Woody Campbell Posted December 21, 2012 Share #1 Posted December 21, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I know. The Zeiss Jena 5cm f1.5 Sonnar is not a Leica lens. But does anyone know of a reference where I could date this lens (which is in a Leica screw mount) from its serial number? Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted December 21, 2012 Posted December 21, 2012 Hi Woody Campbell, Take a look here Zeiss Jena 5cm Sonnar. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
philipus Posted December 22, 2012 Share #2 Posted December 22, 2012 Perhaps this assists? Carl Zeiss Jena lenses Issue date by serial number 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Campbell Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share #3 Posted December 23, 2012 (edited) Many thanks. Very interesting. My serial number is 2859827 putting it somewhere in 1942-1945 range. Or perhaps a later Soviet copy? Edited December 23, 2012 by Woody Campbell Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Campbell Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share #4 Posted December 23, 2012 This strikes me as odd. The serial number is in the 1945-? range but the distance scale is in feet. Here are a couple of images of the lens taken with my iPhone. Does anyone know about this? I thought that the f1.5 Sonnar was quite common. Thanks. BTW I rather like what I'm getting with this lens and my Monochrom.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecar Posted December 23, 2012 Share #5 Posted December 23, 2012 An interesting read... How to avoid Zeiss/ Sonnar fakes 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Campbell Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share #6 Posted December 23, 2012 As I thought - almost certainly a Jupiter rebadged. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecar Posted December 23, 2012 Share #7 Posted December 23, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) Yes, but it seems that this was the case for the vast majority of those lenses in that particular period. As long as you are happy with the pictures, I wouldn't be bothered. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Campbell Posted December 23, 2012 Author Share #8 Posted December 23, 2012 Yes, but it seems that this was the case for the vast majority of those lenses in that particular period.As long as you are happy with the pictures, I wouldn't be bothered. As I am - an odd but interesting lens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viooh Posted December 25, 2012 Share #9 Posted December 25, 2012 The funny thing is that it is within the serial number range of my own ltm Sonnar. Mine has serial number 2859714, but it has a completely different mount with metre scale (with 20 m as the highest number) and a dof scale. The view from the top is identical. I'm quite sure that mine is a real Zeiss lens and not a Jupiter. Maybe they assembled these during or after the war using different mounts; there seems to be some variety of mounts with war time and post war Sonnars, which does not necessarily mean they are all fakes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roydonian Posted December 27, 2012 Share #10 Posted December 27, 2012 On fake lenses based on Jupiter hardware, the marking for 'metres' on the focussing scale would be a Russian-style 'M'. Zeiss-made lenses were marked with a lower-case 'm'. In practice, many of the early Soviet-made 'SK' and Jupiter lenses seem to have used optical assemblies made by Zeiss and shipped to Russia for installation in Russian mounts. However, according to Zeiss records, your lens is one is of a batch whose assembly started on 4 December 1945. Best regards, Doug 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Campbell Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share #11 Posted December 27, 2012 Doug - Thanks ever so much. That explains everything. Optically the lens is fine and actually outstanding for this period. Once the optical cell was sent to Kiev the finished lens was probably rushed out the door to meet a quota, explaining the absence of a depth of field scale. It was probably intended to be sold in the West which would explain the feet scale and Zeiss Jena branding. I don't know when Zeiss Jena introduced coatings - this must be a fairly early example of a coated version of this design. Again, thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
viooh Posted December 28, 2012 Share #12 Posted December 28, 2012 That explains everything. Actually, I don't think so. Your lens seems to have a feet scale, and whereas the Russians did many things with Zeiss optical assemblies, they did not produce mounts with feet scales and without dof scale for export to countries where distances are measured in feet. I think your lens was custom made after the war somewhere in Germany (or even in Britain or the US), using an original Zeiss optical cell. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynp Posted December 28, 2012 Share #13 Posted December 28, 2012 Actually, I don't think so. Your lens seems to have a feet scale, and whereas the Russians did many things with Zeiss optical assemblies, they did not produce mounts with feet scales and without dof scale for export to countries where distances are measured in feet. I think your lens was custom made after the war somewhere in Germany (or even in Britain or the US), using an original Zeiss optical cell. I agree. I have never seen a Russian / Ukrainian Sonnars with a feet scale. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody Campbell Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share #14 Posted December 28, 2012 Actually, I don't think so. Your lens seems to have a feet scale, and whereas the Russians did many things with Zeiss optical assemblies, they did not produce mounts with feet scales and without dof scale for export to countries where distances are measured in feet. I think your lens was custom made after the war somewhere in Germany (or even in Britain or the US), using an original Zeiss optical cell. Hmmm . . . . now that explains everything, including the Leica screw mount. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roydonian Posted December 28, 2012 Share #15 Posted December 28, 2012 Your lens was made well before production of the SK and Jupiter lenses started in the Soviet Union. So we can be confident that it was of all-German manufacture. If you PM me with your email address, I’ll send you a PDF of an article on the subject of the Zeiss-made Leica screw mount lenses. Best regards, Doug Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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