Pre-War 1936 Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 5cm f/1.5 for Contax Rangefinder Camera.
The Lens details of a series of images taken by Steve Cushing on mirrorless camera.
Fitting is a duel bayonet Rangefinder (RF) mount with a 34.85mm Flange Distance - this lens will fit and achieve focus to infinity mirrorless cameras but not DSLRs.
Lens History
Carl Zeiss was born in Weimar on 11 September 1816. He built microscopes in Jena from 1846 onward.
The correct way to pronounce "Jenna" is to make it sound like "Yenna" in English.
This was designed as an interchangeable lens for 35mm rangefinder cameras.
They became popular almost 90 years ago when Leitz introduced the Leica II and Zeiss introduced the Contax I.
Both companies brought out full lines of lenses, and totally dominated the market for 35mm format cameras. The Sonnar was designed by Ludwig Bertele. Ludwig Bertele worked first at Ernemann, and later Cal Zeiss from 1926.
In my opinion, Bertele is nothing short of a genius. He continued to design spectacular lenses like the Sonnar F1.5 and the Biogon, both which I think are not only lenses that perform beautifully, but also look beautiful. I think his lens designs were the leading technology of the time. This design also gives wonderful BOKEH. (Click for more information)
However the philosophies of the two companies were very different.
Leitz designers believed that lenses should be highly corrected with small amounts of residual aberration whilst Zeiss designers placed more importance on producing a bright image with high contrast.
Zeiss started coating optics in 1936 to increase optical transmission. Coated and uncoated lenses were produced concurrently, this one is uncoated.
Sonnars render images differently due to their asymmetric design.
Contax Rangefinder lenses use a double bayonet fitting. Converters for digital cameras can be very expensive. A cheaper solution is to make your own. Front sections of the Russian made Kiev Rangefinder can be purchased and after cutting of the excess brass can be fixed inside a cheap M39 adapter.
Please note the flange focal distance (FFD) (also known as the flange-to-film distance and flange focal depth) is 34.85mm, therefore these lenses will only focus to infinity on a non DSLR. They work fine on a Mirrorless digital camera.
Lens In Use
Contax Rangefinder lenses use a double bayonet fitting. Converters for digital cameras can be very expensive. A cheaper solution is to make your own. Front sections of the Russian made Kiev Rangefinder can be purchased and after cutting off the excess brass can be fixed inside a cheap M39 adapter.
Fitting is a duel bayonet Rangefinder (RF) mount with a 34.85mm Flange Distance - this lens will fit and achieve focus to infinity mirrorless cameras but not DSLRs.
Lens History
Carl Zeiss was born in Weimar on 11 September 1816. He built microscopes in Jena from 1846 onward.
The correct way to pronounce "Jenna" is to make it sound like "Yenna" in English.
This was designed as an interchangeable lens for 35mm rangefinder cameras.
They became popular almost 90 years ago when Leitz introduced the Leica II and Zeiss introduced the Contax I.
Both companies brought out full lines of lenses, and totally dominated the market for 35mm format cameras. The Sonnar was designed by Ludwig Bertele. Ludwig Bertele worked first at Ernemann, and later Cal Zeiss from 1926.
In my opinion, Bertele is nothing short of a genius. He continued to design spectacular lenses like the Sonnar F1.5 and the Biogon, both which I think are not only lenses that perform beautifully, but also look beautiful. I think his lens designs were the leading technology of the time. This design also gives wonderful BOKEH. (Click for more information)
However the philosophies of the two companies were very different.
Leitz designers believed that lenses should be highly corrected with small amounts of residual aberration whilst Zeiss designers placed more importance on producing a bright image with high contrast.
Zeiss started coating optics in 1936 to increase optical transmission. Coated and uncoated lenses were produced concurrently, this one is uncoated.
Sonnars render images differently due to their asymmetric design.
Contax Rangefinder lenses use a double bayonet fitting. Converters for digital cameras can be very expensive. A cheaper solution is to make your own. Front sections of the Russian made Kiev Rangefinder can be purchased and after cutting of the excess brass can be fixed inside a cheap M39 adapter.
Please note the flange focal distance (FFD) (also known as the flange-to-film distance and flange focal depth) is 34.85mm, therefore these lenses will only focus to infinity on a non DSLR. They work fine on a Mirrorless digital camera.
Lens In Use
- When used wide-open, field-curvature and spherical aberration spreads the depth-of-field across the frame, giving a “3-D” look.
- Open up to F4 and the image is sharp across the field.
- Used wide-open, uncoated Sonnars have less contrast and muted colours compared to modern designs.
- Point of focus and limited depth of field gives rise to a unique Bokeh, full of comets and spheres.
- Build quality is excellent and its iris is an eye-popping assembly of blades.
- So technically whilst well built, the Sonnar “suffers” from issues with spherical aberration, coma, and field curvature.
Contax Rangefinder lenses use a double bayonet fitting. Converters for digital cameras can be very expensive. A cheaper solution is to make your own. Front sections of the Russian made Kiev Rangefinder can be purchased and after cutting off the excess brass can be fixed inside a cheap M39 adapter.
Please note the flange focal distance (FFD) (also known as the flange-to-film distance and flange focal depth) is 34.85mm, therefore these lenses will only focus to infinity on a non DSLR. They work fine on a Mirrorless digital camera.
Summary
In practice, these imperfections produce wonderful and quite unique imperfections that as a creative photographer I personally love.
With my uncoated Carl Zeiss Sonnar 50mm F/1.5 lens I have shot some of the most beautiful, emotive and characterful images I’ve yet taken. The sharpness, bokeh, and depth matches and often exceeds anything produced by my far more expensive modern lenses, plus it is so small and light. in short it’s a world-class lens.
For images using this lens click HERE
For general information on lens design and lens elements go to the homepage HERE