Got my own Carl Zeiss MC 135mm F3.5 Jena DDR

[rg-tom]

Hey guys, instead of invading the other Jena thread thought I'd post a new one, its really that good :)

Came today, few marks etc but nothing you wouldnt expect on an old lens, BUT the shop has a nearly mint one, still boxed that i've ordered (and I've already arranged the selling of my copy). Not had THAT much time to sue it but here's a couple of pictures from it:

http://neo-fusion.co.uk/gallery/gallery/Photos/Park_Zeiss135_Test/4.jpg

http://neo-fusion.co.uk/gallery/gallery/Photos/Park_Zeiss135_Test/6.jpg

If you guys can, GET ONE. I have a few wide angle lenses wingin their way over to me in the shape of a Pentacon 29mm F2.8 and also another Carl Zeiss, this time the 35mm F2.4 Flektogon. The combined price of the 3 m42 lenses when ive got my new jena and sold this one, will be a whopping £50 including postage and packaging for all of them. Only problem is the hunting for the used lenses is very very very addictive and can be time consuming :)

It's all the rage on these forums atm BOKEH!! And this lens is a very fine example, the bokeh is just quite simply amazing in my opinion.

Cheers

Tom

[badrotation]

whats up with the red flower? the colors look kinda weird on it. It could just be something to do with jpeg though.

I must say, I like the photos.

[rg-tom]

fraid they look exactly as they did in real life to me? Maybe some mutant kind of flower lol, or the fac its quite far out of focus?

Thanks for the comment :)

[fetching]

i ordered one last night, and can hardly wait to get it. was it difficult to use and get good results with?

great pics, more please! :D

[pchew]

Tom:

I like the bokeh of this lens. Wonder where I can get this from Canada or online shop (plus the M42 adapter).

e.g., is this the one:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=707&item=7510887735&rd=1

What's the difference between Jena and Sonnar ?
Thanks

Perry

[rg-tom]

nope very simple to use, once you get over the manual focusing, leave it wide open and then set the exposure compensation from the histogram on location (maybe unrelated but I had to use a different EC then I do with my canon lenses :s) and shoot away....sharp and the bokeh is sposored by I cant belive its not butter :D

[rg-tom]

yea pchew looks like the one my friend....the sonnar is meant to be better, but you pay for it too :)

[rg-tom]

Hi Bloo Dog,

Would i be right to assume he is in the US though? Do you know where I could find more information on him a quick google has brought nothing up,

Cheers

Tom

[rdenney]

What's the difference between Jena and Sonnar ?


There's a sticky thread on the top of this forum that explains all.

Jena is the town housing the original Carl Zeiss factory that found itself in East Germany after the war. Sonnar is the name of the design from the early 30's that provides much better wide-aperture performance than the Tessars of the day with fewer air surfaces to cause flare, the principle problem of Planar designs before lenses were coated.

So, Carl Zeiss Jena = East German Zeiss, rather than Carl Zeiss Oberkochen, which is West German Zeiss. It's a way to get the classic design and the Schott glass without the hefty price tag.

Carl Zeiss Jena also equals "aus Jena". And Sonnar may be just "s".

Rick "who thinks ebay is the easiest place to find CZJ lenses, and whose 135 that he bought last week came from a Canadian seller" Denney

[rdenney]

whats up with the red flower? the colors look kinda weird on it. It could just be something to do with jpeg though.

I must say, I like the photos.

It's out of gamut on my monitor. I think his monitor may accept a bit more red saturation than mine. That's probably what you are seeing.

Rick "who likes the bee shot" Denney

[rg-tom]

Thanks Bloo Dog,

I'm afraid my monitor is not calibrated so it may be wrong for you calibrated folks, sorry :(

[Tom W]

Really sweet images - almost 3-D in appearance.

[pchew]

Tom, Bloo Dog, Rick: thanks for the explanation and info. Quite new to this and will do some research.

How easy or shall I say how difficult it is to do manual focusing on 10D ? For portrait purpose, it has to be fairly easy otherwise I guess you will miss a lot of shooting opportunities ?

Perry

[Tom W]

Tom, Bloo Dog, Rick: thanks for the explanation and info. Quite new to this and will do some research.

How easy or shall I say how difficult it is to do manual focusing on 10D ? For portrait purpose, it has to be fairly easy otherwise I guess you will miss a lot of shooting opportunities ?

Perry

I couldn't really manual-focus on the 10D very well, but I have poopy eyes and wear some rather potent eyeglasses. Glasses do get in the way a bit when you're using the viewfinder.

[schmoelzel]

If you have a 1 series Canon (1D, 1Ds, etc) you will have an easier time manually focusing than if you have a 10D, 20D, Drebel etc. The viewfinder in my 1D is amazingly bright and lets me see the focus as I turn the focus ring on my CZ 135/3.5. I used to have the DRebel and I am sure that it would have been much more difficult to achieve perfect focus.

ps.....I'm the one who seems to have started (innocently) this latest craze over CZ lenses in this forum!! Forgive me Pekka, I know not what I have done!!

[DocFrankenstein]

now, don't worry, there's enough Jena glass for everybody... They've been making them for the last... 60 years or so... :cool:

[pchew]

Thanks, Tom. I don't wear glass but my eyesight isn't that well either.

schmoelzel: 1D will be wonderful but that won't happen anytime soon.

[Tom W]

If you have a 1 series Canon (1D, 1Ds, etc) you will have an easier time manually focusing than if you have a 10D, 20D, Drebel etc. The viewfinder in my 1D is amazingly bright and lets me see the focus as I turn the focus ring on my CZ 135/3.5. I used to have the DRebel and I am sure that it would have been much more difficult to achieve perfect focus.

ps.....I'm the one who seems to have started (innocently) this latest craze over CZ lenses in this forum!! Forgive me Pekka, I know not what I have done!!

Are you sure you don't have some rich relatives over on Fred Miranda's site? There's a little Zeiss fever over there as well, but at a pretty high price-point.

[KevC]

Geez. I dunno where you guys find these lenses for so cheap lol.

//edit: I know I know ebay, but I haven't found it for 50 quid hehe. Next on my list... 35 flektogon... :D

[rg-tom]

i wear contacts and find it OK'ish to focus, would hate to use the DULL 300D viewfinder though.

Yup FM has a crazy fever revolving mainly around the Zeiss 21mm Distagon...prices are in the multiple thousands for these :o

[Tom W]

i wear contacts and find it OK'ish to focus, would hate to use the DULL 300D viewfinder though.

Yup FM has a crazy fever revolving mainly around the Zeiss 21mm Distagon...prices are in the multiple thousands for these :o

I secretly want one of those 21's - but that is way, way, way beyond what I'm willing to pay. I may snag the Zeiss Contax 17 mm f/4 as I hear it has great corner sharpness. Hard to find that in a super-wide lens.

[rdenney]

How easy or shall I say how difficult it is to do manual focusing on 10D ? For portrait purpose, it has to be fairly easy otherwise I guess you will miss a lot of shooting opportunities ?


It's not as good as most film cameras, but neither is in impossible. Use the lens wide open--that's the advantage of a lens like that anyway. Make sure your viewfinder is focused correctly, and if you wear glasses, use them. I can't see the whole frame with my glasses on, but with the finder focused properly (use the little wheel above the top right corner of the finder eyepiece) so that the autofocus markings are clear, I can see a sharp image. I can't without my glasses, but my astigmatism isn't correctly by the diopter adjustment. I was able to focus that lens in my kitchen last night doing my test, wearing glasses and with the camera on a tripod. I don't see well so if I can do it, so can you.

If Tom would give me his 1DsII, I would be happy to forever renounce the 10D focus screen, but until that happens I will just have to make do.

I have less trouble focusing the Sonnar than I do with my 85/2 Jupiter. Longer lenses are easier, and the Sonnar's focus ring seems just about right--not too fine and not too coarse.

Rick "who can still focus a 1953 Rolleiflex which has no focusing aids at all and makes the 10D finder painfully bright" Denney

[rg-tom]

rdenney whats the quality like on the jupiter VS the 135?

[rdenney]

rdenney whats the quality like on the jupiter VS the 135?

The Jupiter was not impressive. I may just have a bad one--they are not known for sterling quality control. But I was comparing an 85 with 135's, and that's not a fair comparison.

My main beef with the Jupiter is ergnomic. It has an aperture ring, a present control ring, and a focus ring all in close proximity. It's quite easy with my fat fingers to nudge the focus ring when stopping the lens down. Thus, I think it works best at taking aperture, which, of course, suggests use for the lens only at wide apertures. But that's the point of such a lens, so it isn't that limiting. The focus ring is also too stiff--stiff enough to unscrew it from the adaptor if the latter is no applied by Captain Torque.

Rick "who plans at some point to disassemble the Jupiter and relube with lighter grease" Denney