Filzkoeter

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We've got a lot of threads for all the different Sonnar type lenses in different forums.

But I haven't found any general W/NW Sonnar thread... so here it is 😎

doesn't matter what manufacturer or year... it only has to be a lens based on the Sonnar formula 😛

Sonnars are expanded and modified fast triplets with less air-glass surfaces then comparable double gauss lenses.
They exhibit a distinct optical fingerprint which mostly is caused by some uncorrected abberations like a quite strong curvature of field or spherical aberrations (especially in older Sonnars the highlights tend to glow wide open).
Basically these lenses are a) fast b) somehow dreamy yet sharp wide open c) sharp and contrasty stopped down; most tend to have a very creamy bokeh.

All 50mm Sonnars are Rangefinder-exclusive as it's not possible to build normal focal length Sonnars for SLR cameras due to the flange distance.

See this thread for a list: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/foru...ad.php?t=69170
Click to expand...

Show us the Sonnar Magic™
 
Last edited:
From my last roll 50mm f1.4 Nikkor-sc in ltm with a gummed up aperture at the time.

9120627593_ffc6e2c319_c.jpg
 
Filzkoeter said:
We've got a lot of threads for all the different Sonnar type lenses in different forums.

But I haven't found any general W/NW Sonnar thread... so here it is 😎

doesn't matter what manufacturer or year... it only has to be a lens based on the Sonnar formula 😛



Show us the Sonnar Magic™
Click to expand...

What defines a Sonnar design? Is there a list of Sonnar design lenses anywhere? And are there any Sonnar design lenses being made today? Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Jamie Pillers said:
What defines a Sonnar design? Is there a list of Sonnar design lenses anywhere? And are there any Sonnar design lenses being made today? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sonnar is Zeiss design. In 50mm, it is 5 elements in 3 groups. I'm not 100% sure if this is true with the new ZM lenses and the other focal lengths.

50mm:
-Zeiss 50mm f2.0 and f1.5 Contax and LTM
-Jupiter 50mm f2.0 and f1.5 Contax and LTM
-Nikkor 50mm f2.0 and f1.4 Nikon S and LTM
-Canon 50mm f1.5 LTM
-Zeiss ZM 50mm f1.5 M mount and Nikon S

I don't want to go over all of the Sonnar lenses as I'm most familiar with the 50mm ones for 35mm format. There is also the Rollei 40mm f2.8 and a bunch of teles in 35mm and medium format. The new ZM lenses is still being made (at least in M mount) and probably some SLR lenses for medium format and 35mm (like Hasselblad and ZF/ZE) but then again, I'm not sure...
 
Jamie Pillers said:
What defines a Sonnar design? Is there a list of Sonnar design lenses anywhere? And are there any Sonnar design lenses being made today? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Sonnars are expanded and modified fast triplets with less air-glass surfaces then comparable double gauss lenses.
They exhibit a distinct optical fingerprint which mostly is caused by some uncorrected abberations like a quite strong curvature of field or spherical aberrations (especially in older Sonnars the highlights tend to glow wide open).
Basically these lenses are a) fast b) somehow dreamy yet sharp wide open c) sharp and contrasty stopped down; most tend to have a very creamy bokeh.

All 50mm Sonnars are Rangefinder-exclusive as it's not possible to build normal focal length Sonnars for SLR cameras due to the flange distance.


See this thread for a list: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69170

The Zeiss C-Sonnar 50/1.5 is being made today.
 
What about the famed focus shift? Is it real? Does it affect rangefinder lenses only or it also affects through the lens focusing lenses like on SLRs?
 
Filzkoeter said:
Sonnars are expanded and modified fast triplets with less air-glass surfaces then comparable double gauss lenses.
They exhibit a distinct optical fingerprint which mostly is caused by some uncorrected abberations like a quite strong curvature of field or spherical aberrations (especially in older Sonnars the highlights tend to glow wide open).
Basically these lenses are a) fast b) somehow dreamy yet sharp wide open c) sharp and contrasty stopped down; most tend to have a very creamy bokeh.

All 50mm Sonnars are Rangefinder-exclusive as it's not possible to build normal focal length Sonnars for SLR cameras due to the flange distance.


See this thread for a list: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69170

The Zeiss C-Sonnar 50/1.5 is being made today.
Click to expand...

Michael and Miko, thanks for the responses to my question. So are you saying that all Sonnars have the same block diagram, made up of 5 elements in 3 groups? And the elements in all Sonnar lenses are the same shape? And there are no Sonnar lenses with focal lengths other than 50mm?
 
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