Carl Zeiss Jena 135mm/3.5 MC Sonnar - got mine today! sample pics.

[fetching]

Got mine today, popped it on my camera and went out for a bit.

got home and found most of my images were slightly out of focus, wasn't sure why exactly, but it was pretty overcast and windy, so perhaps the combination of those factors caused the blurriness. I also noticed that everything was overexposed and for a few shots i custom set the exposure compensation on my XT.

came home and noticed a switch on the lens that seems to indicate automatic and manual, it was set on automatic...i flipped it over to manual and the viewfinder went DARK! so maybe that also had something to do with it.

at that point it was too late to go back out so i set the camera up on the tripod and shot a few frames of my dog.

here's the best frames of the day. it was really easy to use the adapter, once i sort out the exposure issue (which i am sure is my mistake) and the focus issue (which i think is my mistake and probably connected to the exposure issue), i think it's going to be a lot of fun to use.

[fetching]

a little blurry, but i still like.

[foxbat]

You should be shooting in AV mode, are you? I have the same lens and didn't have any issues with overexposure.

Don't worry about the auto/manual switch, leave it on whichever way works! I disassembled my 50mm Tessar to see how it worked and to give it a bit of a grease and found that the manual/auto switch just pushes a metal lever that forces the diaphraghm to f/22.

I also have issues with manual focus, particularly with the 20mm f/2.8 flektogon that I have. I think it might be down to diopter adjustment as there is no focus indicator built into the viewfinder on our autofocus cameras. All you have is your eye and if that's off by even a small amount then so will your image.

I like your dog photo by the way, the soft-focus gives it a nice warm look.

[Carzee]

A bit more practice perhaps... do some rough distance calculations, set the focus somewhere close using the distance marks then work the focus ring from behind the target to in front of the target, shooting all the time. If you shoot 10 frames and when you check thru on your monitor only 2 get the target right on, thats great. 8 frames for the bin - no worries - you've only wasted some pixel signals.

Just looking at your white picket fence pic. I can't see where the focus plane is at all. And the same with the bird.

The M42 screw mnt could be off a bit. I read something about the critical issue of focus re the screw mount fitting...

[Andy_T]

No ... the critical issue with getting correct focus with a M42 lens on the 20D or XT is the person behind the camera :lol:

The 'M' and 'A' actually is the automatic diaphragm as it was used on M42 cameras. When you focus, you want to do that wide open (because the viewfinder is not dark then), but maybe you want to take the shot at something else then f/3.5.

On the M42 camera, the little metal rod in the lens screw mount is pressed in and the lens is stopped down to the aperture you have selected ONCE YOU PUSH THE TRIGGER. Your XT does the same thing with EOS lenses, but electrically. As there is no way to push the little metal rod of the M42 lens, you have to do it yourself with the A-M switch. A for focusing, switch to M before pushing the trigger. When you have a lot of light, you don't have to bother with that ... but it is easier to see if you have focused correctly if the lens is wide open.

You shoot in AV mode, and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed (like with an EOS lens). Only keep in mind that the shutter speed will be corresponding to the stopped down aperture, not the open aperture you use for focusing.

Diopter adjustment is very important ... because if you can't see correctly (through the viewfinder via the mirror) if correct focus is achieved, the image on the sensor will not be sharp. Use a normal EOS lens, focus (with AF) on something and check whether you see a sharp image in the viewfinder. If not, try to adjust the diopter adjustment and see if it improves.

I've enclosed an example I took with my Sonnar 135/3.5 ...
not a very good picture, but a good example of correct (or better incorrect) focus :lol:

The DOF (I assume f/3.5) was too small to also get my first son (the kid in front) also in focus. I don't know where exactly I focused when taking the shot, but assume it was on my other son and my wife.

I didn't add USM, because it leads to nasty effects of her hair against the background, so the picture is not completely sharp.

Best regards,
Andy

[rdenney]

Unless you have a fresnel lens/screen somewhere in the focusing chain, a manual focus lens (no matter HOW good it is) will be of little value. Unfortunately, such a thing is not possible on a retrofit to DSLR.

If you're really enthused about using a Zeiss lens, why not buy a camera to go with it? Many of the 35mm Zeiss Jena lenses were made to fit on the Exakta camera. This camera is still available on the used market (and in many cases, are quite affordable).

Okay, I must offer several corrections. I can focus manually on my 10D, and with my vision the way it is, if I can do it, so can you. I do very carefully adjust the diopter of the viewfinder to make the viewfinder marks sharp, and then focus to make the image equally sharp. I find that the diopter adjustment gets knocked around quite a bit and therefore has to be checked frequently. I also wear my glasses when I use the camera.

Most of the later Zeiss Jena lenses (and by later, I mean from the 50's onward) were made for the Praktica line of cameras made by what was ultimately Pentacon. It is true that Pentacon absorbed the old Ihagee works, but when they did everything was converted to M42 if it hadn't already been. Thus, most of the later Jena lenses for small format are in the M42 mount. Thus, if you want a camera that will use them, get a Praktica or, better, a good Pentax Spotmatic from the old days. You can also get a K-mount adaptor and use them on brand-new Cosina and Pentax cameras.

Finally, I have seen descriptions of retrofitting focus screens on DSLR's. It ain't at all easy, but it's possible.

To those conditioned to having autofocus all the time, learning to focus manually and see good focus takes a bit of practice. But it can be done. And it will teach you appreciation for good autofocus.

Rick "who misses focus sometimes, too, but who gets good focus more often than not" Denney

[fetching]

The 'M' and 'A' actually is the automatic diaphragm as it was used on M42 cameras. When you focus, you want to do that wide open (because the viewfinder is not dark then), but maybe you want to take the shot at something else then f/3.5.

On the M42 camera, the little metal rod in the lens screw mount is pressed in and the lens is stopped down to the aperture you have selected ONCE YOU PUSH THE TRIGGER. Your XT does the same thing with EOS lenses, but electrically. As there is no way to push the little metal rod of the M42 lens, you have to do it yourself with the A-M switch. A for focusing, switch to M before pushing the trigger. When you have a lot of light, you don't have to bother with that ... but it is easier to see if you have focused correctly if the lens is wide open.

You shoot in AV mode, and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed (like with an EOS lens). Only keep in mind that the shutter speed will be corresponding to the stopped down aperture, not the open aperture you use for focusing.



So let me make sure I have this straight:

Having the lens set on "A" allows me to focus even if I have the lens stopped down. But when I actually shoot, I need to set the A to M to stop down the lens to the correct aperture?

If I don't flip that switch, does it just stay wide open?

I'm a wee bit confused. :)

[Andy_T]

Yes, it's exactly as you summed it up.

Best regards,
Andy

[fetching]

Yes, it's exactly as you summed it up.

Best regards,
Andy

so that would explain why everything i shot with the button set on A (accidentally) was overexposed?

[foxbat]

Well, thanks to Rick "screw-mount is not a dirty word" Denny's advice I managed to get some sharp shots from my 20mm flektogon after some careful diopter adjustment, a tripod and a cable release. It's worth the effort IMHO.

[foxbat]

Here's a shot using the 20mm f/2.8 flektogon of the offices around where I work in London. This was taken at f/11 and was pretty soft out of the camera but sharpened up nicely in PS. This lens suffers really badly from flare as you can see from the upper center sky area and I don't yet have a hood. I thought the distorted perspective effect worked quite well with these highly geometric buildings.

http://www.aprd31.dsl.pipex.com/tmp/cw1.jpg

[Andy_T]

so that would explain why everything i shot with the button set on A (accidentally) was overexposed?

No, to me this would not explain it.

After all, the camera measures the light with whatever aperture you have set (either open or stopped down) and determines the shutter time accordingly. Maybe you have to enter some exposure compensation - but those pictures you posted did not seem overexposed to me.

Maybe if you had very bright light, a high ISO selected so that 1/8000 would be too slow? But a bit unlikely.

Foxbat, the image is cool :D

Best regards,
Andy

[fetching]

Well, thanks to Rick "screw-mount is not a dirty word" Denny's advice I managed to get some sharp shots from my 20mm flektogon after some careful diopter adjustment, a tripod and a cable release. It's worth the effort IMHO.


I guess I am going to have to mess with the diopter, even though I really don't want to. Is it pretty easy/self explanatory to do?

[Andy_T]

You know what the diopter adjustment is, right?

It's that small wheel thingy right of the viewfinder window.
You can turn it clockwise or counter-clockwise, it has a middle marker, and markers for '+' and '-'.

Choose direction to try.
Turn.
Look through viewfinder if you can see an improvement.
Repeat, if necessary.

Please feel free to PM me if you need any further explanation :wink:

Best regards,
Andy

[schmoelzel]

I saw this post and thought I would grab my CZ 135 and snap a few shots..........I tried AV mode but everything went dark......not to worry; I always shoot manual anyway!! This is one sweet little lens! The bokeh is really one of the best that I have seen.......I would put it up there with the canon 135F2 and my 70-200F2.8.....creamy smooth! Now as rdenny has mentioned, focus has to be right on. You can probably notice in the first pic that the plane of focus is on Julia's shirt, not the eyes (which I normally go for with portraits). With the 1D viewfinder, it is much easier to focus a manual lens than with a 10D, 20D, 300D. The colours need a little help right out of the camera but since I shoot in Raw it is really nothing to worry about. I highly highly recommend this little gem from Zeiss...........

http://theteahaus.netfirms.com/Canon/nfpicturepro/albums/userpics/10001/CZ135-1D-B.jpg

Camera: Canon 1D
Shutter speed: 1/2000 sec
Aperture: 3.5
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: Single frame shooting
ISO: 400

http://theteahaus.netfirms.com/Canon/nfpicturepro/albums/userpics/10001/CZ135-1D-A.jpg

Camera: Canon 1D
Shutter speed: 1/1500 sec
Aperture: 3.5
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Evaluative
Drive mode: Single frame shooting
ISO: 400

[rg-tom]

i find i need +1 EV to get this lenses exposure right, but once thats set its fine :)

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

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

[DocFrankenstein]

i find i need +1 EV to get this lenses exposure right, but once thats set its fine :)
This statement doesn't sound right for some reason.

You can also try changing the viewfinder. You can get a contax split circle viewfinder, cut it and insert it in the rebel. :)

Try that sometime ;)

[fetching]

here's a few more i shot tonight. having a bit easier time with focusing, but still not as easy as i had hoped.

[fetching]

one more

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does anyone who has this lens know what the sweet spot is for it?

[KevC]

Probably the centre... isn't it always the centre? if you have a 1.6x camera, your whole frame is the sweet spot :) Don't worry too much about that, just worry about composition and exposure! You don't want to spend all day cropping and upsizing if you only use the "sweet spot" of a lens and not the whole frame.

[DocFrankenstein]

Sweet spot? You've gotta be kidding.

It's one of the best primes out there. Every 135mm of it is equally sweet... (no dirty thoughts... no dirty thoughts... )

[rdenney]

does anyone who has this lens know what the sweet spot is for it?

I haven't done any careful testing, but I can say with some experience that the 180/2.8 Sonnar for medium format works best wide open. Well, the contrast is a bit lower wide open and a bit higher down around f/11 or so, but the acutance is, if anything, best wide open.

I don't know if the 135 is the same, but it would not surprise me.

The whole point of Sonnars though is to use them at wide apertures. That was the original intent of the Sonnar design, and that's also where the creamy bokeh is most effective.

Rick "who figures the Sonnar is no better than the rest stopped down" Denney

[williamzoran]

I Had trouble with the focus too. I was getting about a 50 percent hit. When it is in focus this lens is amazing.
It cost me $85 Au including the postage from the U.K to Melbourne.
I have since had a hoeda split focusing screen put into my 20d and the focus issue is a thing of the past.
Katz Eye also make one.

[condyk]

I haven't used mine for a while, just been too busy but here are a few samples from the first day I took it out:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=115376
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=115374
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=115373

MF isn't always easy but my keeper ratio is good ... better than with AF actually, but part of that is taking greater care with composition and focus rather than point and shoot style.

The lens is probably my favourite from all the lenses I've owned, including a number of L's and EX's. It has a beautiful bokah, vivid colour and great sharpness ... without the harsh and oversharp feel you get with some. Kind of a rounded sharpness that needs little if any post-processing. Very natural.

I use the camera on full manual, sometimes AV but not much, and keep the Auto/Manual switch set on Manual and I also use all my MF lenses wide open, or close to to keep the viewfinder bright. Helps a lot with MF. The histogram is very useful to get the exposure right. Good primes work wide open.

[buze]

With some care and a Hoada focusing screen, you can even do action shots with MF lens, honest ! :D

CZJ, wide open; not cropped
http://oomz.net/scaled/IMG_9278s.JPG

[mbze430]

I use my Contax 645AF mostly wide open for ANY lens. Only stopping down if there is too much light, otherwise I love shooting it open.

To really get precise manual focusing with these lens is to get a split microprism.