Zeiss Super Ikonta III Novar

[Thardy]

Just got back some slide film after waiting what seemed like an eon. After sending in my money for the Zeiss with the Novar lens I read posts about the lens not being very good. I would say the lens is actually quite good from looking at the film. Sharp with good contrast and color using Velvia 100.

Now I will shoot some black and white and fire up the ol' enlarger and see what the Ikonta has in store for me.






Just to let you all know, this is an EVIL forum. I now can't get the thought of buying a 35mm RF out of my head.

 

[Joerg]

The Novar lenses are certainly quite good.
I like the color rendition, which IMHO is pastell type.

Ciao

Joerg

 

[Abbazz]

After sending in my money for the Zeiss with the Novar lens I read posts about the lens not being very good. I would say the lens is actually quite good from looking at the film. Sharp with good contrast and color using Velvia 100.

The triplet lens is a very difficult lens to do right. There are many bad triplet lenses on cheap cameras, but the Novar is among the great triplet lenses. I think that Novar lenses were made by Schneider Kreuznach but the brand doesn't appear on the lens because Zeiss did not want to advertise a competitor's brand on its cameras. Wide open, it is probably less sharp than a Tessar in the corners, but it delivers very nice pictures, with good tonality and great contrast. As pictures taken at near wide open apertures are mostly portraits made in available light, corner sharpness is not of paramount importance under f/8. At f/8-16, the Novar is sharp over the whole field and you won't be able to tell it from a Tessar at these apertures. And if it matters to you, I think the bokeh of the triplet lenses like the Novar is much more attractive than the Tessar's.

Cheers,

Abbazz

 

[shadowfox]

Where's the pictures?

 

[Thardy]

Sorry, I only have a 35mm film scanner, but I will shoot some BW, print, scan (on a flatbed) and post.