What is this? Jena lens?

[Vintage35]

Something doesn't look right, at least not to me, new to the Zeiss line, it has no aperture ring, if it does it has no markings...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/121670117435?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[sevo]

By serial that would be too late for a post-war home-made hack. Given the location I'd guess at either a poor fake or a Frankenlens created from mismatched parts. If it is genuine, it was a reject that somehow made it out of the factory - which does not really make it more desirable except for purely cabinet collectors...

 

[Bill Jones]

It had an apperature ring and since all of the photos were from the same side the stop markings and index could be in the area he does not show. The question is why not show the entire outside of the lens? Is he hiding something?

 

[jonmanjiro]

No idea regarding the legitimacy of the lens, but I can see a "2" marking in one of the photos, so the lens does seem to have aperture markings.

 

[sevo]

Photographed scale down, ok. If it is not ineptitude of the seller, the scale is either indicating a USSR origin, or something on the top of the lens (probably the mount locking tab) is in too poor a shape to display...

 

[enasniearth]

Sonnar

Sonnar

Looks like the typical all aluminum mount 5cm f2 sonnar
Made in the old Zeiss jena factory postwar .
These lenses were numbered 3xxxxxx to indicate they were postwar
And beyond the 2xxxxxx pre and wartime numbers .
Although the soviets removed most of the production lines .
You do see lens production continuing in east Germany postwar.
Since the lock tab is not shown in the photo , the aluminum tabs
Did not hold up well and may be missing .
It is probably a real coated sonnar - don't think anyone is fakeing
3xxxxxx series postwar aluminum lenses .

 

[Vintage35]

Thanks for the clarification enasniearth. I emailed the seller and he assured me it was indeed there (the locking tab) and is working order (fingers crossed). I took a gamble and went and got it. couldn't resist the price.

 

[Vintage35]

I found my lens like the one I posted above, on a thread started in 2006! scroll halfway down the page, the IIa lying on it's back.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27028&page=3

 

[Highway 61]

This is a genuine immediate postwar Jena Sonnar made of aluminum.

The 2,8 marking is visible on pic #3. On those old lenses the spacings between the aperture index markings aren't regular (for some reason clearly explained somewhere in an old thread) so the 2,8 marking is quite far away from the 2 marking.

The aluminum tab is here, it's also visible on pic #3. On those lenses and because the tab is made of aluminum and not brass it's very thick and, paradoxally, less prone to break over time than the thin brass made tabs.

We can see a few bubbles in the glass on pic #3 too.

This lens is, in my opinion, the best of all the classic Sonnars f/2. Even the later Zeiss Opton f/2 isn't as good.

This particular one looks in VGC. There aren't any spanner wrench marks on any of all the spanner slots, was it at the front or at the rear. The small lateral set screws of the aperture ring look untouched as well.

The cleaning marks on the front element may be a problem, though.