Carl Zeiss LTM LTM postwar 1.5/5cm Sonnar

Carl Zeiss M39 lenses
Nice lens. Too bad about the bump on the filter ring. The Canon is missing the ring around the RF window, I'd be scared to loose the little window itself like this...:eek:

Let's see where the auction ends.
 
The glass coating is purple, a typical color of FSU lens. I doubt it's the real sonnar, which shall be blue or without color.
 
A late made Contax mount f 1.5 Sonnar lens mounted on an LTM helical housing that does not look to be FSU made.
 
I have checked a couple of postwar Contax mount Sonnars, and the colour appears OK to me. I have J3's with purple (1967) and brown (1969) coatings. The mount is a strange one though. It has a nicely engraved distance scale, but no DOF scale. Odd. I don't know what country it comes from, but does not look like any Zeiss product I have ever seen.

Cheers,
Dez
 
Dez said:
I have checked a couple of postwar Contax mount Sonnars, and the colour appears OK to me. I have J3's with purple (1967) and brown (1969) coatings. The mount is a strange one though. It has a nicely engraved distance scale, but no DOF scale. Odd. I don't know what country it comes from, but does not look like any Zeiss product I have ever seen.

Cheers,
Dez
Click to expand...

That helical mount could be a one off production made by a very capable machinist not affiliated with any optical firm.
 
I've seen and owned CZJ Sonnar lenses with that pattern of knurling on the lens, that was one of those "Russian Army" lenses put together by a bunch of enterprising Russian Army NCO's who worked with the CZJ staff 1946/7.

Quite a few *wild* lenses were built at this time, mixing pre-war with wartime and post-war parts, this lens is one of them, these lenses all seem to have made their way to America in the duffelbags of GI's returning home, sparking an interest in the CZJ lenses in America, since the end of the war the M39/Leica Thread versions of anything Zeiss have been desirable to collectors and real photographers.

Also you will see CZJ Sonnars in "feet" with that strange pattern as well.

Tom
 
Hello,

For me, this lens has nothing to do with the Russians.
It was made in the west, and has a mount that I have never seen on wartime lenses, or even on postwar modified by the Russians.

The weight too is totally different: 226g against 120 to 150g.

As for the optical part, many of these early postwar "westie" lenses have separation problems. Certainly a question of glue. It is perhaps why CZJ continue to deliver Sonnars for the Contax IIa up to 1950/51.

Jacques.
 
Jacques M. said:
Hello,

For me, this lens has nothing to do with the Russians.
It was made in the west, and has a mount that I have never seen on wartime lenses, or even on postwar modified by the Russians.

The weight too is totally different: 226g against 120 to 150g.

As for the optical part, many of these early postwar "westie" lenses have separation problems. Certainly a question of glue. It is perhaps why CZJ continue to deliver Sonnars for the Contax IIa up to 1950/51.

Jacques.
Click to expand...

Well.

This is with no doubt a late Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen made : West Germany) Sonnar 50/1.5 in Contax RF mount removed off its original barrel then installed in a custom made LTM barrel. Very likely a one-shot home made machinist job. Looks good BTW.

The bump on the lens black nose isn't a problem, the nose is reversible and symmetric so it won't be difficult to make the lens look better.

What you write about the early Western Germany made Sonnars is not correct.

The early Western Germany made Sonnars were named Zeiss Opton.

CZJ delivered Sonnars for the first Contax IIa in 1950/1951 because the Oberkochen lenses plant wasn't running well enough so that lenses could be produced there yet.

At that time, nobody in Jena could know that the Oberkochen plant ingeneers would experiment epoxy cement instead of Canada balsam on their late production run Sonnars, ten years later.

The separation problems occur on the very late Western Germany lenses, i.e., lenses named "Carl Zeiss" and not "Zeiss Opton" any longer.

This one belongs to the club so at the end of the day the best thing is to stay away from it.

All the stuff written by the seller about that lens picked up in Germany at the end of the WWII is pure crap.
 
Certainly I have missed something!:)

I know that... And this lens is an Opton, even if it is not put on the beauty ring. It was probably made in 1950 or 1951, by the serial number. And it is, more or less, a contemporary of the CZJ Sonnars which were delivered to Carl Zeiss (Stuttgart) for the IIa P/S series. Tell me if I am wrong... And I don't understand what you mean about ten years later?

About this lens (or mine: s/n 1979274), I have never seen LTM mounts in these numbers. It can have been made by the factory as trials or outside, of course. Anyway, very well made.

Now about separation, I only say I have seen much lenses than expected in these numbers with this problem. Much more than CZJ Sonnars, anyway.

Jacques.
 
Hum... It seems my datas were wrong.
After a quick research, I have found, concerning CZ Oberkochen lenses:
- 10000 to 500000 for 1946/51
- 500000 to 1,1Mn for 51-53,
- 1,1Mn to 2,6 for 53-59.

So, these lenses c. 2000000 were made much later than I thought. A reason more to think that they have nothing in common with the Russians...;)

Sorry. Can you confirm the dates?

Thanks. Jacques.
 
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